Hammerspoon

Hammerspoon

Hammerspoon is an open-source automation tool for macOS that allows you to control and automate your workflow using Lua scripting. It can integrate with and manipulate native macOS windows and APIs.
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lua macos automation scripting

Hammerspoon: Open-Source Automation Tool

Automate your macOS workflow with Hammerspoon, an open-source automation tool using Lua scripting, integrating native macOS windows and APIs.

What is Hammerspoon?

Hammerspoon is an open-source automation tool for macOS that allows you to control and automate your workflow using Lua scripting. It bridges the gap between user input and system output by providing hooks to interact with native macOS windows and APIs in a programmatic way.

Some key features of Hammerspoon include:

  • Automating repetitive tasks like window management, application launching, menu selections, etc.
  • Creating custom keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys
  • Reacting programmatically to system events like sleep, wake, WiFi status changes, etc.
  • Dynamically generating native UI elements like popups and menus
  • Integrating with various macOS technologies like AppleScript, Unix commands, Quartz APIs

Hammerspoon is implemented in C and Lua so it provides a fast and responsive automation environment. The Lua scripting engine allows writing scripts ranging from simple to advanced levels. It gives immense flexibility and modularity in building workflows catered to specific needs.

Since Hammerspoon interacts directly with the macOS APIs using Objective-C bridging, the scripts have very low overhead. The support for Lua coroutines allows executing parallel asynchronous tasks which is ideal for automation. Overall, Hammerspoon opens up immense possibilities for power users to customize and enhance their macOS experience.

Hammerspoon Features

Features

  1. Automation tool for macOS
  2. Allows controlling macOS using Lua scripts
  3. Can manipulate native macOS windows and APIs
  4. Bridges macOS with Lua programming
  5. Open source and free

Pricing

  • Open Source
  • Free

Pros

Powerful automation capabilities

Highly customizable using Lua scripts

Integrates deeply into macOS

Active community support

Free and open source

Cons

Steep learning curve for Lua scripting

Manual configuration required for automation tasks

Limited documentation and support

Not intuitive for non-programmers

MacOS only


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