Download

Grab the latest build from keyfire.app or directly from GitHub Releases. Two builds are available:

• Keyfire_x64-setup.exe for Intel and AMD machines
• Keyfire_arm64-setup.exe for ARM-based Windows (Surface Pro, Snapdragon laptops)

Running the installer

The installer is code-signed via Microsoft Trusted Signing under Node Group Ltd. Keyfire installs to your user folder, no admin rights required. About 9MB on disk after install.

The welcome screen

On first launch, Keyfire shows a welcome screen with a six-tile feature grid covering triggers, macros, radial menus, text expansions, quick search, and clipboard history. Click Get Started to begin the tour, or Skip the tour if you want to dive straight in.

The onboarding tour

A five-step tour walks you through the main UI surfaces:

Replay the tour any time from Settings → Help & Documentation → Replay Onboarding Tour.

System tray icon

The tray icon shows Keyfire's state at a glance:

Title bar

Runs across the top. Left side: Keyfire logo and area tabs (Keyboard, Mouse, Radial, Expansions, Clipboard, Analytics). Centre: active profile tabs. Right side: Quick Search, List View toggle, and the Settings cog. A Templates pill button also appears here until you dismiss it.

Profile accordion

The left panel lists all your profiles. The active profile shows a green dot. Profiles linked to a specific app show a Windows icon. Click any profile to switch. Right-click for rename, duplicate, export, link to app, and delete options. Profiles are grouped into General (always active) and App-Specific (auto-switches when the linked app has focus).

Assignments sidebar

Below the profile accordion. Lists every shortcut in the active profile, grouped by modifier layer under gold header bars. Use the modifier filter tabs (All, Ctrl, Shift+Alt, etc.) to narrow by layer. Each tab shows a count badge.

Keyboard canvas

The main area shows a visual keyboard. Assigned keys are highlighted gold. Click any key to open its action panel on the right. Use the modifier buttons at the top to switch layers. Below 800px window width, the canvas swaps to List View automatically.

Action panel

Opens on the right when you click a key or assignment. Choose the action type at the top, configure the fields, save with the Save button or Enter. Discard with Esc.

Status bar

Bottom of the window. Shows macros enabled / paused state, assignment count, and the Listener and Executor engine indicators. Both should be green when Keyfire is running normally.

Option 1: text expansion (recommended starting point)

A text expansion replaces a short trigger you type with a longer phrase, in any app.

Option 2: hotkey

Option 3: template pack

Click the Templates pill in the title bar (or go to Settings → Templates) to import a pre-built set of shortcuts. Templates are additive. They never overwrite your existing assignments.

A hotkey combines one or more modifier keys (Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Win) with a letter, number, function key, or special key. When pressed from anywhere on your computer, Keyfire fires the assigned action instantly.

Creating a hotkey

Alternatively, click + New Trigger in the sidebar. The Record button pulses gold and a hint reads "Press Record or click a key to start". Then either press a combination physically or click a key on the canvas.

Modifier layers

Each modifier combination is a separate layer: Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Win, Ctrl+Shift, Ctrl+Alt, Shift+Alt, and so on. The same physical key can have a different action on each layer. Ctrl+E and Ctrl+Shift+E are entirely independent assignments.

Bare keys (app-specific profiles only)

In a profile linked to a specific app, you can assign bare keys with no modifier. Pressing F alone fires the action. This only works when the linked app has focus, so it does not interfere with normal typing elsewhere. Ideal for CAD software, games, and tools where bare key macros are standard.

Win key

The Windows key can be used as a modifier. In the hotkey capture UI, click the ⊞ Win button to add it to a combination. Win key combinations are captured and fired exactly like any other modifier layer.

Right-click options on assigned keys

Right-click any assigned key on the canvas (or card in List View) to access: Rename, Duplicate (copies the full payload including double-press and hold config), and Clear (with inline confirmation).

Switch to the Mouse tab to see a visual mouse diagram. Click any button to assign an action. Modifier layers work the same as for keyboard hotkeys.

Available mouse triggers

Setting up a mouse hotkey

Side buttons not firing?

If your mouse has manufacturer software (Logitech G Hub, Razer Synapse, etc.), it may be translating side buttons to other inputs before Windows sees them. Open the mouse software and set Side 1 and Side 2 to their default mouse button mapping. Then Keyfire can see them.

Every assignment can have up to three distinct actions on the same key, fired by different press patterns:

• Single press: tap the key, action fires.
• Double press: tap twice within the double-tap window, the double-press action fires instead.
• Hold PRO: press and hold past the threshold (default 350ms), the hold action fires.

Setting up double press

Setting up hold PRO

The Hold pill appears next to Single and Double when you open an assignment. Hold triggers fire after the key has been held past the configurable threshold (200ms to 700ms, default 350ms in Settings).

How hold detection works

When you press a hold-armed key, Keyfire starts a timer. If you release before the threshold, the single-press action fires (if assigned) or the keystroke passes through to the focused app. If you cross the threshold, the hold action fires and the key release is suppressed.

Double-tap window

The interval Keyfire waits for a second tap before firing the single-press action. Adjust in Settings → Compatibility → Double-tap window. Default is 300ms.

Type Text sends a fixed string to the active text field the moment you press the hotkey. Works in any application.

Input method

Three methods are available. The default works in most situations. Change it only if you run into issues.

Games and DirectInput

Keyfire uses scancode-mode injection by default, so keystrokes are visible to games using DirectInput, Raw Input, or other low-level input APIs. If a hotkey is being ignored by a specific FPS or simulation game, raise it as feedback. Most cases work without configuration.

Send Hotkey fires a key combination into whichever application is in focus. This lets you trigger an app's own keyboard shortcuts from a Keyfire hotkey, useful when an app's native shortcut conflicts with something you have assigned globally.

Example: your CAD app uses Ctrl+F for a tool, but you have already assigned Ctrl+F globally in Keyfire. Bind Keyfire's Ctrl+G to Send Hotkey → Ctrl+F, and Keyfire sends it directly to the active window.

Hold Mode

The Hold Mode toggle changes Send Hotkey behaviour. The first press sends keydown only (holding the key), and the second press sends keyup (releasing it). Useful for gaming and CAD workflows that need a sustained key press.

While a key is held, the Keyfire tray icon turns red and the tooltip shows which key is being held. The held key auto-releases when:

• You press the same hotkey again
• You press any non-modifier key physically
• You pause Keyfire
• You quit Keyfire

Repeat Mode

Repeat Mode sends the target key or mouse click repeatedly at a configurable interval. First press starts repeating, second press of the same trigger stops it. Other keypresses do not stop it. Only the original trigger hotkey toggles it off.

While repeating, the tray icon turns red and the tooltip shows the repeating key and interval. Repeating auto-stops when you pause Keyfire or quit the app.

Mouse button targets

Send Hotkey supports mouse buttons (Left Click, Right Click, Middle Click) as targets in all three modes: normal, hold, and repeat. Select a mouse button from the pill buttons below the capture field.

Open App

Launches an installed application. Click Browse to select the .exe, or type the path manually. Keyfire stores only the executable name, not the full path, making profiles portable across machines.

Open URL

Opens a URL in your default browser. Include the full URL with https://. Works with websites, app deep links, and internal network addresses.

Open Folder

Opens a folder in Windows Explorer. Click Browse or type the path manually. Supports environment variables like %USERPROFILE% and %APPDATA%.

A macro is a sequence of steps that Keyfire executes in order when you press the hotkey. Mix any combination of step types in a single macro.

Available step types

Building a macro

Macro looping

Below the Input Method row, the Loop section lets the macro repeat itself. Two modes:

• Count: run N times in a row.
• Forever: run continuously until you press Esc or re-press the trigger.

An optional Delay between iterations smooths out fast loops. Press the same trigger again while a loop is running, and Keyfire cancels it.

Focus Window: Pick Window

The Focus Window step brings an app to the foreground. Instead of typing a .exe name manually, click Pick Window. A dropdown appears showing all currently running processes. Selecting one fills in both the process name and window title automatically.

Wait for Input

Pauses the macro until a specified mouse or keyboard event. Supported input types include left click press / release, right click, and specific keys. Useful when a macro needs to wait for you to click somewhere before continuing.

Fire Trigger and Fire Text Expansion

These two step types call other Keyfire actions from inside a macro. Useful for composing complex flows from smaller reusable units. Keyfire enforces a maximum of 5 nesting levels to prevent infinite recursion.

Keyfire bundles AutoHotkey executables for both v1 and v2. You do not need AutoHotkey installed separately. Write a script body, assign it to a key, and Keyfire handles execution.

How it works

Execution

When the hotkey fires, Keyfire writes a temporary .ahk file, spawns the bundled AutoHotkey process, and cleans up after it exits. Scripts run with ExitApp appended automatically unless your script already contains it.

v1 vs v2 syntax

AutoHotkey v1 and v2 have different syntax. The version toggle in the form switches which engine runs the script. The placeholder text updates to show the correct syntax for each version.

Text expansions monitor what you type and replace a trigger sequence with expanded text the moment you complete it. They work in any application: browser, email, CRM, editor, anywhere.

Creating an expansion

Trigger tips

• Prefix triggers with / or ; to prevent accidental firing mid-word.
• Triggers are case-sensitive by default.
• Single-character triggers work in app-linked profiles with bare key mode.

Trigger modes

The expansion editor has two trigger modes:

• Space: fires when you type the trigger followed by a space. Best for triggers that could appear inside other words.
• Immediate: fires as soon as you finish typing the trigger. Best for prefix-style triggers like /sig.

Categories

Assign expansions to named categories. Category tabs appear at the top of the list. Drag tabs to reorder them. The order is saved.

Variants PRO

One trigger can have multiple variant outputs. When the trigger fires, Keyfire shows a selector with all variants and you pick one. Useful for response templates with formal / casual / brief variations on the same theme.

Image expansions PRO

Expansions can paste images as well as text. Toggle the Image type at the top of the expansion editor, then click Choose Image to select a PNG or JPEG file.

When the trigger fires, Keyfire writes the image to the clipboard and sends a paste command. Works in Word, Outlook, Google Docs, and any app that accepts pasted images.

Autocorrect

The Autocorrect tab manages typo replacements. Type a common misspelling, get the correct version. Behaves identically to expansions but with a separate management surface.

Tokens are special placeholders in your expansion text that are replaced with live values at the moment the expansion fires. Insert them using the toolbar buttons in the expansion editor.

Date and time

Click the Date & Time toolbar icon for the full menu. Sub-sections cover dates, date parts, time, and date math.

Date formats

Date parts

Time

Date math

Append :FORMAT to use a specific format. For example {date:+1d:YYYY-MM-DD}.

Clipboard

Insert the current clipboard contents into your expansion.

Selection NEW

Insert whatever text you currently have highlighted in the source app. Keyfire presses Ctrl+C internally to capture the selection, then restores your previous clipboard contents.

Cursor position

Mark where the cursor should land after the expansion completes.

Example: Dear {fillIn:Name},{cursor}\n\nKind regards places the caret after the comma so you can start typing the body immediately.

Global variables PRO

Define a reusable text value once and reference it across multiple expansions using {{name}}. Update the variable once and it updates everywhere instantly. Useful for your company name, phone number, address, or any shared piece of text.

Define variables in Settings → Global Variables. Click the Variables toolbar icon in the expansion editor to insert one.

Fill-in fields let an expansion pause before completing and prompt you for variable values. The prompt opens in a small floating modal next to your cursor.

Insert a fill-in

In the expansion editor, click the Fill-in toolbar icon. Choose a field type:

Default values

Append :default=VALUE to seed an initial value. The user can accept or edit it.

• {fillIn:Name:text:default=John}
• {fillIn:Tone:dropdown:Formal,Casual:default=Casual}
• {fillIn:Done:checkbox:default=yes}
• {fillIn:Qty:number:default=1}

Editing an existing fill-in

Click any fill-in chip in the editor. A small popover appears showing the label and (for dropdowns) the options. Edit and click Save. All chips in the editor that reference the same label update together.

Reusing the same field

If you reference the same label multiple times, Keyfire prompts once and inserts the answer at every position. Example:

Dear {fillIn:Name}, thank you for your enquiry. We will follow up with you, {fillIn:Name}, by close of business.

The fill-in modal

When the expansion fires, Keyfire opens a small modal next to your cursor with one input per field. Tab between fields. Press Enter on the last field to submit. Press Esc to cancel.

Formulas turn text expansions from static templates into dynamic content. Inside any expansion you can reference fill-in fields, run math, manipulate strings, and switch text based on conditions.

Two token types

Inserting a formula

Click the Formulas toolbar icon (the function-square symbol) in the expansion editor.

• Expression {=…} opens a prompt where you type the expression. Inserts as a chip showing ƒ expr.
• If / Else block inserts a template {if condition}then text{else}other text{endif} that you edit in place.

Click any formula chip to edit the expression. The popover prefills with the current expression.

Supported values

• Numbers: 2, 3.75, -10
• Booleans: yes / no (also accepts true / false)
• Strings: "abc", "this is a string"
• References: bare identifiers resolve to fill-in field values, then global variables, then selection and clipboard.

Operators

Built-in functions

String

Math

Logic

Worked examples

Greet by tone

A snippet with a dropdown fill-in named tone and two output styles:

{if tone == "Formal"}Dear {fillIn:Name},{else}Hi {fillIn:Name}!{endif}

Conditional follow-up

Total: {=qty * price}{if qty > 10} (bulk discount applies){endif}

Format selection in transit

With text highlighted in any app, this fires after the trigger:

The user typed: "{=upper(selection)}"

Quick Search is a floating overlay. Press the shortcut from anywhere on your computer, type a few characters, and fire any Keyfire shortcut without leaving your current app.

Opening Quick Search

Press Ctrl+Space from anywhere. The overlay appears immediately over whatever you are doing. Press Esc to dismiss without triggering anything.

Navigating results

• Type any part of the shortcut name or action description. Results update as you type.
• Use ↑ / ↓ to move between results.
• Press Enter to fire the selected result.
• Press Esc to dismiss.

What can it find?

Every hotkey assignment, expansion, autocorrect entry, and quick action across all your profiles. Quick Search reaches everywhere. The result list includes the trigger and the action type.

Search templates

The Quick Search overlay also exposes search templates, prefab snippet packs you can import. Templates live in Settings → Templates.

Radial menus are visual wheels of actions that appear under your cursor when triggered. Each wedge is an action. Click it to fire. Useful when you want a curated set of actions reachable without remembering individual hotkeys.

Building a radial menu

Firing the menu

Press the menu's hotkey from anywhere. The wheel appears under your cursor. Move the mouse over a wedge to highlight it, then click. The action fires in the app you were in before the menu opened.

Nested radial menus

Drag a folder onto the canvas to create a nested wheel. Clicking it opens a sub-radial of actions. Useful for grouping by category, for example a "Tools" folder containing six specific tool macros.

Drag and drop

Drag any existing hotkey or expansion from the sidebar into the radial editor to add it as a segment. Keyfire stores a reference to the original, so editing the source updates the radial too. Labels propagate automatically.

Behaviour over fullscreen apps

Radial menus open over borderless fullscreen apps and most games. Firing an action sends input to whichever window had focus before the menu opened. Exclusive fullscreen apps (some DirectX games) may resist focus restoration. Borderless windowed mode is the reliable mode for gaming use.

Keyfire captures everything you copy to the clipboard: text, links, code, and images. All data is stored locally in a SQLite database on your machine, encrypted at rest. Nothing is transmitted.

The clipboard panel

Open the Clipboard tab in the title bar to see your full clipboard history. Items are displayed as a masonry grid sorted by most recent, with pinned items always at the top.

Features

Quick paste overlay

Press Ctrl+Shift+V from any app to open the clipboard overlay, a floating popup with your recent clipboard items. Use arrow keys to navigate, Enter to paste, Escape to close.

The overlay has a master-detail layout: the left pane shows compact rows, the right pane shows the full content with metadata and action buttons (Pin, Delete, Paste, Edit).

Scratchpad

The clipboard overlay includes a slide-out scratchpad on the right side. Toggle it with the arrow button on the panel edge. Use it to jot notes, stage text, or keep references handy. Content auto-saves and persists across app restarts.

Retention

Clipboard history is retained for 7 days on the Free plan and up to 30 days on Pro. Pinned items are never automatically deleted. Adjust the retention period in Settings → Clipboard. Clear all history manually from the panel toolbar.

Encryption at rest

All clipboard content (text, OCR, image bytes, previews) is encrypted with AES-256-GCM. The encryption key is wrapped via Windows DPAPI and tied to your user account. Metadata (timestamps, app names, tags) stays plain so search filters work without decryption.

List View replaces the keyboard canvas with a scrollable card grid showing all assignments. Useful when you have many shortcuts and want to browse or edit them without navigating the keyboard layout.

Switching views

Click the List View toggle in the title bar. Your preference is saved between sessions. List View also activates automatically when the window is narrower than 800px. Widening the window restores whichever view you were in before the auto-switch.

Modifier filter

At the top of the list, modifier pills (All, Ctrl, Alt, Shift, etc.) filter by layer. Each shows a count badge. When a specific modifier is selected, a gold header bar appears above the cards labelling the layer.

Cards

Each card shows the key combination, action type badge, and assignment name. Right-click any card for Rename, Duplicate, and Clear options, same as right-clicking on the keyboard canvas.

A profile is a complete, independent set of assignments. Only one profile is active at a time. Its shortcuts are the ones Keyfire fires. The active profile shows a green dot in the accordion.

Creating and switching profiles

Click + New Folder at the top of the accordion. Click any profile name to switch to it. The switch is instant.

Profile groups

• General: unlinked profiles, always available regardless of which app has focus.
• App-Specific: profiles linked to a .exe. When the linked app has focus, this profile activates automatically. When focus leaves, the previous profile resumes.

Linking a profile to an app PRO

Auto-switching requires Pro. On Free, you can create app-linked profiles but the auto-switch does not fire. You can still switch manually.

To unlink, right-click and choose Unlink App.

Right-click options

Export and import

Right-click any profile → Export Profile. This saves the profile name and all its assignments as a .json file. The linked app is not exported because it is machine-specific. Re-link after import on a new machine.

To import, click ↓ Import Profile at the bottom of the accordion. If the name conflicts with an existing profile, you will be prompted: Copy (creates a new profile with a suffix) or Overwrite (replaces existing assignments, preserves the linked app).

Keyfire includes starter template packs. Importing a template adds its shortcuts to your current profile without overwriting anything already there. Import is always additive.

Accessing templates

• Click the Templates pill in the title bar (visible until dismissed).
• Go to Settings → Templates. Always available.

Available packs

Search templates

Separately from the main packs above, the Quick Search overlay supports search templates: prefab snippet packs designed for use from the search bar. Import them in Settings → Templates.

Point Keyfire at a folder synced by OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or any cloud service. Keyfire writes its config to that folder instead of the local AppData location. Every other machine running Keyfire against the same folder sees the same hotkeys, expansions, and macros, refreshed automatically when the file changes.

How to set it up

Cross-device conflict handling

When two machines edit the config at roughly the same time, Keyfire does a three-way merge per top-level section. Edits to different sections from different machines combine cleanly. Edits to the same section apply last-writer-wins on incoming. A toast confirms when a remote change has been merged in.

Teams use

Shared Config is also useful for teams. Point everyone at the same network folder and your support reps, ops teams, or designers all get the same shortcut library. Updates propagate live. No retraining needed.

Pausing suspends all hotkeys and text expansions until you resume. Nothing changes in the app. Your shortcuts stay configured. They just stop firing.

How to pause

• Tray icon: Right-click the Keyfire tray icon → Pause.
• Global pause hotkey: If configured in Settings, press your designated key combination from anywhere.

Paused state

When paused, the tray icon dims. No hotkeys or expansions fire. The status bar inside the app shows the paused state. Resume from the tray or by pressing the pause hotkey again.

Configuring the pause hotkey

Go to Settings → Global Pause Hotkey. Click the capture field and press your chosen key combination. This hotkey fires regardless of profile, app focus, or whether that combination is assigned to something else in Keyfire. The pause hotkey must include at least one modifier.

Licence

Enter and activate a Pro licence key, or deactivate an existing one. See the Licence page for full details.

Help & Documentation

Open the user guide (this page), replay the onboarding tour, or send feedback.

Templates

Permanent access to the starter template packs and search templates. Available here after you dismiss the title bar pill button.

Global Variables PRO

Define reusable text values referenced as {{name}} in expansions. Each variable has a name and a value. Update the value once and every expansion using it updates immediately.

Default date format

Sets the format used by the bare {date} token in expansions. Choose between DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY, and YYYY-MM-DD. Explicit-format date tokens ({date:DD/MM/YYYY} etc.) are unaffected.

Privacy & Security

Telemetry

Keyfire sends a once-daily anonymous summary so we can see how the beta is used. It contains:

• Counts of actions fired by type (expansions, hotkeys, macros)
• Counts of items in your library (assignments, expansions, etc.)
• Your plan tier (Free or Pro)
• The Keyfire version

No content, no identifiers, no IP logging. One click in Settings turns it off forever.

Clipboard

General

Global Pause Hotkey

Click the capture field and press any key combination to set it as the global pause / resume toggle. Must include at least one modifier. Bare keys cannot be used as the pause hotkey.

Quick Search

Hold trigger threshold PRO

How long you must hold a key before the hold action fires. Adjustable between 200ms and 700ms. Default 350ms.

Compatibility

Backup & Restore

Keyfire automatically creates timestamped backups of your config and maintains a last-known-good copy. If the main config becomes corrupted, Keyfire restores from the best available backup on startup.

Keyfire logs every hotkey, expansion, and macro fired, entirely locally in a SQLite database on your machine. View your stats in the Analytics tab in the title bar.

Free analytics

Available to all users:

Pro analytics

Pro users get additional detailed analytics:

Time saved calculation

Keyfire estimates time saved per action type: expansions = character count × 0.3 seconds, hotkeys = 3 seconds, macros and AHK scripts = 5 seconds. These are conservative estimates of the time each action saves versus doing it manually.

Reset

Click Reset Statistics at the bottom of the analytics panel to delete all data and start fresh. Cannot be undone.

Keyfire is free to use with all core features included. A Pro licence unlocks additional capabilities including formulas, hold triggers, multiple variants per expansion, image expansions, global variables, auto-switching app profiles, extended clipboard retention, and detailed analytics.

Activating a licence

Beta licences

During the beta period, Pro licences are free and request-based. Request one from the Upgrade modal inside Keyfire. We email a key to the address you supply, normally within a day. Beta keys have a 30-day expiry and work on unlimited machines while the beta runs.

Deactivating

Click Deactivate Licence in the Licence section to remove the Pro licence from this machine. Post-beta this will free up an activation slot for use on another device.

What Pro unlocks

A hotkey is not firing

A text expansion is not triggering

A formula is rendering as «error: …»

SmartScreen warning on install

Expected for new apps that have not built up a Windows reputation. Click More info → Run anyway. You should see Publisher: Node Group Ltd in the dialog, confirming the installer is genuine. The warning fades once Microsoft has seen enough installs from our signed builds.

Something crashed or behaved unexpectedly

Go to Settings → Open Logs Folder and find trigr.log. The log records what Keyfire was doing at the time. Attach it to a feedback form submission or email it to admin@keyfire.app.

Shortcuts stopped working globally

Keyfire uses a Windows keyboard hook to capture global keypresses. In rare cases Windows can disable hooks under high system load. The heartbeat monitor should detect this and reinstall the hook automatically. If shortcuts stop working, right-click the tray icon and restart Keyfire.

Gaming & anti-cheat