macOS: Option as Alt

Inside Skink: Ctrl+E, then help macos.

Mac terminals type a character for Option+key (Option+Z gives "Ω"). Skink reads those characters back as the Alt chord when that chord does something, so Option+Z zooms but Ω still types where Option+Z means nothing. "macoptionisalt": "auto" (the default), "always" or "never".

Dead keys (Option+E, I, N, U, \`) cannot be read back. Set your terminal to send Option as Alt:

| Terminal | Setting | |---|---| | Ghostty | macos-option-as-alt = left | | Kitty | macos_option_as_alt left | | WezTerm | send_composed_key_when_left_alt_is_pressed = false | | iTerm2 | Profiles › Keys › Left Option key: Esc+ | | Terminal.app | Settings › Profiles › Keyboard › Use Option as Meta key | | Alacritty | option_as_alt = "OnlyLeft" |

Skink also turns on the kitty keyboard protocol in Ghostty, Kitty and WezTerm.

Keys that never need Alt: F1 palette, :recent, :zoom, :dotfiles, F5 / F9 / F10 debugging; Ctrl+Z is always undo. And every key has a [typed command](typed).