Simulating out of window keypresses in Electron

Question

I am looking for references how to achieve keypresses out of Electron's window (so even when window is minimized). Similar to AutoHotKey. I was using python to achieve this ( using pynput ) but I wanted to switch to Electron for its ease of creating UI. So far I've tried something like this:

  window.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => {
  console.log(e)
})

window.dispatchEvent(new KeyboardEvent('keydown', {
key: "e",
keyCode: 69,
code: "KeyE",
which: 69,
shiftKey: false,
ctrlKey: false,
metaKey: true
}));

Even though I am listening for keys properly, this doesn't seem to work as I'd like it to. I would be grateful for recommendations to any further readings, tutorials, etc.

Answer 1

Instead to trying to listen for key presses in the render thread, use the main thread instead.

See Electron's globalShortcut for more information.

For a list of available shortcut combinations see Accelerator.

This functionality will work even if the window is minimised.

main.js (main thread)

const electronApp = require('electron').app
const electronGlobalShortcut = require('electron').globalShortcut

let window = null;

electronApp.on('ready', () => {
    // Create a window.
    window = new electronBrowserWindow ({ ... });

    // Load the window.
    window.loadFile('./index.html')

    // Register your global shortcut(s).
    electronGlobalShortcut.register('Alt+J', shortcutPressed(); )

    // Prove it works.
    function shortcutPressed() {
        console.log('Alt+J was pressed.');
    }
})

app.on('will-quit', () => {
    // Don't forget to unregister your global shortcut(s).
    globalShortcut.unregister('Alt+J')
})