macos_keyboard_remapper: remap QWERTY to Dvorak on macOS

this simple macOS daemon will remap keys from the US QWERTY layout to Dvorak layout iff no "control" or "command" keys are pressed. this is done in order to preserve compatibility with apps that define their keybindings relative to QWERTY.

why another keyboard remapper?

save for Karabiner-Elements, i have not found any other tools that have similar functionality. but the latter forces me to learn a complicated JSON-based DSL to perform the same simple task. i could not figure out how to make it respect "caps lock" with Dvorak, or how to still remap to Dvorak while an "alt" is pressed

installation

1. install the binary into your ~/.cargo/bin with cargo install macos_keyboard_remapper
2. make sure that ~/.cargo/bin is in $PATH
3. run macos_keyboard_remapper install to install the service. you will be asked for permission to control your computer; grant it
4. wait a few seconds and enjoy

deinstallation

1. run macos_keyboard_remapper uninstall
2. remove the granted accessibility permission in system settings

acknowledgements

most of the work was done by o4-mini and OpenAI Codex, huge thanks to the team that made them