Keybindings

Every default binding, grouped by intent. Super is scoot’s own modifier throughout; directions are vim’s h j k l. The rightmost column is the action string — the same grammar scootctl action takes and [binds] uses, so each row is also its own rebind recipe.

Cheat sheet

The whole map on one card — print it, or keep it on a second screen until your fingers learn it:

	h	j / k	l
Super	focus column left	focus window down / up	focus column right
+ Shift	move column left	move window down / up	move column right
+ Alt	consume / expel	—	consume / expel
+ Ctrl	—	focus workspace down / up	—
+ Ctrl+Shift	—	carry window to workspace down / up	—

Super+1…9 / +Shift	go to workspace N / carry window there
Super+comma / period (+Shift)	focus output left / right, wrapping (carry with Shift)
Super+r / f / m	cycle width / fullscreen / maximize
Super+Space / +Shift+Space	focus floating vs strip / float or un-float
Super+Return / q / Shift+e	terminal / close window / quit

Move around

Keys	Does	Action
Super+h / l	Focus column left / right	focus-column left|right
Super+j / k	Focus window down / up	focus-window down|up
Super+Ctrl+j / k	Focus workspace down / up	focus-workspace down|up
Super+1…9	Focus workspace 1–9 directly	focus-workspace-index N
Super+comma / period	Focus output left / right (wraps)	focus-output-left|right
Super+Space	Move focus between floating windows and the strip	toggle-floating-focus

Targeting a workspace that doesn’t exist yet does nothing — it neither creates one nor falls back. (Empty workspaces are dropped, so an index only means something against the list it was read from.)

Move windows

Keys	Does	Action
Super+Shift+h / l	Move column left / right	move-column left|right
Super+Shift+j / k	Move window down / up	move-window down|up
Super+Ctrl+Shift+j / k	Move window to workspace down / up	move-window-to-workspace down|up
Super+Shift+1…9	Move window to workspace 1–9	move-window-to-workspace-index N
Super+Shift+comma / period	Move window to output left / right (and follow it)	move-window-to-output-left|right
Super+Alt+h / l	Consume into / expel from a column	consume-or-expel left|right

Shape windows

Keys	Does	Action
Super+r	Cycle the column’s width	cycle-column-width
Super+f	Fullscreen on / off	toggle-fullscreen
Super+m	Maximize on / off (bar stays visible)	toggle-maximize
Super+Shift+Space	Float the window, or put it back	toggle-floating
Super+drag	Move / resize a floating window (left / right button)	[floating] modifier

Launch and leave

Keys	Does	Action
Super+Return	Open a terminal (foot)	spawn foot
Super+q	Close the focused window	close
Super+Shift+e	Quit scoot	quit

Quit is deliberately Super+Shift+e, not Super+Shift+q: one slipped Shift away from “close window”, and a slip shouldn’t end the whole session.

Under --tty, Ctrl+Alt+F1…F12 additionally switch VTs — always winning over config binds, so the recovery path survives a bad config.

Change one binding

Bindings live in [binds] in ~/.config/scoot/config.toml: "combo" = "action string". Combos are modifier+modifier+...+key (super+shift+h); names are case-insensitive; a capital letter names the unshifted key, so Shift chords spell Shift out. To open a different terminal:

[binds]
"super+Return" = "spawn alacritty"

Then apply it without restarting:

scootctl reload

Keybindings reload live — like the layout, outputs, appearance, floating rules and autostart. Only [tty] gpu, [renderer] backend, [xwayland] enabled and an output’s mode need a restart, and a reload says so by name instead of silently ignoring them. A mistake never stops scoot from starting: it logs the problem and uses the default.

Want the whole file, commented? scoot --print-default-config --write writes it once (and refuses rather than overwriting).

The bind grammar

A [binds] entry is "combo" = "action string". A combo is modifier+modifier+...+key (super+shift+h), or a bare key with no modifier ("Return" = "close" — legal, intercepting every press of that key with no modifier held). Whitespace around + is ignored. Modifier names are case-insensitive: ctrl/control, shift, alt, super/logo/meta/cmd. The key is an xkb keysym name, tried exactly then case-insensitively — and binds match a key’s unshifted symbol, so "A" means plain a, exactly like "a": write "shift+a" for the Shift chord.

Two failure behaviors worth knowing, since both fail silently rather than as a startup error: a bind that doesn’t parse is skipped with a warning naming just that bind (everything else still loads); and two combo strings resolving to the same combination ("Super+H" vs "super+h") are both skipped — “last one wins” would be run-to-run-unstable, so the colliding group is dropped instead. There is no “unbind” action: a user bind on a combo with a default simply replaces it, and removing a bind from the file falls back to its default (or to unbound).

A bind can also be a table with the action under action plus two opt-ins — one entry carrying everything about one combo, rather than a second list of combos elsewhere that could disagree with the action:

[binds]
"XF86AudioRaiseVolume" = { action = "spawn wpctl set-volume @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ 5%+", repeat = true, allow_when_locked = true }

To hold volume-up and have it keep stepping, that is the whole recipe: repeat = true. To have the key work on the lock screen too, allow_when_locked = true beside it.

• repeat re-fires the bind while its key is held — after a 200 ms delay, then 25 times a second (the seat keyboard’s own rate, so binds step exactly the way a held key repeats in a terminal). The timer exists only while such a key is held. quit and close never repeat, even when flagged — holding quit must never end the session. Flagging either warns and runs the bind once.
• allow_when_locked lets a spawn bind fire while the session is locked — volume, brightness and media keys from the lock screen. Anything else keeps today’s refusal even when flagged, and scoot msg action ... stays refused while locked too: an IPC request carries an arbitrary command from whoever sent it, while a bind can only run its config-pinned command.

Both default off, so a plain "combo" = "action" string behaves exactly as before: fire once, never locked. A table entry missing its action, or a non-boolean flag, warns and falls back; an unknown field warns and is ignored, while the rest of the entry applies.

Fullscreen and maximize, spelled out: Super+f covers the whole output while its column is focused — gaps, ring and a bar’s reserved strip included — keeping its place in the strip (focus away and the view scrolls on; focus back and it covers again). Surfaces on the top layer hide under it; overlay and the lock screen stay above. Super+m fills the usable area instead (bar visible, gaps and ring kept). Both restore the layout exactly on leave; moving the window, or focusing a window stacked in the same column, ends them.