Keyboard layers (Karabiner-Elements)

Status: Reference · Updated: 23 Sep 2026

Personal reference for my macOS keyboard setup, kept here so it travels with me. It is deliberately left out of the sidebar; search for keyboard to find it.

Three behaviours, all implemented as Karabiner-Elements complex modifications:

1. Hold Tab for a symbol layer on the home rows. Tapping Tab still types Tab.
2. Hold Right Option for numbers on the home row.
3. Caps Lock taps as Escape and holds as Control.

Source of truth for the rules is the karabiner-symbol-layer repo. The files below are a snapshot of the design package from 23 Sep 2026.

Cheat sheet

Print-ready PDF (A4 landscape) Karabiner rules JSON

Symbol layer: hold Tab

Row	Key	Output	Key	Output	Key	Output	Key	Output	Key	Output
Top	W	@	E	#	R	$	T	%	Y	\
	U	^	I	&	O	*	P	|
Home	D	+	F	!	G	~	H	_	J	(
	K	)	L	{	;	}
Bottom	B	`	N	=	M	[	,	]	.	<
	/	>

Grouped by category, as on the cheat sheet:

• Brackets: J ( · K ) · L { · ; } · M [ · , ] · . < · / >
• Operators: N = · D + · F ! · I & · P | · U ^ · O * · T %
• Other: W @ · E # · R $ · Y \ · H _ · G ~ · B `

On the UK (British) input source, Tab+E sends Option+3 so it still types #. The rules cover both UK and US layouts.

Number layer: hold Right Option

Key	A	S	D	F	G	H	J	K	M	,
Output	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0

Tap / hold keys

Key	Tap	Hold
Caps Lock	Escape	Control
Tab	Tab	Symbol layer

Setting it up on a new Mac

1. Install Karabiner-Elements and grant it the input-monitoring permissions it asks for.

2. Drop the rules file into the complex-modifications folder:

   mkdir -p ~/.config/karabiner/assets/complex_modifications
   curl -fsSL https://ganindu7.github.io/deepnotes/topics/utils/keyboard_layers/karabiner-rules.json \
     -o ~/.config/karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/coding-layers.json
   

3. In Karabiner-Elements open Complex Modifications, click Add rule, and enable the three rules under “Coding layers (Tab symbols, Right Option numbers, Caps Esc/Ctrl)”.

For the full install with the keybr practice drills and launchd bits, clone the karabiner-symbol-layer repo and use its Makefile instead.

Files in this folder

File	What it is
cheat-sheet.png	The visual reference above, A4 landscape at 2x.
cheat-sheet.pdf	Same design, print-ready.
cheat-sheet.html	Static HTML/CSS source of the design. Fixed size, not responsive.
karabiner-rules.json	The actual Karabiner rules in complex_modifications format.
keymap.json	Layers, triggers and key to output mappings as data.
design-tokens.json	Colours, fonts, sizes and spacing used by the cheat sheet.