Keybindings

A keybinding assigns a keyboard shortcut to a command. In [keys], the shortcut goes on the left and the command on the right.

Your keymap is not merged

A custom [keys] table replaces the bundled keymap. Keep an activation binding such as "Alt + Z" = "toggle_space_activated". An empty table disables keyboard controls; you can still activate a Space from Terminal with rift-cli execute space toggle-activated.

Defining keys

Merge these examples into an existing config; keep its [settings] table and all shortcuts you still need.

Quote each shortcut. A command with no options is also quoted; a command with options uses braces:

[keys]
"Alt + Z" = "toggle_space_activated"
"Alt + H" = { move_focus = "left" }
"Alt + Shift + H" = { move_node = "left" }
"Alt + R" = { resize_window_grow = "horizontal" }

Alt is Option on macOS and Meta is Command. Rift also accepts Ctrl or Control, Shift, arrow names such as Left or ArrowLeft. Spacing around + is optional for ordinary shortcuts. Named modifier combinations require the form main + H, with spaces around +.

Everyday commands

Goal	Command value
Focus a neighboring window	{ move_focus = "left" }
Move the selected window or group	{ move_node = "left" }
Switch virtual workspace	{ switch_to_workspace = 0 }
Move a window to a workspace	{ move_window_to_workspace = 0 }
Toggle floating	"toggle_window_floating"
Fill the screen with the selection	"toggle_fullscreen"
Grow along the nearest useful split	{ resize_window_grow = "smart" }
Change the active workspace’s layout	{ set_workspace_layout = { mode = "scrolling" } }

Directions are left, right, up, or down. Workspace indexes are zero-based, so 0 is the first workspace.

Reusable modifiers

Modifiers are keys such as Option, Shift, and Control held with another key. Give a repeated combination a name:

[modifier_combinations]
main = "Alt + Shift"

[keys]
"main + H" = { move_focus = "left" }
"main + L" = { move_focus = "right" }

Apply and diagnose changes

With hot reload enabled, saving a valid config updates the keymap. You can also reload it explicitly:

rift-cli execute config reload

If reload fails, read the reported command name or hotkey. Rift rejects the new config instead of partially installing its bindings.

More commands

The checked-in bundled config lists Rift’s starter keymap and documents additional command shapes in its comments. The CLI reference covers terminal commands; CLI syntax and TOML keybinding syntax are related, but they are not interchangeable.