Halmak

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Quick Facts

	Bigram	Skipgram
Same Finger	2.06% (P85)	4.51% (P34)
Full Scissor	0.03% (P7)	0.19% (P31)
Half Scissor	1.71% (P55)	1.81% (P15)
Lat. Stretch	0.31% (P6)	0.55% (P5)
	Total
Redirect	1.81% (P29)
Weak Redir.	0.38% (P59)
	Total	In	Out
2-Roll	22.51% (P26)	9.29% (P23)	8.81% (P52)
3-Roll	1.22% (P73)	0.89% (P82)	0.33% (P40)
Alternation	35.84% (P68)

Author

Nikolay Nemshilov

Year

2016

Finger Map

Traditional

GitHub Repository

Halmak is notable for being the first keyboard layout claimed to be designed by AI. The program used to create Halmak is similar to Klausler’s evolution program in that both programs simulate a series of typing tournaments and the winners of each round undergo mutations to produce the next generation of competitors. Unlike Klausler, Halmak’s genetics program evaluates layouts based on hand-chosen penalties rather than empirical keystroke timing data. Other evolutionary programs such as CarpalX take this latter approach as well, though most commonly using simulated annealing instead of tournaments.

Halmak heavily de-emphasizes center column usage, and was the first layout to push punctuation into the center columns to do so. Halmak claims to be “30% better than the best thing”. As far as stats go, its hand usage is almost exactly 50%/50% (excluding thumbs), and it successfully de-emphasizes the index fingers. However, it has high SFBs and SFTs relative to MTGAP, another evolved layout, and Colemak Mod-DH, which came out two years prior and also de-emphasizes center columns.

Install

Windows

There are two downloads available for Windows:

Method	Admin Required	Notes
Native	Yes	Official Microsoft method for adding custom keyboard layouts.
AutoHotkey	No	Requires 3rd party remapping software. Does not take effect until AutoHotkey is launched.

Native

1. Install Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC):

   MSKLC

2. Download the KLC file for Halmak:

   Halmak

3. Open the downloaded .klc file in Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator.

4. In MSKLC, go to Project → Build DLL and Setup Package.

5. Navigate to the generated folder and run setup.exe as Administrator.

6. Follow the installer instructions to complete the installation.

7. Go to Windows Settings → Time & Language → Language & Region → Language Options → Add a keyboard and select your new Halmak layout.

Note

If you forget how to type your password on Halmak and get stuck on the lock screen, you can switch to your old layout using the keyboard language/input menu.

AutoHotkey

1. Install AutoHotkey:

   AutoHotkey

2. Download the AutoHotkey script file for Halmak:

   Halmak

3. Save the downloaded .ahk file to a convenient location on your computer.

4. Double-click the .ahk file to run the script. You should see the AutoHotkey icon appear in your system tray.

5. Make sure you know how to type your computer password using Halmak.

   Caution

   Skipping this step will lock you out of your computer. If you forget how to type your password using Halmak, look up Halmak on another device, such as a phone, when unlocking the computer.

6. Your keyboard is now remapped to Halmak! The script will continue running until you close it or restart your computer.

7. To run automatically on startup: Copy the .ahk file to your Windows Startup folder:

   C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

   You can quickly access this folder by pressing Win + R, typing shell:startup, and pressing Enter.

macOS

There are two downloads available for macOS:

Method	Admin Required	Notes
Native	Optional	Does not require 3rd party key remapping software. Admin is required to install for all users and use on first login.
Karabiner-Elements	Yes	Requires 3rd party key remapping software, including the installation of a Driver Extension. Allows for remapping of only specific keyboards.

Native

Note

Only ANSI keyboards are currently supported. If you use ISO or JIS—in other words, if your enter/return key spans two rows—you will need to fill in the blank keys in the .keylayout file using Ukelele before installing.

1. Download the keylayout file for Halmak:

   Halmak

2. Extract the downloaded zip file.

3. Install the .keylayout file:

   Install Script

   Run one of the install scripts from the extracted folder:

   • install-user.sh to install for a single user
   • install-system.sh to install for all users
   • halmak_X.keylayout the layout to install
   Manual

   To install for a single user: Copy the .keylayout file from the extracted folder to ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts. Create the folder if it doesn’t exist.

   To install for all users: Copy the .keylayout file from the extracted folder to /Library/Keyboard Layouts.

   Note

   By default, macOS hides the “Library” folder. To navigate to it in Finder, open the Go to Folder dialog (Go → Go to Folder… in the menubar, or Command-Shift-G) and type in the path shown above.

4. Restart macOS.

5. Open System Settings.

6. Go to Keyboard → Text Input → Input Sources → Edit… and add your new Halmak layout.

7. Press the “+” button at the bottom left.

8. Search for “Halmak,” select your new layout, and press Add.

Note

If you forget how to type your password on Halmak and get stuck on the Lock Screen, you can switch to your old layout using the Input menu at the top of the screen.

Karabiner-Elements

1. Install Karabiner-Elements:

   Karabiner-Elements

2. Download the Karabiner rule file for Halmak:

   Halmak

3. In Karabiner-Elements Settings, go to “Complex Modifications,” then press “Add predefined rule” at the top.

4. Make sure you know how to type your computer password using Halmak.

   Caution

   Skipping this step will lock you out of your computer. If you forget how to type your password using Halmak, look up Halmak on another device, such as a phone, when unlocking the computer.

5. Scroll down to the “Halmak” section and enable the rule you want.

   “All keyboards” remaps Halmak onto all keyboards while connected to this computer. Select this reason unless you want to exclude some keyboards from remapping.

   “Built-in keyboard only” remaps your device's built-in keyboard, as well as any other keyboard for which “Treat as built-in keyboard” (under the “Devices” section) is enabled. Select this option if you plan to map Halmak onto an external keyboard using custom firmware.

6. To use Halmak on the password entry screen before logging in, follow the official instructions:

   How to enable before login

Linux

1. Download the XKB file for Halmak:

   Halmak

2. Extract the downloaded tar.gz file.

3. Run the install script from the extracted folder:

   sudo ./install-system.sh

   This copies the layout files to /usr/share/X11/xkb and registers the layout with the system.

4. Add the layout to your desktop environment. Refer to your desktop environment's documentation for specific instructions.

Note

If you forget how to type your password on Halmak and get stuck on the lock screen, you can usually switch back to your previous keyboard layout using the keyboard layout switcher.

Finger and Hand Balance

Finger Usage

Hand Balance (All Fingers)

Hand Balance (No Thumbs)

Same-Finger

Same-Finger Bigrams (SFB)

Excluding Same-Key

Including Same-Key

By Finger

By Distance

Same-Finger Skipgrams (SFS1)

Excluding Same-Key

Including Same-Key

By Finger

By Distance

Same-Finger Trigrams (SFT)

Excluding Same-Key

Including Same-Key

By Finger

By Distance

Scissors

Half-Scissor Bigrams (HSB)

Full-Scissor Bigrams (FSB)

Half-Scissor Skipgrams (HSS1)

Full-Scissor Skipgrams (FSS1)

Lateral Stretch

Lateral Stretch Bigrams (LSB)

Lateral Stretch Skipgrams (LSS1)

Rhythm

Alternation/Rolls

With Thumbs

Without Thumbs

Roll Direction (In/Out)

With Thumbs

Without Thumbs

One-Hands (In/Out)

With Thumbs

Without Thumbs

Total Redirects

Weak Redirects

Thumb Redirects