Cantos
Hot corners for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Throw the cursor into a corner of the screen and something happens.
canto is Portuguese for corner
A single executable of about 1 MB, no runtime to install. Sits in the tray (or
the menu bar) using about 2 MB and no measurable CPU.
Install
Windows
scoop bucket add kidchenko https://github.com/kidchenko/scoop-bucket
scoop install kidchenko/cantos
winget and Chocolatey packages are on the way.
Or download from Releases:
Cantos-Setup-<version>.exe to install, or cantos-<version>-x64.exe to run
without installing.
The binary is not code-signed, so SmartScreen warns on first run. Click
More info, then Run anyway.
macOS
Download Cantos-<version>.dmg from
Releases and drag
Cantos to Applications. One universal build for Apple silicon and Intel,
macOS 11 or later.
The app is ad-hoc signed, not notarised, so the first open is refused.
Right-click Cantos.app, choose Open, then Open again (on macOS 15 and
later: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway).
On a Mac, Cantos is mostly a front end for macOS's own hot corners (System
Settings > Desktop & Dock > Hot Corners) rather than a second set of them. It
reads them from the Dock, shows them in its window, and writes your changes
back; the Dock does the firing, so those corners keep working even when
Cantos is not running. Change a corner in System Settings and Cantos shows it
within a second, and the other way round. A corner can also take one of
Cantos's own actions, which the Dock cannot do; see Actions.
Linux
Download cantos-<version>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz from
Releases, then:
tar xzf cantos-*-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd cantos-*-linux-x86_64 && ./install.sh # into ~/.local, no root
It needs GTK 3 and an AppIndicator library, which most desktops already
have. On Debian and Ubuntu:
sudo apt install libgtk-3-0 libayatana-appindicator3-1 libxdo3
X11 only. Under Wayland an app cannot read the cursor position over other
apps' windows, by design, so corners fire unreliably at best. Cantos says so in
its log and settings window. Pick an "Xorg" or "X11" session at the login
screen; GNOME and KDE also have built-in hot corners / screen edges for
Wayland.
Actions
Each platform lists only what it can actually do, plus anything you can launch
yourself.
Windows
| |
|---|
| Windows & desktops | Task View Win+Tab · Show desktop Win+D · Minimize all Win+M · Previous desktop Ctrl+Win+Left · Next desktop Ctrl+Win+Right |
| Shell | Start menu · Search Win+S · Settings Win+I · Quick Settings Win+A · Notifications Win+N · Quick Link menu Win+X · Run Win+R |
| Tools | File Explorer Win+E · Screenshot Win+Shift+S · Clipboard history Win+V · Emoji picker Win+. · Project / second screen Win+P |
| Power & screen | Lock · Screensaver · Turn display off |
| Custom | Any program, script, document, or URL, with arguments |
macOS
Each corner's menu has two sections. Each corner can also require a key
(⇧ ⌃ ⌥ ⌘), as in System Settings.
| |
|---|
| macOS (always work, even with Cantos quit) | Mission Control · Application Windows · Desktop · Notification Centre · Launchpad · Quick Note · Start Screen Saver · Disable Screen Saver · Put Display to Sleep · Lock Screen |
| Cantos (while Cantos runs) | Spotlight ⌘Space · Finder · System Settings · Screenshot · Emoji & Symbols ⌃⌘Space · Previous desktop ⌃← · Next desktop ⌃→ · Custom command |
The first section is the Dock's own: Cantos writes the corner into the Dock's
settings and the Dock fires it. A Cantos action clears that corner in the
Dock and Cantos fires it itself, so nothing ever fires twice; its card in the
settings window is tagged CANTOS. The actions with a shortcut beside them
press it, which macOS only allows with the Accessibility permission:
macOS asks when you put one on a corner, or at launch if one is already set
and the permission is missing. macOS fires its own corners at the outer
corners of the whole display arrangement, and Cantos does the same.
Saving a change restarts the Dock, because the Dock only reads these
settings when it starts. It is back within a second, with your windows and
Spaces as they were. System Settings does the same thing without the visible
restart, through a private interface that does not work from outside it on
macOS 26.
Linux (X11)
| |
|---|
| Windows & desktops | Overview Super · Show desktop · Previous desktop · Next desktop |
| Tools | Files · Screenshot Print · Settings |
| Power & screen | Lock · Screensaver · Turn display off |
| Custom | Any program, script, document, or URL, with arguments |
Show desktop and switching desktops ask the window manager directly (EWMH), so
they work on any desktop that has them. Overview and Screenshot press the key
your desktop binds: GNOME opens Activities on Super, KDE its launcher.
Settings
Left-click the tray icon (on a Mac, choose Settings… from the menu bar
icon). The window shows your actual display layout and marks which corners
are live.
Windows and Linux:
以上为 README 的开头部分。其余内容请阅读原文。 查看完整 README ↗
