# Hammerspoon

A free, open-source Lua bridge to macOS system APIs — not a dedicated window manager itself, but the deepest way to script your own custom window-tiling behavior.

- **Category:** [Utilities](https://notchlist.vercel.app/category/utilities/)
- **Price:** Free
- **Open source:** yes
- **Official site:** https://www.hammerspoon.org/
- **Available via:** Homebrew, Direct
- **Maker:** Hammerspoon (open-source community project)

## Kitsmith's take

Hammerspoon is a general automation framework, not a single-purpose window manager: it exposes macOS APIs (windows, screens, audio, battery, wifi, clipboard, and more) to a Lua scripting engine, and you write a config file to connect events to actions. Its most common real-world use, and the reason it shows up in window-manager roundups, is exactly that: people write Lua scripts for xmonad-style tiling, using pre-made community packages (“Spoons”) or from scratch. That flexibility is also the cost of entry — unlike the other tools in this section, Hammerspoon does nothing until you script it. Community-maintained (“Lots of people!”, per the project’s own site) with an active Discord.

## Features

- **Full macOS API surface:** Windows, screens, audio devices, battery, wifi, clipboard, mouse, and low-level keyboard events, all scriptable.
- **Spoons:** Pre-made, shareable Lua plugins — including window-tiling ones — so you don’t have to script everything from scratch.
- **Event-driven config:** Bind a keyboard shortcut, a wifi network change, or a battery threshold to any action you write.

## FAQ

**Is Hammerspoon a window manager?**

Not by itself — it’s a general macOS automation framework. Tiling window management is something you script yourself, often using a community “Spoon,” which is why it shows up in window-manager lists.

**Is Hammerspoon free?**

Yes, free and open source.

**Do I need to know Lua to use Hammerspoon?**

To get real use out of it, yes — out of the box it does nothing until you write or install a config. Its Getting Started guide and community Spoons lower the bar somewhat.


---

Hand-verified listing on Kitsmith: https://notchlist.vercel.app/apps/hammerspoon/