flash

Flash and Hammerspoon

Hammerspoon is “Staggeringly powerful macOS desktop automation with Lua”: “a bridge between the operating system and a Lua scripting engine”. It is MIT, about 16,000 stars, macOS 13+, with infrequent releases (1.1.1 in February 2026) and a maintainer who called it “kinda already in maintenance mode” in 2023. It is not a hint tool, but many people use it for the hotkeys, window moves and launchers that Flash also provides, and the question “why not Hammerspoon” is fair.

	Hammerspoon	Flash
License, price	MIT, free	MIT, free
Platforms	macOS 13+	macOS 14+
Permissions	Accessibility, plus whatever a module needs	Accessibility; Automation per browser for tab lists; Screen Recording only for `:screenshot`
Model	You write `init.lua`; ~140 Spoons as plugins	A ready-made keyboard layer; TOML, no code
Hints	`hs.hints` labels windows only; element hints need `hs.axuielement` code (Vimnav.spoon did it, now archived)	Element hints in every app, built in
Modes	Modal hotkeys you build with `hs.hotkey.modal`	NORMAL, INSERT, COMMAND, TERMINAL, with per-app action resolution
Windows	Full control through `hs.window`, including filters and layouts	Named positions, proportional frames, placement rules, directional focus, full screen
Bar and widgets	`hs.menubar`, `hs.canvas` drawn by you	Status bar and widgets from tmux formats
Extensibility	Any Lua, any API	Plugins over JSON lines, sandboxed; `flash <verb>` CLI
Maintenance	1.1.1, February 2026; slow	1.0.0, October 2026

Where Hammerspoon is stronger

It can do anything. URL handlers, audio devices, Wi-Fi events, USB, timers, notifications, drawing, AppleScript, HTTP servers: if macOS has an API, there is a module.
Window management is programmable beyond fixed positions: filters, layouts per display, event-driven arrangements.
Spoons package ready-made behaviours, and the community has written Lua for most needs over a decade.
One process for all your automation, if you already live in it.

Where Flash is stronger

Element hints, modes and a bar without writing them. The Vimium-style Spoon that existed is archived; Hammerspoon’s own hs.hints only labels windows.
Latency. Flash’s hint path is prepared per window and measured; Hammerspoon window moves were called “deathly slow” on HN, and every callback runs Lua on the main thread.
A declarative file that flash config_check validates, with live reload and a :help page that shows the effective mappings.
A plugin sandbox with declared capabilities. Lua in Hammerspoon has the whole machine.

Flash features you might like

window_move --position=lefthalf and --x=10% --y=10% --width=80% --height=80%, and placement rules by app and title (windows).
app_open --name=Firefox, media output 'Studio Speakers', media volumedown as mappings.
Alerts and the mode pill in the bar replace hs.alert for most uses.
flash <verb> from Lua keeps Hammerspoon as the glue where you want it.

Moving from Hammerspoon

The migration guide maps hotkeys, window controls, app launching and alerts one by one, and lists what stays better in Lua. The short version:

Hammerspoon	Flash
`hs.hotkey.bind({"cmd","alt"}, "left", ...)`	`"cmd+alt+left" = ["flash", "window_move", "--position=lefthalf"]`
`hs.application.launchOrFocus("Firefox")`	`["flash", "app_open", "--name=Firefox"]`
`hs.hotkey.modal`	`[mode.normal.mappings]` and `enter_normal_mode`
`hs.hints.windowHints()`	`:flashlight @windows`, or `window_focus --direction=`
`hs.menubar` items	`[statusbar]` templates (status format)
`hs.alert.show`	Flash’s alert for its own verbs; keep Hammerspoon for custom alerts
Event-driven Lua (Wi-Fi, USB, screen changes)	Keep Hammerspoon, call `flash <verb>` from it

[mode.all.mappings]
"cmd+alt+left" = ["flash", "window_move", "--position=lefthalf"]
"cmd+alt+right" = ["flash", "window_move", "--position=righthalf"]
"cmd+alt+f" = ["flash", "app_open", "--name=Firefox"]

Running both is the normal arrangement for Hammerspoon users: Flash owns hints, modes and the bar; Hammerspoon keeps the automations Flash does not attempt.

Checked 2026-10-14 against hammerspoon.org, the hs.hints and hs.axuielement docs, and the Spoons list.

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