I recently stumbled upon the hyper and super keys on emacs here.

What I like about this setup is that I rarely use the Function key in my day to day usage, so this is making good use of a key that’s both mostly unused and conveniently located in my keyboard, to the effect of running potentially complex tasks (like exporting the currently selected org mode subtree to a pdf and opening it) with just two keys.

Here’s my current configuration:

;; hyper key shortcuts: http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_hyper_super_keys.html
(setq ns-function-modifier 'hyper)  ; make Fn key do Hyper

(global-set-key (kbd "H-a") 'org-agenda)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-d") 'delete-other-windows)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-i") 'org-clock-in)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-o") 'org-clock-out)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-s") 'org-schedule)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-b") 'ido-switch-buffer)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-r") 'org-archive-subtree-default)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-m") 'evil-mc-make-all-cursors)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-n") 'evil-mc-undo-all-cursors)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-k") 'epa-encrypt-region)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-l") 'epa-decrypt-region)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-j") 'eww)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-v") 'darkroom-mode)
(global-set-key (kbd "H-x") 'toggle-frame-fullscreen)


(defun open-ansi-term-localhost ()
(interactive)
(ansi-term "/bin/bash" "localhost"))

(global-set-key (kbd "H-t") 'open-ansi-term-localhost)
;; C-c C-e C-s l o  export current subtree to latex pdf and open
(global-set-key (kbd "H-e") (kbd "C-c C-e C-s l o"))
;; same, but html buffer and open
(global-set-key (kbd "H-w") (kbd "C-c C-e C-s h H"))
;; same, but ascii and open
(global-set-key (kbd "H-q") (kbd "C-c C-e C-s t A"))
;; plain org export
(global-set-key (kbd "H-y") 'org-export-dispatch) 
;; org capture
(global-set-key (kbd "H-c") 'org-capture) 
;; eval lisp
(global-set-key (kbd "H-z") 'org-ctrl-c-ctrl-c)

Something interesting here is that the target can be a function or another keyboard combination. The latter is useful if you can’t easily find the function you want, or if you want to pass arguments along with it, like I am doing in my org export shortcuts.

As for how to keep up with the growing amount of hyper key based shortcuts, I am using the old school technology of little sticker labels with a descriptive text on each key. It’s cheap and works wonders until I build the corresponding muscle memory.

Nothing groundbreaking for seasoned emacs users but I thought it could be useful to newbies such as myself (I have been using the editor in one form or another for several years already, but with evil-mode, and using only a small subset of its features).