Using Variables in BetterTouchTool
Variables in BTT can be quite useful when using Apple Script / Java Script and the like There are three types of variables:
- Temporary Variables - will only be available until BTT quits
- Persistent Variables - will be persisted and be available all the time
- Dynamic Variables - they are calculated dynamically. BTT comes with a small set of helpful dynamic variables.
Dynamic Variables provided by BTT:
Important: ALL variables you can see in Conditional Activation Groups or in Advanced Trigger Conditions can also be queried via script!
- selected_text - The currently selected text. Readonly.
- BTTActiveWindowTitle - The title of the ative window. Readonly.
- ActiveSpace - The ID number of the active space
- OutputVolume - The current output volume of the system. Readable and writable.
- BuiltInDisplayBrightness - The brightness of the built in display. Readable and writable.
BTTCurrentlyPlaying - This variable returns whether the system is currently playing music/video (1 or 0). When called it also starts to observe further details and will make the following variables available:
- BTTNowPlayingInfoArtist
- BTTNowPlayingInfoTitle
- BTTNowPlayingInfoAlbum
- BTTNowPlayingInfoDuration
- BTTNowPlayingInfoTrackNumber
BTTTouchBarVisible - Tells you whether the BTT custom Touch Bar is currently visible or not.
BTTCurrentlyPlayingApp - the app identifier of the app that is currently playing video or audio. Read only.
BTTInternalNightShiftState - Is the BTT night shift currently active or not? (Does not necessarily represent the system night shift state)
SystemDoNotDisturbState - The current state of "do not disturb". Readable & writable.
- BluetoothConnectionState-MACADRESS-OR-NAME - Returns whether a device is connected. Can contain wildcards (kind of dynamic-dynamic variable). E.g. BluetoothConnectionState-Airpod. Radable and writable.
- BTTActiveAppBundleIdentifier - The bundle identifier of the currently active app. Readonly.
- BTTActiveWindowNumber - The window number of the active window (to identify a window). Readonly.
- BTTTouchBarHasPhysicalESCKey - Is 1 if the TouchBar Macbook has a physical ESC key. Readonly.
- BTTLastTriggeredAction - The id of the last triggered BTT action. Readonly.
- BTTLastTriggeredUUID - The UUID of the last triggered BTT action. Readonly.
- BTTLastTriggerTime - The timestamp when the last BTT action was triggered.
You can always see your temporary and dynamic variables in the BetterTouchTool settings:
Advanced Trigger Condition Variables
Every variable that can be used inside of advanced trigger conditions or conditional activation groups can also be used anywhere else where variables can be used. As of version 4.865 these advanced trigger condition variables are available:
color_under_cursorfocused_element_rolefocused_element_subroleselected_textconnected_wifi_nameactive_website_urlfocused_window_titlefocused_window_app_nameactive_app_nameactive_app_bundle_identifierleft_mouse_downmiddle_mouse_downright_mouse_downcurrently_pressed_mouse_buttonscurrently_pressed_keyboard_keystrackpad_idfingers_touching_trackpadtrackpad_touch_durationthumb_recognizedthumb_x_percentthumb_y_percentleftmost_touch_xleftmost_touch_yrightmost_touch_xrightmost_touch_yfingers_touching_magic_mousemagic_mouse_touch_durationleftmost_mouse_touch_xleftmost_mouse_touch_yrightmost_mouse_touch_xrightmost_mouse_touch_ymouse_position_xmouse_position_ymouse_pos_percent_xmouse_pos_percent_ywindow_titlebar_hovereddist_x_active_win_top_leftdist_y_active_win_top_leftdist_x_active_win_top_rightdist_y_active_win_top_rightdist_x_active_win_bottom_leftdist_y_active_win_bottom_leftdist_x_active_win_bottom_rightdist_y_active_win_bottom_rightpercent_x_active_win_btm_leftpercent_y_active_win_btm_leftpercent_x_hovered_win_btm_leftpercent_y_hovered_win_btm_leftmouse_screen_xmouse_screen_ymouse_screen_widthmouse_screen_heightfocused_screen_xfocused_screen_yfocused_screen_widthfocused_screen_heightfocused_window_xfocused_window_yfocused_window_widthfocused_window_heighthovered_floating_menu_identifiervisible_floating_menu_identifiersfullscreen_activeactive_screen_resolutionsmissioncontrol_activecurrently_blocking_keyboardpower_sourcebattery_levelactive_spacedarkmode_activecurrent_minutecurrent_hourcurrent_daycurrent_weekday (SUN = 1)
And these are available via the Conditional Activation Groups:
bundleIdentifierprocessNamerunningProcessesappNameappExecutablePathwindowNameconnectedWifiNameactiveWebsiteURLactiveTouchBarGroupfocusedElementRolefocusedElementSubrolecustomVariable1customVariable2customVariable3customVariable4customVariable5activeScreenResolutionscurrentlyPressedStreamDeckButtonIdentifiershovered_floating_menu_identifiervisible_floating_menu_identifiersBTTCurrentlyPlayingAppBTTCurrentlyPlayingmouseBehindNotchcurrentlyBlockingKeyboard
Some other variables that might be available depending on the context:
mouse_screen_xmouse_screen_ymouse_screen_widthmouse_screen_heightfocused_screen_xfocused_screen_yfocused_screen_widthfocused_screen_heightpinned_window_idsBTTActiveWindowTitleBTTActiveWindowNumbercurrentlyBlockingKeyboardBTTLastTerminalCommandResultBTTMagicMouseTouchpadModeActiveBTTSiriRemoteMouseModeActiveBTTFinderContextMenuTriggeredUUIDBTTFinderContextMenuTargetPathBTTFinderContextMenuSelectedItemPathsCurrentKeyboardInputSource