How to Use AHK Scripts (for Windows 10 & 11)

Personal AutoHotkey fleet: global productivity hotkeys plus always-on background automation (crash recovery, Sefirah phone-link, Python servers, Linux ext4 backup SSD auto-mounting, DRM video streaming mode, Skills Vault auto-locking, and headless tablet display streaming), all orchestrated by a single compiled startup master script.

Setup & First-Time Quickstart

Getting the fleet running on a new machine requires a few one-time manual configurations (to protect your privacy), followed by a 1-click automated build and registration.

1. Manual Prerequisites (One-Time)

1. Install AutoHotkey v1.1:
   • Download the official v1.1 installer or run winget install AutoHotkey.AutoHotkey (select v1.1 if prompted).
   • Note: Every script in this fleet stays on #Requires AutoHotkey v1.1 (v2 breaks StartupScript.exe's tray submenu architecture).
2. Configure Local Paths:
   • Copy AllScripts/LocalPaths.ahk.example -> AllScripts/LocalPaths.ahk.
   • Fill in your machine-specific paths, device IPs, and optional tool locations.
   • This file is automatically gitignored to keep personal directories private.
3. Configure Personal Keywords & App Launchers:
   • Copy AllScripts/PersonalKeywords.ahk.example -> AllScripts/PersonalKeywords.ahk.
   • Add your private hotstrings, email shortcuts, or app launchers (gitignored).
4. Enable Git Leak Protection (Recommended for Git Clones):
   • Run git config core.hooksPath .githooks in your terminal.
   • Activates .githooks/pre-commit, which automatically prevents committing personal usernames, computer names, or private configuration files into public git history.
5. Optional: Linux ext4 Backup SSD Engine:
   • If using external ext4 backup SSDs via WSL2: Copy AllScripts/PowerShell/ssd_config.json.example -> AllScripts/PowerShell/ssd_config.json (gitignored) and customize your drive letter, disk model, and WSL distro.

2. Automated 1-Click Build & Auto-Start

Once your local paths are configured, compile and register the fleet:

• 1-Step Terminal Build:

  .\build_startup_exe.ps1 -Relaunch

  • Automatically compiles AllScripts\StartupScript.exe using custom icons and the base 64-bit runtime.
  • Detects if "AHK Startup Script" is missing from Windows Task Scheduler and automatically launches setup_startup_task.ps1 (prompting for Administrator approval once) to register the scheduled task.
  • Launches the fleet immediately via Task Scheduler in your standard user session.
• Explorer 1-Click Batch Wrappers:
  • Double-click .\Install_Startup_Task.bat: Self-elevates and registers the scheduled task directly.
  • Double-click .\Uninstall_Startup_Task.bat: Self-elevates and unregisters the scheduled task cleanly.
• Why Task Scheduler instead of shell:startup?
  • The task is registered with a 30-second logon delay (PT30S).
  • At Windows user logon, Windows Explorer, audio services, network adapters (Tailscale/Wi-Fi), and graphics drivers initialize concurrently across multiple threads.
  • A 30-second delay guarantees that the desktop environment settles completely before the fleet launches, preventing startup race conditions and missing notification tray icons.
  • Configured with RunLevel Limited under your standard account ($env:USERNAME), eliminating boot-time UAC prompts while preserving normal window message routing.

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Compiling & Relaunching StartupScript.exe

Windows Task Scheduler launches the compiled binary StartupScript.exe, not the .ahk source file. A source edit to StartupScript.ahk takes effect only after recompiling:

• Recompile Command: Run .\build_startup_exe.ps1 (or click "Recompile Startup" in the master tray menu).
• Safe Recompilation: Automatically terminates the running StartupScript.exe to release file locks, compiles a fresh binary via Ahk2Exe, and restarts the fleet seamlessly via Task Scheduler.
• Child Script Edits: All managed child scripts (BasicTasks.ahk, Brightness.ahk, etc.) require only an instant fleet reload (Win+Ctrl+Alt+R or click "Reload All" in the tray menu), no recompilation needed.

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Skills Vault Auto-Lock & Org Safe Mode (Claude vs. Antigravity)

Protects personal skills vaults, private study roadmaps, and sensitive configuration directories during professional or organizational pair-programming sessions.

• Automated Focus Watcher (BackgroundAutomations.ahk):
  • Continuously monitors active window focus:
    • Focusing Claude (claude.exe): Automatically triggers lock-personal-skills.ps1 to revoke permissions and lock personal vaults (org safe mode). Displays an amber/red bottom-right badge.
    • Focusing Antigravity (Antigravity.exe or agy.exe): Automatically triggers unlock-personal-skills.ps1 to restore full personal workspace permissions. Displays a deep green badge.
• Manual Cycle Mode (BasicTasks.ahk):
  • Press Win+Alt+L (or click "Cycle Skills Vault Mode" in the BasicTasks tray submenu).
  • Cycles between three modes: Auto -> Force Locked -> Force Unlocked.
  • Debounced with a 2000ms settle window and protected by a Win32 named mutex (SkillsVaultLock_AHK_v1) to prevent rapid presses from racing icacls ACL permissions sweeps.
  • Color-coded bottom-right corner badge confirms status: Deep Red for [LOCKED], Deep Green for [UNLOCKED], Deep Blue for [AUTO], and Amber for applying....

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Tablet Headless Display & Mouse Speed Engine (Moonlight / Sunshine)

Enables desktop streaming to a tablet (such as Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra) or handheld device via Moonlight and Sunshine without physical monitor constraints.

• Toggle Hotkey:
  • Press Win+Shift+P (or click "Project: Toggle Display Mode" in the BasicTasks tray submenu).
  • Laptop Screen Mode: Sets internal display to 1080p @ 144Hz, mouse speed to 10 (normal), and pointer precision to ON.
  • Tablet Streaming Mode: Switches to headless virtual display (2560x1600 @ 120Hz), boosts mouse speed to 20 (fast), and turns pointer precision OFF for 1:1 tablet stylus/touch tracking.
• Duplicate Display Tray Action:
  • Click "Project: Duplicate Display Only" in the BasicTasks tray submenu to mirror the laptop screen to the tablet dummy plug.
• Watchdog Auto-Recovery (SunshineMouseWatchdog.ahk):
  • Monitors Sunshine streaming logs and the tablet's Tailscale IP address. If the tablet drops offline or the stream terminates while fast mode is active, it automatically restores mouse speed to 10.
• Hardware Lid-Open Auto-Recovery:
  • When in tablet streaming mode with the laptop lid closed, opening the lid triggers a Win32 WM_DISPLAYCHANGE notification.
  • OnDisplayChange_LidRecovery detects the return of the internal laptop panel (DISPLAY1), restores mouse speed to 10, and switches display topology back to PC Screen Only.
• Simple Sticky Notes Multi-Resolution Auto-Arrangement (apply_ssn_layout.ps1):
  • Automatically re-arranges Simple Sticky Notes (ssn.exe) windows to match the active screen resolution and DPI scaling:
    • Laptop (1536x864 DIP): 4 columns flush against the right bezel ($X = 1268$, $W = 268 \to 1536\text{px}$).
    • Tablet (1463x914 DIP): 4 columns shifted left to fit within the narrower 1463px canvas ($X = 1190$, $W = 268 \to 1458\text{px}$, leaving a 5px margin).
  • Eliminates clumping, overlapping, and off-screen window drift across manual toggles (Win+Shift+P), Moonlight disconnects, and lid re-openings using dual-wave Win32 thread enumeration.

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DRM Video Streaming Mode (Moonlight / Sunshine)

When streaming your desktop to a tablet or remote client via Moonlight/Sunshine, DRM-protected video (Netflix, Prime Video, Hotstar, Udemy) displays as a black screen due to Chromium hardware acceleration capturing protected surfaces.

• Toggle Action: Click "Toggle DRM Streaming Mode" inside the BasicTasks tray submenu.
• How it Works:
  1. Detects active or running Chromium browsers (Brave and Google Chrome).
  2. Sends WM_CLOSE to gracefully save open tabs and session history, then terminates background processes to unlock configuration files.
  3. Atomically edits Chromium's Local State JSON file to toggle "hardware_acceleration_mode": {"enabled": false}.
  4. Relaunches the browser with --disable-gpu --restore-last-session --disable-session-crashed-bubble.
  5. Displays a color-coded bottom-right corner badge indicating the new status.
• Zero Display Alterations: Strictly modifies browser acceleration state; does not alter monitor resolutions, refresh rates, or virtual display topologies.

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Dynamic Bottom-Right Corner Badge Engine

Shared toast notification surface (AllScripts/SharedHelpers.ahk) providing clean visual feedback for debounced toggles and background events.

• Singleton Surface: A second badge update modifies text and color in place without window destruction, eliminating visual flicker and transition gaps.
• DPI Scaling Immune: Operates with -DPIScale for 1:1 physical screen pixel accuracy across high-DPI displays.
• Auto-Sizing & Aesthetics: Uses Win32 GDI DrawTextW to dynamically size the badge according to text extent, with modern 10px rounded corners applied via SetWindowRgn.
• Color Palette:
  • Deep Green (#1A6E3C): Unlocked / active state.
  • Deep Red (#8B1A1A): Locked / restricted state.
  • Deep Blue (#0D4F8B): Automatic / focus-driven state.
  • Dark Slate Grey (#3A3D40): Off / inactive state.
  • Amber (#6E5A00): In-progress / applying changes.
  • Dark Orange (#7A3B00): Error.

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Watchdog: Auto-Relaunch Applications on Exit or Crash

Watchdog.ahk watches essential background processes and automatically relaunches them if they close or crash.

• Configure watched applications in AllScripts/LocalPaths.ahk:

  WATCHDOG_APPS := [{name: "SomeApp.exe", path: "C:\Path\To\SomeApp.exe"}]

• Reacts to any application termination, checking every 10 seconds (CheckIntervalMs) and restarting missing processes silently.

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WSL ext4 Backup SSD Automation Suite

Plug-and-play auto-mount engine for external Linux ext4 SSDs on Windows 11 using WSL2, Samba, and AutoHotkey (AllScripts/Ext4SsdManager.ahk).

• Automations:
  • USB Hotplug: WM_DEVICECHANGE (0x0007 / 0x8000) detects hardware arrival via in-memory WMI check (22ms), attaches block device via zero-UAC scheduled task, starts guest keepalive, mounts ext4 (noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro), probes Samba TCP port 445, maps drive letter (default P:), and opens the configured target folder in Explorer.
  • USB Unplug: WM_DEVICECHANGE (0x8004 / hardware drop) gracefully redirects open Explorer tabs viewing the drive to "This PC" (preventing broken window errors), unmaps the drive letter, lazy-unmounts guest ext4, and cleans Hyper-V attachments.
  • Boot / Wake: Auto-reconciles state on boot and system wake (WM_POWERBROADCAST).
  • Manual Hotkeys & Tray Controls:
    • Win+Alt+M: Manual mount and open in Explorer.
    • Win+Alt+U: Safe ejection (sets flag so watchdog will not prematurely remount while plugged in).
    • Tray Menu: Click AutoHotkey tray icon -> "Additional Scripts" -> "Ext4SsdManager" -> "Mount Pixel SSD (P:)" / "Eject Pixel SSD Safely" / "Register Zero-UAC Tasks".
• Setup & Guide:
  • Double-click AllScripts\PowerShell\Install_WSL_Mount_Tasks.bat to register zero-UAC scheduled tasks.
  • See AllScripts/PowerShell/README.md for full Samba configuration steps and architecture details.

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Master Tray Menu Organization

StartupScript.ahk consolidates the entire fleet into a clean, single system tray icon:

• Left-Click & Right-Click: Both left-click and right-click on the tray icon open the master tray context menu. Nothing else.
• Pinned Scripts: Pinned scripts (BasicTasks, PersonalKeywords) sit at the top level of the menu for instant access.
• Additional Scripts Submenu: All remaining background scripts (BackgroundAutomations, Brightness, ClosePrograms, Ext4SsdManager, HotkeyHelp, SunshineMouseWatchdog, Watchdog) are collapsed into an expandable "Additional Scripts" submenu to prevent vertical clutter.
• Submenu Separator Lines: Child script submenus cleanly separate standard controls (View Key History, Edit, Restart, Exit) from custom published actions using native horizontal separator bars (-|).
• Global Fleet Actions: Positioned at the bottom: "Reload All", "Recompile Startup", "Suspend Hotkeys" (global cascade toggle), and "Exit".

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Working Hotkeys

• BRIGHTNESS

  Key	Usage
  F1	Set Current +5 Brightness
  Shift+F1	Set Current -5 Brightness
  Ctrl+PgDn	Push Brightness Extremes Down -10
  Ctrl+PgUp	Push Brightness Extremes Up +10

• BASIC TASKS

  Key	Usage
  WheelUp / WheelDown	(Over Taskbar) System Volume Up / Down when mouse is scrolled anywhere over the Windows Taskbar
  Volume_Up	Volume Up (+10)
  Volume_Down	Volume Down (-10)
  Win+Del	Empty Recycle Bin
  Win+C	Run Calculator
  Win+M	Minimize Active Window
  Win+F	Open Firefox
  Win+X+X	Sleep Laptop (double-tap Win+X puts laptop to sleep; single Win+X opens normal Quick Link menu)
  Win+Shift+A	Open Notification Center / Action Center
  Win+Shift+E	Open Screenshots Folder (%UserProfile%\Pictures\Screenshots)
  Win+Shift+J	Open Java Course Folder (%PATH_JAVA_COURSE%)
  Win+Shift+P	Toggle Display Mode (Laptop 1080p @ 144Hz <-> Tablet Headless 2560x1600 @ 120Hz)
  Win+Alt+C	Run Windows Alarm Clock (Microsoft.WindowsAlarms)
  Win+Alt+Ctrl+C	Open PowerShell 7 as Administrator
  Win+Alt+N	Clear All Notifications in Windows 11 Action Center
  Win+Alt+X	Reconnect Cloudflare WARP / Run IP Rotator (%PATH_IP_ROTATOR%)
  Win+Alt+L	Cycle Skills Vault Mode (Auto -> Force Locked -> Force Unlocked)
  Alt+Ctrl+Z	Capture selection and open in ShareX Image Editor
  Ctrl+C	(In OneNote) Intercepts OneNote copy to extract clean text instead of pasting as an image/screenshot
  Alt+F11	Toggle Window Caption Bar / Titlebar on active window (borderless fullscreen)
  Alt+X	Open Today's Calendar in browser (Checker Plus extension / Google Calendar)
  Alt+D	Open ChatGPT in browser
  Alt+G	Monica AI Grammar Correction (copies selected text and launches Monica grammar fix)
  Alt+Shift+S	Monica AI Summarize Content (copies selected text and launches Monica summary)
  Alt+Ctrl+D	Sort Explorer Folder Content by Date
  Alt+Ctrl+E	Toggle File Extension Visibility in Explorer
  Alt+Ctrl+H	Toggle Hidden Files Visibility in Explorer
  Alt+Ctrl+MouseLButton	Move background windows without activating or bringing them to foreground
  Ctrl+G	Google Search selected/clipboard text in browser
  Ctrl+T+T	Open new browser tab from anywhere (double-tap Ctrl+T)
  Ctrl+J+J	Close bottom downloads shelf in Chrome/Brave (double-tap Ctrl+J)
  Ctrl+Y+T	Open YouTube in browser
  Ctrl+Shift+V	Return to previous browser tab when capturing screenshot in Awesome Screen Recorder
  Ctrl+Shift+WheelUp	(In VS Code) Increase Whole UI Zoom (+0.05 zoomLevel)
  Ctrl+Shift+WheelDown	(In VS Code) Decrease Whole UI Zoom (-0.05 zoomLevel)
  Capslock+Capslock	Double-tap CapsLock to toggle CapsLock on/off (prevents accidental toggling)

• EXT4 SSD MANAGER

  Key	Usage
  Win+Alt+M	Mount ext4 Backup SSD & Open in Explorer
  Win+Alt+U	Safely Unmount ext4 Backup SSD

• HOTKEYHELP

  Key	Usage
  Win+F1	Display Interactive Hotkey Help GUI
  Ctrl+F	Find in Hotkey Help
  Win+Ctrl+F1	Excluded Files, Hotkeys, and Hotstrings
  Win+Alt+Ctrl+F1	Raw Hotkey List
  Win+Alt+F1	Settings

• WINDOW STARTUP SCRIPT

  Key / Action	Usage
  Tray Left-Click / Right-Click	Open Master Tray Context Menu
  Tray Hover Tooltip	Displays dynamic sorted list of all currently active scripts
  Win+ScrollLock	Suspend All Scripts' Hotkeys (background timers and watchers keep running)
  Win+Ctrl+Alt+ScrollLock	Terminate All Scripts (clean fleet exit)
  Win+Ctrl+Alt+R	Reload All Scripts (instant fleet-wide reload)
  Win+Ctrl+Alt+W	Run Window Spy utility

• PERSONAL KEYWORDS

  • It's a key-value pair. Type the key in the text field to get its corresponding value.

    Keyword / Key	Usage
    ValueOfPie	3.141592653589793238
    e1.	demo@example.com (Email 1)
    e2.	demo2@example.com (Email 2)
    c1.	+1-555-0100 (Contact 1)
    Win+Alt+A	Open Samsung Notes / Notes App
    Win+Alt+S	Open Notion
    Win+Alt+P	Open Chrome Passwords (chrome://password-manager/passwords)

• FORCE CLOSE PROGRAMS

  • For programs that go to the system tray when closed by pressing the close button

    Key	Usage
    Alt+Ctrl+F4	Close All Programs (gracefully closes open desktop applications)
    Alt+Shift+F4	Close Specific Active Program (terminates stubborn background tray apps)
    Alt+F4	Close Currently Active Screen (with key-release guard and tray cleanup)

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Get Installed Apps List and Run Apps

• Get installed app names and AppIDs:

  Get-StartApps | Sort-Object Name | Format-Table -Property Name, AppID

• Run an app from AutoHotkey via its AppID:

  Run, shell:AppsFolder\SamsungNotes_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App

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License

MIT LICENSE

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💡 Fleet Maintenance Tip: After editing any child script (e.g. BasicTasks.ahk), press Win+Ctrl+Alt+R (or select "Reload All" in the tray menu) to reload the fleet instantly. Recompilation via build_startup_exe.ps1 is only required when modifying StartupScript.ahk.

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