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macOS · Menu bar

WordEraser

Ctrl+W deletes the previous word in any text field, not just the terminal

In the lab
Notify me when it ships

About WordEraser

WordEraser rewrites Ctrl+W, Ctrl+U, Ctrl+K, and Alt+D into the macOS text-deletion commands, so readline-style editing is meant to carry past the terminal — into browsers, Electron apps, and native text fields. Ctrl+W and Ctrl+U are on by default because they are pure rewrites and safe anywhere; Ctrl+K (a synthesized select-then-delete) and Option+D (which blocks typing ∂) are opt-in. Onboarding, a settings window, per-shortcut toggles, and launch-at-login are all built in.

Who it's for

Anyone whose fingers already know readline and keeps closing browser tabs by accident.

What it does

  • Ctrl+W mapped to delete-previous-word system-wide
  • Ctrl+U on by default; Ctrl+K and Option+D opt-in
  • Per-shortcut toggles and launch at login
  • Built to work in Electron apps and browsers, not just terminals

Behind the build

This one was shipped publicly as a DMG, then the repository went private again — so there is no honest public download link to point at right now.

It still builds from source. It is ad-hoc signed rather than notarized, so on macOS 15 and later the first launch goes through System Settings › Privacy & Security › Open Anyway. The Accessibility grant kept vanishing between builds because TCC ties it to the app's designated requirement, and an ad-hoc build's requirement is its own code hash: moving the app keeps the grant, but any code change reads as a different app.

The full write-upAXIsProcessTrusted false after rebuild: ad-hoc signing and TCC

Information

Runs on
macOS · Menu bar
Status
In the lab
Requires
macOS 13+ · Accessibility permission
Source
Not public
Telemetry
None
Built with
Swift & SwiftUI
Stack
SwiftCGEventTapswiftc + build.sh

WordEraser is still in the lab.

Built and running on my machine, but not packaged for release — so there's nothing honest to link to yet. Leave an email and you'll hear when it ships.

Tell me when it ships

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