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Someone just asked here about adding a custom hotkey to an add-on that I made a some time ago. This add-on, for some reason, doesn't show any hotkey setup options when you right click on it like most operators show in Blender.

After doing some research, and looking through add-ons that I have made in the past, it appears that registering operators like...

bpy.utils.register_class(SomeClassName)

...doesn't allow the operator to have the hotkeys, but registering the entire module...

bpy.utils.register_module(__name__)

...does show the hotkey controls.

Is this intended behavior? Is there anything to do if you don't want to register the entire module like this?

Edit:

For the script that I linked to, simply registering the module instead of the operator class does not provide the user with the hotkey controls.

Here are some screenshots showing what I mean in case of any misunderstandings:

enter image description here

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Could not find the evidences that using bpy.utils.register_module makes the Add Shortcut button appear. Does not work for 2.79 addons API Navigator or Cloud Generator with prefixes api_navigator. and cloud.. $\endgroup$
    – unwave
    Commented Apr 7, 2023 at 11:46
  • $\begingroup$ bpy.utils.register_module is defined in 2.79\scripts\modules\bpy\utils and does not seem to do anything with shortcuts. $\endgroup$
    – unwave
    Commented Apr 7, 2023 at 11:51

1 Answer 1

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An operator represents an action or task that can be performed in blender. A button is blender's GUI representation of an operator which allows the user to initiate the action, while a keyboard shortcut is a non-gui method of executing an operator. Keyboard shortcuts can be edited in the user preferences and each belongs to a group that (should) represent the context that it is available. For example, the loop cut operator can be found in the 3DView/Mesh group so is available when editing mesh objects.

When right clicking on a button, the "Change Shortcut" and "Remove Shortcut" menu items are available if the button's operator has a shortcut assigned to it. See interface_handler.c

The "Add Shortcut" menu item, represents blender having some idea of what group the shortcut should be added to. Blender "guesses" the group based on the operator's bl_idname property and the menu option is only available if a valid group can be guessed from the operator's name. See wm_keymap.c where you will find the available group names that can be used. The group names used there are the uppercase version of the first part of the bl_idname of the operator with the _OT part being optional. For example giving your operator bl_idname='screen.my_operator' will enable the add shortcut menu item which will add a shortcut that will be found under "Screen" group in the shortcut settings.

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  • $\begingroup$ Hmm...Is it best practice to make the bl_idname addon_name.operator or category.operator or category.addon_name.operator? I have been using the first method to prevent duplicate operator names... $\endgroup$
    – Jake Dube
    Commented Jan 7, 2017 at 13:52
  • $\begingroup$ Actually, it seems that a bl_idname can't have more than 1 "." character...any advice on this? $\endgroup$
    – Jake Dube
    Commented Jan 7, 2017 at 15:04
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    $\begingroup$ @pycoder - cat.opname is the general design, so cat.myop becomes bpy.ops.cat.myop as addon numbers are rising, I think using addon_name.op_nameis a good idea, particularly for larger addons. If we define shortcuts for operators in each addon then the change shortcut will be available, regardless of operator name. I think consider the add shortcut of limited use - maybe even a builtin operator only feature - unless you can get a dev to change it, maybe add a category choice to the popup when setting the shortcut. $\endgroup$
    – sambler
    Commented Jan 7, 2017 at 16:31
  • $\begingroup$ As unused keys are hard to find, the use of two-key shortcuts will probably start rising, maybe using one two-key combo to get a pie menu for every operator in an addon? If you are unfamiliar with two-key setup, try holding D like a modifier key and press Q. Select stroke editing and try again. Then settings.... $\endgroup$
    – sambler
    Commented Jan 7, 2017 at 16:36

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