Describe the bug
Any tips on how to configure key sequence → type/paste text in Terminal so it will reliably replace the key sequence you typed in?
This has been an issue for a year, and while normally self-sufficient, I haven’t been able to find a workaround for this.
e.g., I have a keyboard sequence shortcut (in quotes):
“dddw”
that pastes the current time stamp:
“Tue 5/5/26 9:35 AM”
In Terminal, occasionally in other apps, it’ll often it’ll fail to delete sequence characters, or partially fail, resulting in:
“dddwTue 5/5/26 9:36 AM”
or other variations where it deletes some of the text or deletes some of the replacement text.
Solutions attempted:
- Using type text instead of paste text
- Adding async delay before the type/paste text action
- Fiddling with every setting in the key sequence pane
- Fiddling with settings in Terminal
Possible solution / Theory:
Add latency slider for deleting sequence letters in the key sequence pane
- I suspect this is a latency issue
- The characters are backspaced too quickly, and sometimes Terminal or other apps can’t keep up
Affected input device: Keyboard
Screenshots
Device information:
- Type of Mac: Macbook Pro M5 Max, Macbook Pro M1 Max
- macOS version: Tahoe 26.4.1
- BetterTouchTool version: 6.449
Duration:
I can't reproduce this here (might be a timing issue as you mentioned). For testing I have added a delay option that you can try in 6.484 (building & uploading now):
It will add delays between the backspaces
It seems like this works - I'll keep testing!
I think this is a strong indicator that the theory's right - the lower the latency of the keyboard input in the program, the longer the gap between backspaces is needed.
Which makes sense.
So on a super slow ssh connection, or one on crappy internet, or a program that's being slow (like powerpoint sometimes), or ssh to a slow machine (like a lepotato computer board with variable ~50-300ms ping times over starlink), the problem is increasingly reproducible.
For me this often comes up using fairly high-powered VMs in Google Cloud on a premium routing backbone, so even in optimal circumstances, that kind of latency's unavoidable.
I think this is what I've observed, but haven't been scientific about it.
One thing about this - I now need to go over ~200 text replacement key sequences, some of which have multiple things in a logic flow, to increase the latency for each one between keystrokes.
Wondering if there can be a global setting, and it'll set to that, then if you change it for individual key sequences it'll just make that no longer apply the global setting?
