mac-dualsense

Your DualSense is a 18-button programmable keyboard for macOS.

Navigate terminals, browsers, and AI chat apps from your couch — without touching the keyboard. Context-aware mappings, Wispr voice dictation on one button, haptic feedback, zero dependencies.

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Why

You're on a call, reading docs, or chatting with an AI assistant. You keep reaching for the keyboard just to scroll, switch tabs, or trigger voice dictation. Your PS5 controller is sitting right there.

mac-dualsense maps every button to any keystroke, per app, with no drivers:

• In Warp: D-pad scrolls blocks, L1/R1 navigates tabs, Options runs the command
• In Claude/ChatGPT: Cross sends, Triangle triggers Wispr voice dictation, L1/R1 moves between chats
• In Arc/Chrome: Circle goes back, L1/R1 switches tabs, L3 focuses the URL bar
• Everywhere: D-pad = arrows, Cross = Return, Circle = Escape — the basics just work

Mappings switch automatically when you change the focused app.

Install

Download

1. Grab the latest .zip from Releases →
2. Drag mac-dualsense.app to /Applications
3. Launch — a controller icon appears in the menu bar
4. System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → enable mac-dualsense

macOS Gatekeeper warning on first launch: right-click the app → Open → Open.

Build from source

Requires Xcode 16+ / Swift 6.

git clone https://github.com/sour4bh/mac-dualsense.git
cd mac-dualsense
native/scripts/install_app.sh

This builds, installs to /Applications, and launches.

Setup in 2 minutes

1. Connect your DualSense via USB or Bluetooth
2. Open the app — it auto-detects the controller
3. The default config works immediately (D-pad, face buttons, shoulder buttons all mapped)
4. Edit ~/Library/Application Support/cc-controller/mappings.yaml to customize — the app hot-reloads on save

Wispr voice dictation

Hold Triangle (or the PS button) to activate Wispr Flow. Dictate, release, done. Eight trigger modes available:

Mode	How it works
rcmd_hold	Holds right ⌘ while the button is pressed
rcmd_toggle	Toggles right ⌘ on/off with each press
rcmd_pulse	Taps right ⌘ for hold_ms then releases
fn_hold	Holds Fn while pressed
cmd_right	Sends Cmd+Right

Set settings.wispr.mode in your config to switch modes.

Features

• Context-aware mappings — different actions per frontmost app, with a global fallback
• Profiles — define multiple full mapping sets and switch between them
• Haptic feedback — configurable intensity/duration patterns on connect, action, and error
• Visual controller map — interactive button layout in Preferences, click to assign
• Extended key support — function keys, media keys, special characters
• Modifier management — hold, release, or toggle any modifier key (useful for gaming-style hold-to-run)
• Multi-controller — auto-detects DualSense or Pro Controller, or pin a preference
• No runtime dependencies — native GameController framework, no HID drivers, no Homebrew

Supported controllers

Controller	Connection
Sony DualSense (PS5)	USB / Bluetooth
Nintendo Switch Pro Controller	USB / Bluetooth

Default mappings

Global fallback (all apps)

Button	Action
D-pad	Arrow keys
Cross (×)	Return
Circle (○)	Escape
Square (□)	Tab
Triangle (△) / PS	Wispr voice dictation
L1 / R1	Cmd+Shift+[ / ]
L2 / R2	Alt+↑ / Alt+↓
L3	Ctrl+C
R3	Ctrl+D

Per-app overrides (Warp, Arc, Chrome, Slack, ChatGPT, Claude)

Full bindings in native/Sources/CCControllerNative/Resources/mappings.yaml.

Configuration reference

Config lives at ~/Library/Application Support/cc-controller/mappings.yaml, seeded from native/Sources/CCControllerNative/Resources/mappings.yaml on first run.

Full config structure

version: 2

settings:
  controller:
    preferred: auto          # auto | dualsense | pro_controller
  wispr:
    mode: rcmd_hold
    hold_ms: 450

profiles:
  active: default
  items:
    default:
      mappings:
        default:             # global fallback
          cross:
            type: keystroke
            key: return
          triangle:
            type: wispr
        warp:                # active when Warp is frontmost
          square:
            type: keystroke
            key: k
            modifiers: [cmd]

haptics:
  enabled: true
  patterns:
    confirm:
      intensity: 128
      duration_ms: 50

Button names

Button	Name		Button	Name
Cross (×)	cross		L1	l1
Circle (○)	circle		R1	r1
Triangle (△)	triangle		L2	l2
Square (□)	square		R2	r2
D-pad up	dpad_up		L3 (click)	l3
D-pad down	dpad_down		R3 (click)	r3
D-pad left	dpad_left		PS	ps
D-pad right	dpad_right		Options	options
Touchpad click	touchpad		Share/Create	share

Action types

# Keystroke with optional modifiers
type: keystroke
key: k
modifiers: [cmd, shift]   # cmd | shift | alt | ctrl

# Wispr voice dictation
type: wispr

# Hold/release/toggle a modifier key
type: modifier
modifier: rcmd             # rcmd | lcmd | rshift | lshift | ralt | lalt | rctrl | lctrl
action: hold               # hold | release | toggle

Adding a new app context

1. Find the app's bundle ID: osascript -e 'id of app "AppName"'
2. Add it to the contexts dict in AppFocus.swift
3. Add it to knownContexts in ConfigStore.swift
4. Add a mapping block in mappings.yaml under profiles.items.<profile>.mappings.<context>

Contributing

PRs welcome — especially new app context mappings and controller support. See AGENTS.md.

License

MIT — © 2025 Sourabh Sharma