Kex user guide

Getting started

Kex brings several services into one keyboard-controlled app. An instance is a place for one account or service, such as Telegram, TeamTalk or Radio. A buffer is a list inside that instance, such as an open conversation, a folder of emails or your favorite radio stations.

Use Windows+Alt+Shift+N to add an instance. Choose a service and follow its setup steps. Optional services must be enabled and installed in Settings first. You can keep several conversations and other buffers open, then move between them.

This guide lists default shortcuts. Hold the modifier keys, then press the last key. Windows means the Windows logo key. Apostrophe means the quote key ('). Minus and Equals refer to the main keyboard keys. Some key positions depend on your keyboard layout.

When an action says "toggle", press it to turn the option on, and press it again to turn it off.

Selection menus, settings choices, checklists, scheduling and recording options use ordinary buffers. Move through their rows and activate a choice with your usual Kex shortcuts. Use the Cancel or Close row, or the close-buffer shortcut, to return. A checklist has a Save row; activating an item toggles its selection. You can leave a choice buffer and return to it later. Text entry and system file pickers still use their own windows.

To give someone a clean copy of Kex, open Settings, Accounts and choose Create portable ZIP without personal data. Choose where to save the ZIP. Kex includes the application, Telegram and required shared components, just like the standard Kex ZIP, with only the original default keymap. Other modules can be downloaded later. Your data folder, accounts, settings, logs, downloads and custom keymaps are left out. The recipient gets the normal Settings buffer and default preferences, not your saved preferences. Settings remains available before adding an account. Use the instance shortcuts to reach it; use the buffer shortcuts to move through its categories and any open choices. You can keep using Kex while the ZIP is being created.

If you use a custom KMP keymap or have changed a shortcut, open the current instance's help with Windows+Alt+H (or your replacement shortcut). That help shows your effective shortcuts, including actions added by installed modules. A shortcut can do different things in different instances. Some actions need a selected message, a connected server or permission.

This online guide is regenerated from Kex’s shortcut definitions. In-app help always shows the effective shortcuts for your installed version and keymap.

Moving around

These controls work across instances. A buffer is a list inside an instance; switching instances moves to another account or service.

Telegram

Additional message sound outputs also play replies, mentions, voice messages and files, with the same sound and volume as the main output. In chat properties (Windows+Alt+Shift+Y), choose separate additional message or ringtone outputs for that conversation. Chats inherit the account outputs until you save an override. Saving with no devices selected keeps only the main output. Restore account sound outputs removes that chat's overrides. Chat sound files and volume settings are preserved.

Telegram account settings include Additional ringtone outputs and Additional message sound outputs. Choose devices and Save. The main notification output stays enabled. These choices apply to the next incoming ringtone or message sound for that account, including custom chat sounds. Answering, rejecting or ending a call stops all ringtone copies. The Audio module must be updated to use this feature.

Search opens a retained form with separate text, type and sender fields. Results stay available when you change instances.

Add a Telegram instance and enter your phone number in international format. Follow the sign-in instructions. Telegram decides where to send the code; check the method shown by Kex. Enter your two-step verification password if Telegram asks for it.

Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Shift+P pins or unpins the selected chat in its current Telegram list (main list, archive or folder). Pinned chats appear at the top with newest chats first, or at the bottom when chat order is reversed. Pins sync through Telegram.

Move through the chat list and open a chat with Windows+Alt+Enter. Move through messages with the list shortcuts. Windows+Alt+N opens a message editor; Ctrl+Windows+R replies to the selected message. Check the recipient before sending. Open conversations remain available when you move to another instance.

You can send files and voice messages, manage chats, search messages and handle calls. Chat properties include custom sounds. Reading controls, microphone controls and media controls depend on what you have selected or are playing.

Kex remembers one voice-message playback speed for all conversations, including after restart. Audio files and live radio do not change that preference.

Alt+Windows+Shift+X opens chat export. In the export buffer, turn HTML, TXT, voice-message downloads and other-file downloads on or off, then activate Start export and choose a folder. You can select both HTML and TXT. The progress buffer has a Cancel export action; closing the buffer keeps the export running. Use the same export action on the chat to return to it. Export reads all available history without marking it read. HTML opens from index.html, which lists small conversation pages of up to 500 messages. Downloaded voice messages have the sender, UTC date and chat name in their filenames. The HTML pages play local voice messages and link to downloaded files. Keep the whole export folder together. Errors and cancelled exports keep downloaded files and an INCOMPLETE.txt marker; failed individual downloads are counted and labelled. Older clients without selection buffers must update first.

The shared controls are in Moving around. The following actions belong to this instance.

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TeamTalk

In the server audio settings, choose Additional speakers for this server to copy received voices and media to several devices. The main output stays enabled. Server volume, mute and mono settings apply to every output. This does not create extra server logins. Additional outputs require access to receive audio and cannot be combined with echo cancellation.

Add a TeamTalk instance, then use Windows+Alt+L to add or import servers. On the server list, Kex shows whether a server is connected and whether its output is muted. Expand a server or channel to see its contents. Users are inside their channels.

Windows+Alt+Shift+M controls your microphone. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M controls the selected server's output. These are different actions: muting your microphone does not mute other people. Use Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Shift+U to open audio devices for the selected server and Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Shift+T to open application streaming. Server properties also contain speech announcements and other server options. In Recording, toggle Record now and after reconnecting to start recording with the selected settings and resume recording after later connections. Recording starts after joining a channel. Turning the option off stops recording and disables automatic recording.

You can select up to four input devices per server. In audio devices, each extra input has its own enabled switch and volume. Ctrl+Windows+Alt+F1 through F4 toggle inputs 1 through 4. Turning an input off keeps its selected device and volume for later.

To move people, select each user with Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Space, prepare the selection with Ctrl+Windows+Alt+X, select the destination channel and press Ctrl+Windows+Alt+V. The server must allow you to move those users. The same selection shortcut also selects files when you are in the file list.

Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Shift+M toggles mono for the selected user. On a server it toggles mono for that server. User actions (Windows+Alt+Enter) also include this setting. Server mono takes priority over individual settings. Server properties let you hide dates and times in messages.

Settings, TeamTalk contains Default application audio sources. These defaults apply on the next connection. In each server's application sources, use the inheritance switch or edit a source to keep a separate server list. An empty override remains empty. You can edit application sources while disconnected. Adding an application still uses the native searchable application list.

Mono combines received left and right audio. Noise suppression filters your microphone. Echo cancellation is a separate server setting for speaker use. Kex reports when audio options cannot be combined. Account management requires server permissions.

The shared controls are in Moving around. The following actions belong to this instance.

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Mail

Add a Mail instance, then choose automatic IMAP/POP3 setup, Gmail or Microsoft 365. Opening a cached folder checks for new messages without discarding its older loaded messages. For SMTP accounts, Mailbox options let you enable Sent copies and choose the real server folder. Automatic selection prefers the server's Sent flag. Gmail and Microsoft SMTP servers save their own Sent copies; Kex does not add a duplicate. If a copy fails after delivery, Kex says the mail was sent and warns about the copy; do not resend it.

Automatic setup finds the provider's servers, ports, encryption and login format from the email domain. Choose an advertised incoming protocol, then accept the settings or edit them. An unverified connection may be blocked by your network; it does not mean the provider lacks that protocol. Enable protocol access in your provider's settings if required. Unknown domains also have manual setup.

POP3 reads Inbox only, with local read status and Trash. Downloaded bodies are kept in an encrypted local archive; permanent deletion removes the selected messages from the server. Keep the whole data folder when moving Kex. Selective account/cloud backups do not include this separate POP archive.

Gmail and Microsoft accounts use their browser sign-in. Do not enter those account passwords into another provider's setup form.

Mailbox options include an optional message preview and a choice of the order of subject, preview and date. Standard folder names use Kex's language; custom folder names stay unchanged. On a folder row use Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Shift+Up or Down to change its saved position within that mailbox. The same shortcuts still move mailbox rows in Mailboxes. Mailbox rows show unread counts; while headers are still loading, the count explicitly refers to downloaded mail.

Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Shift+Right opens a mail conversation; Left closes its conversation buffer and returns to the message list. Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Left and Right still switch buffers. Ctrl+Windows+Alt+F opens an Attachments buffer from a message row or an open mail. Activate an attachment with Windows+Alt+Enter to download it, then Windows+Alt+Shift+Enter opens its local folder. Closing returns to the original message. Files are never launched automatically. These are defaults; Help shows your current keymap.

Each mailbox appears in the Mailboxes buffer. Windows+Alt+Enter opens its folders in a buffer; opening a folder creates a message-list buffer. Opening a mail conversation with several messages first creates a conversation list; select a message to open its line buffer. Closing the body returns to the conversation. A single message opens directly. Use the buffer shortcuts to return to a list you already opened. Open mail buffers and their positions are saved for the next start. Mailbox options also open as a buffer; activate an option to change its value. On IMAP servers supporting IDLE, new mail is fetched when the server announces it. Other servers keep periodic refresh.

There are three ways to read a selected email:

• Windows+Alt+Enter: read one line at a time in a buffer. On a line containing a link, use the same shortcut to open it or choose between links.
• Windows+Alt+V: open a read-only text window.
• Ctrl+Windows+Alt+H: open a separate HTML window with clickable links and images. Remote images need an internet connection. Use Alt+Tab to reach the window and Alt+F4 or Ctrl+W to close it.

Use Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Shift+N to add another mailbox to the same Mail instance. Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Space selects or unselects a message. Select several messages, then use Alt+Windows+Shift+Delete to apply your mailbox's delete action to the selection in the current folder. Other folders are not affected. Permanent deletion still follows your confirmation setting. If an operation fails, Kex reports the confirmed count and keeps unconfirmed messages selected; refresh before retrying. Mail lists follow the message and chat ordering settings; reversed chat order also reverses open mail buffer navigation.

Windows+Alt+A toggles automatic reading of new mail for the selected mailbox: sender, subject and message text. It works in other instances too, respects quiet mode and does not mark mail as read. It is off by default and saved per mailbox.

In the main Mailboxes buffer, Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Shift+Up or Down moves the selected mailbox. The order is saved. Mail settings let you rename a mailbox and adjust its overall sound volume. Mailbox sounds offers a file, mute and volume control for each event; volume changes preview the sound. Mailbox options control spoken new-mail alerts and automatic reading separately.

Writing mail opens a separate buffer. Move through Recipient, Subject, Message text, Add attachments, Send and Cancel with the usual navigation shortcuts. Activate a field to edit it. Each attached file has its own row; activate it to remove it. Switching buffers or instances keeps the draft and your position. Closing the buffer keeps the draft; Cancel discards it. Send closes the composer only after the server accepts the mail. A failed send keeps the draft.

Alt+Windows+Shift+Y opens a settings buffer for the selected mailbox. Use the ordinary list navigation shortcuts to choose an action and Windows+Alt+Enter to activate it. Use the close-buffer shortcut to return. Settings keep their mailbox and selection when you switch buffers or instances. New mail buffers use the normal opening and closing sounds from your sound pack; refreshing a buffer does not replay them. Opening a folder automatically loads the list of all its messages in batches. The buffer title shows how many messages have loaded. You can switch instances while loading continues. Closing the folder stops further pages; reopening it resumes. Headers and reading positions are saved in the encrypted account store. Message bodies and attachments are downloaded when opened, not for offline use. On a folder, Alt+Windows+Shift+Enter marks the entire folder as read, including messages not yet downloaded. On a message it marks that message as read. In the attachment buffer the same shortcut opens the downloaded file location. Mark folder as read is also available in Mail settings. IMAP and Microsoft read flags refresh automatically for cached folders; Gmail uses its change history. POP3 read flags stay local.

Inboxes refresh automatically every minute. Mailbox settings let you refresh other folders, sign in again and choose sounds. Mailbox options let you turn off spoken new-mail notifications, choose whether Alt+Windows+Shift+Delete opens a menu, moves to Trash or deletes permanently, and turn off permanent-deletion confirmation. The message actions menu lets you move mail to Trash or restore it. Permanent deletion depends on the provider and granted permissions.

The shared controls are in Moving around. The following actions belong to this instance.

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Radio

On a station, press Ctrl+Windows+Alt+M to turn its additional outputs on or off. This keeps the main output playing and remembers the selected extra devices. If no extra devices are configured, the shortcut opens their selection buffer. The same toggle is in station properties. Each station keeps its own on/off choice after restart.

Open Radio countries or Radio genres from the home buffer, then choose a category and station. Load more adds another page. Switching instances preserves your position.

Search for stations, open a stream address or add a favorite. Select a station and press Windows+Alt+Enter to start or stop it. Playback can continue while you use other instances.

To hear a station on several devices, select it and press Windows+Alt+Shift+Y. In its settings buffer, open Radio output devices, select additional outputs and choose Save. The main output remains enabled. Choose Sound mode to use Stereo, Mono or the instance sound setting. These choices are saved separately for each station. Volume, mute and pause apply to all outputs. Missing additional devices do not stop the main output. Different devices may have slightly different playback delays.

Favorites can be sorted alphabetically, by the time they were added or in a manual order. Open Favorites before using its sort and move commands. You can also import stations from a supported session JSON file.

Station properties (Windows+Alt+Shift+Y) show the stream URL, a Copy stream URL action, codec and bitrate. Available metadata from the currently playing stream takes precedence over catalog values. Unknown values are stated explicitly.

Station properties let you turn on automatic announcements when the current song changes. The station must send this information. When enabled, announcements can be heard while you are elsewhere in Kex. Recording is a separate action from playback.

The shared controls are in Moving around. The following actions belong to this instance.

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Media player and IPTV

Open local audio or video files, a stream address or an M3U playlist. Playlist categories open as separate buffers. Moving to another buffer does not stop playback. Player settings include playlist import, sorting, video and Windows default-player setup. Additional outputs play the same audio on several devices, separately for each player instance. Choose devices with Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Shift+Y and switch them on or off with Ctrl+Windows+Alt+M. The main output stays active. Mono follows the instance setting; stereo is preserved otherwise.

Video is off by default: you hear audio without a video window. Turn video on when you want the picture. Alt+Tab reaches that window; Alt+F4 closes the picture while audio continues.

Switch audio tracks when the current channel or file provides more than one, for example another language or audio description. Kex reports when no other track is available. Removing an item from a playlist does not delete the original media file.

The shared controls are in Moving around. The following actions belong to this instance.

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RSS

In Add feed, enter a name or topic instead of a URL to search the public Feedly directory. Feedly receives the search and connection details. Confirm a result before adding it.

Add an RSS instance, then add feed addresses or import subscriptions from an OPML file. Open a feed to read its articles. Use the text command to read an article's text and the link command to open its page. For articles with supported media, the activation command downloads or plays the media.

You can search articles, mark a feed as read and control automatic reading. Removing a feed removes the subscription from this instance; it does not delete the website.

The shared controls are in Moving around. The following actions belong to this instance.

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Mastodon

If Mastodon is available and enabled in your installation, add an instance and sign in to your Mastodon server. Open a timeline and select a post to read it or use its actions.

The social menu opens notification, conversation and profile-related buffers. It also gives access to followers, followed accounts and your activity. Profile actions depend on whose profile you opened. You can write posts, reply, edit your own posts and sign in again.

To follow someone by address, open the social menu and choose Find Mastodon profile. Enter their full address, such as @username@mastodon.social. In the profile buffer, move to Follow account, activate it and confirm.

Mastodon direct messages are posts with restricted visibility, not end-to-end encrypted chats. Check the recipients and visibility before sending.

The shared controls are in Moving around. The following actions belong to this instance.

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Settings and updates

In Settings, Behavior, turn on Wrap navigation at buffer edges to move from the last loaded row to the first, or from the first to the last. This is off by default and respects reversed lists. At the older-message edge Kex first loads more history and keeps your reading position while it loads. It wraps at that edge only after there are no older messages left. Home and End commands still select the corresponding edge. In Settings, Accounts, choose View security questions and answers. Enter your current Kex password each time. A separate confirmation, defaulting to No, is required to show answers; otherwise only questions appear. Answers saved by this version are kept inside the encrypted vault, not its public recovery header. Older profiles have no readable answers: set the questions again to enable this preview. Password changes and recovery preserve saved answers, while imports keep the destination profile's recovery configuration.

Whisper is optional in new default packages; existing installed copies are preserved during migration. Install it under Kex services for transcription. Notification settings can respect Windows Do Not Disturb for background speech, sounds and automatic update prompts. Navigation and call ringing remain available. At the manual cloud-backup limit, select and confirm a replacement; the old backup is removed only after the new one is saved successfully.

Use the instance-switching shortcuts to reach Settings. Use the buffer shortcuts to move between settings categories, the list shortcuts to choose an item and Windows+Alt+Enter to change it.

Settings include language, speech, sounds, devices, shortcuts and updates. Each provider also has its own options. For example, TeamTalk server properties apply to that server, while mailbox sound choices belong to the selected mailbox.

Use Windows+Alt+Shift+U to check for client and module updates. Read the changes and follow the update and restart prompts. You can also use Settings, under Updates. A module update adds or fixes a service; a client update changes shared parts of Kex.

In Settings, Updates, choose Request beta access to check this installation's membership. Existing testers receive an information dialog. Otherwise, enter your name and an optional message in the request buffer and choose Send. An existing pending request is reported instead of submitting a duplicate.

Open Kex services in Settings to discover newly available modules. The list refreshes in the background; if the server is unavailable, known services remain available. Select a module, apply the changes and restart Kex. New compatible services and extensions can be installed without downloading the whole client. The first client supporting this system must be installed once. A module requiring a newer core API still needs a client update. New actions appear in in-app Help and respect your current custom keymap.

To use a custom KMP file, select it in the shortcut settings. Missing actions fall back to their defaults. If keys conflict, Kex offers choices instead of silently replacing your bindings. In-app help shows the active shortcuts for the current instance.

Inside a normal editor or dialog, Tab and Shift+Tab move between controls. Enter activates a focused button. Use the named Send button when you are ready to send. Alt+Tab switches between separate message windows. Global Kex shortcuts are different from plain Enter.

Tips and troubleshooting

In Settings, Reading, you can enable Telegram message viewers and channel view counts. For recent outgoing group messages, Kex announces the reader count and names when Telegram provides them. An empty confirmed list says Not seen; unavailable information is identified separately. Channels provide view counts, not reader identities. Voice and video notes show who played the recording. This option is off by default and loads details in the background only for the selected message.

• If a shortcut does nothing, check the active instance and selected item, then open its help.
• If sound is missing, check the output device, volume and mute state. In TeamTalk, also check your microphone and the selected server's output.
• If a sign-in code does not arrive, follow the delivery information shown in Kex. Do not repeatedly request new codes.
• If mail folders look out of date, use Refresh in the mail settings. Returning to an already open buffer does not necessarily fetch everything again.
• Windows+Alt+F1 opens questions and suggestions without logs. Windows+Alt+F2 opens a bug report; logs are included automatically when you choose Send. Describe what went wrong and when. Never include passwords or sign-in codes.

New installations include this guide. After an update or restart, Kex restores help.html only when it is missing. To replace an old guide with the version bundled with your installed client, rename the old file and restart Kex.

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SDR receivers (optional module)

A new SDR instance contains only Add receiver. Choose it to browse the Receiver directory or enter an address. Browse by receiver type and country, or search by name, location or address. Saved receivers appear in the main list; choosing one connects and opens its own buffer. After connection, use normal list navigation to choose frequency, modulation, favorites and settings. Settings offer tuning step, output device, mono/stereo and OpenWebRX profiles. FM-DX tuning is shared with other listeners; connecting does not change it automatically.

Playback starts at 20% by default. Volume works throughout the SDR instance, including the main list. Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Equals/Minus tunes the playing receiver live. Held keys announce the final value, rather than every intermediate step. Existing alternative and custom shortcuts remain available. Ctrl+Windows+Alt+F opens the frequency buffer. There, Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Up/Down tunes live and Ctrl+Windows+Shift+Left/Right changes the tuning step. Activate the frequency row for manual text entry. Normal lists retain their navigation arrows.

Windows+Alt+H shows your actual shortcuts, including custom bindings. Saved receivers and frequencies remain in the encrypted profile.

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