A small KSP plugin that assigns configurable keyboard hotkeys to stock functions that don't have any: toggling Brakes, or setting a specific SAS autopilot mode (Stability Assist, Prograde/Retrograde, Normal/Anti-normal, Radial in/out, Target/Anti-target, Maneuver node). An optional in-game toolbar (Space Center only) lets you assign keys by pressing them, instead of hand-editing a config file.
Stock KSP has no way to:
- Toggle Brakes from the keyboard -
Bonly holds them while pressed, there's no "parking brake" key (a long-standing request that never got picked up). - Jump straight to a specific SAS mode (Retrograde, Radial, a maneuver node...) with one press.
Tonly toggles SAS on/off in whatever mode it was last in; picking a mode means clicking the navball.
Each hotkey just calls the same stock API the UI itself uses. Since it drives the real stock state, the flight UI (status light, navball SAS indicator), the right-click PAW, and any other mod reading that same state all stay in sync automatically.
Drop the ELK folder into GameData, so you end up with GameData/ELK/Plugins/ELK.dll. The optional toolbar additionally needs ToolbarControl and ClickThroughBlocker, both bundled in the release zip.
Set toolbar = false in the cfg (see below) if you'd rather not have them at all and just hand-edit the config.
PluginData/ELK.cfg - re-read every time you enter Flight or the Space Center (no restart needed):
ELK
{
enabled = true
toolbar = true
sas_autoengage = true
BRAKES_TOGGLE
{
key =
}
SAS_STABILITY
{
key =
}
SAS_PROGRADE
{
key =
}
SAS_RETROGRADE
{
key =
}
SAS_NORMAL
{
key =
}
SAS_ANTINORMAL
{
key =
}
SAS_RADIAL_IN
{
key =
}
SAS_RADIAL_OUT
{
key =
}
SAS_TARGET
{
key =
}
SAS_ANTITARGET
{
key =
}
SAS_MANEUVER
{
key =
}
}
Every key ships empty. This is deliberate: ELK never picks a default for you, so a fresh install can never collide with a binding you already use elsewhere.
sas_autoengage = true (the default) means an SAS mode key pressed while SAS is off switches SAS on and selects that mode in one press, exactly as if you had pressed the stock SAS key (T) first - otherwise the press would have nothing to act on. Set it to false and the SAS keys only ever change mode while SAS is already on. The toolbar has a checkbox for it, so it can be flipped in-game. Either way a mode key still does nothing when the mode itself isn't available (Maneuver with no node planned, Target with nothing targeted): ELK checks that before engaging anything, so a dead key press can't leave you with SAS switched on behind your back.
Key format: optional modifiers separated by +, then the main key, all literal UnityEngine.KeyCode names - e.g. Y, LeftAlt+Y, LeftControl+LeftShift+G. A key captured through the toolbar is written back in this exact format, so both ways of setting a key stay compatible with each other.
Space Center scene only: ELK's hotkeys are global player bindings with nothing vessel, part, or flight-specific about them, so the button doesn't clutter Flight/VAB/SPH/Tracking Station. Click Capture next to a function, then press the key (or combo) you want: it will be bound the instant you press it. Clear removes a binding, so does pressing Delete while a capture is in progress. Esc cancels a capture without changing anything. A non-blocking warning appears under a row if the key you just picked is also used by another ELK slot or by a stock keybinding (see below for why that warning matters). It's advisory only, you can keep it if you want.
A "preset" is just an ELK.cfg file with keys already filled in. You can find a selection of them here. Anyone can put one together and share it (a gist, a forum post, a zip - whatever). To use one, close KSP, replace GameData/ELK/PluginData/ELK.cfg with the one you got, and relaunch.
Don't use whatever key is currently bound to the stock Brakes action (Settings > Input > BRAKES, B by default) as BRAKES_TOGGLE's key, not even with a modifier. Any combo containing B can only ever disengage the brakes, never re-engage them. A key with no stock binding at all sidesteps the conflict entirely. The toolbar's conflict warning checks every stock GameSettings keybinding (via reflection) and would flag this collision live.
Built and tested against KSP 1.12.5. No other mod dependency for the core hotkeys. The toolbar needs ToolbarControl/ClickThroughBlocker.
Want to propose a new hotkey slot? See CONTRIBUTING.md.
The brake toggle here started as its own small mod, KSP-Stock-Brake-Toggle (now archived in favor of ELK). SAS hotkeys are a fresh implementation, not a fork of the decade-old, GPL-3.0, SASHotkeys (different license, different external dependency, and the stock API it targeted has since gained a CanSetMode guard this version relies on).
MIT - see LICENSE.
Author: Rjoande. Built with the help of Claude Code.