@19h47/keycode

Named constants for legacy KeyboardEvent.keyCode values. Import ENTER instead of comparing against 13 — six months later, you still know what the handler checks for.

When to use

• A codebase or library still branches on event.keyCode / event.which.
• You want shared, grep-friendly names across keyboard handlers (ESCAPE, ARROW_DOWN, …).
• You debug keyboard behaviour and want readable comparisons in DevTools or tests.

When not to use

• New code should prefer event.key and event.code. They are layout-aware and not deprecated.
• You need every key on the keyboard. This package only exports the navigation and editing keys used most often in UI widgets.

Installation

pnpm add @19h47/keycode

Also works with npm / yarn / bun.

Usage

import { ENTER, ESCAPE, ARROW_DOWN, ARROW_UP } from '@19h47/keycode';

document.addEventListener('keydown', (event) => {
	if (event.keyCode === ESCAPE) {
		closeDialog();
	}

	if (event.keyCode === ENTER) {
		submitForm();
	}

	if (event.keyCode === ARROW_DOWN || event.keyCode === ARROW_UP) {
		moveFocus(event.keyCode === ARROW_DOWN ? 1 : -1);
	}
});

Named imports only — no default export, no runtime logic.

UMD

<script src="node_modules/@19h47/keycode/dist/keycode.umd.cjs"></script>
<script>
	document.addEventListener('keydown', (event) => {
		if (event.keyCode === keycode.ESCAPE) {
			// …
		}
	});
</script>

Constants

Constant	keyCode	Typical event.key	Typical event.code
BACKSPACE	8	Backspace	Backspace
TAB	9	Tab	Tab
ENTER	13	Enter	Enter
SHIFT	16	Shift	ShiftLeft
ESCAPE	27	Escape	Escape
SPACE	32		Space
PAGE_UP	33	PageUp	PageUp
PAGE_DOWN	34	PageDown	PageDown
END	35	End	End
HOME	36	Home	Home
ARROW_LEFT	37	ArrowLeft	ArrowLeft
ARROW_UP	38	ArrowUp	ArrowUp
ARROW_RIGHT	39	ArrowRight	ArrowRight
ARROW_DOWN	40	ArrowDown	ArrowDown
DELETE	46	Delete	Delete

Development

pnpm install
pnpm dev      # Vite playground
pnpm build    # library build → dist/ + docs/

Demo

Live example: 19h47.github.io/19h47-keycode · source

Press any key to inspect event.key, event.code, event.keyCode, and the matching @19h47/keycode constant.

References

• KeyboardEvent.keyCode on MDN (deprecated)
• KeyboardEvent.key on MDN
• KeyboardEvent.code on MDN