---
title: "Karabiner Breakage on macOS 26.4 beta 1 and a Temporary Workaround"
date: 2026-02-21
tags:
  - macOS
excerpt: After macOS 26.4 beta tightened HID permissions, Karabiner-Elements keyboard remapping broke. hidutil plus LaunchAgent is a temporary workaround.
updated: 2026-07-08 08:13:31
lang: en
i18n:
  cn: /karabiner_not_work
  translation: 2
---

> [!NOTE]
> Karabiner-Elements works normally again on macOS 26.4 beta 3.
>
> My Karabiner-Elements Version: 15.9

## Problem

Someone in [Issue #4402](https://github.com/pqrs-org/Karabiner-Elements/issues/4402#issuecomment-3916863747) located the problem: Karabiner-Elements is missing the **`com.apple.hid.manager.user-access-protected`** entitlement.

```log
error    20:29:23.547646+0100    Karabiner-Core-Service    IOServiceOpen failed: 0xe00002c7
error    20:29:23.548438+0100    kernel    IOHIDLibUserClient:0x100001850 Insufficient permissions to access device for PID: 3591, missing entitlement: com.apple.hid.manager.user-access-protected
error    20:29:23.548444+0100    kernel    AppleHIDTransportHIDDevice:0x100000aac failed to create user client: 0xe00002c7
```

### Entitlement? 🤨

>  Entitlements are key–value pairs that grant an app access to system‑protected resources or capabilities.
>
>  —— Apple Developer Documentation: _Security Entitlements_

Roughly speaking, an entitlement is the permission an app needs to request in order to access protected resources. Running `{sh} codesign -d --entitlements - <path>` shows the permissions requested by an app.

<script type="module" src="/js/components/text-image-section.js"></script>
<text-image-section image="https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.G9RcJ0iFGId0JV1xodaE2QHaFa?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain&o=7&rm=3" alt="403 forbidden" width="250px">

`com.apple.hid.manager.user-access-protected` is a private entitlement used internally by Apple. Third-party apps cannot request it.

In macOS 26.4 beta 1, Apple enabled stricter HID (Human Interface Devices) permission checks for the built-in keyboard, so Karabiner-Elements no longer has access.

</text-image-section>

## Workaround

`hidutil` is Apple's official HID mapping tool. It supports simple one-key remapping needs.

- <kbd style="font-size: 1.5em;">⇪</kbd> to <kbd style="font-size: 1.5em;">⌘</kbd>
- Right <kbd style="font-size: 1.5em;">⌘</kbd> to Left <kbd style="font-size: 1.5em;">⌃</kbd>

For the mappings above, run `{sh} hidutil property --set <json_content>` in the terminal, for example:

```sh
$ hidutil property --set '{"UserKeyMapping":[
            {
              "HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc": 0x700000039,
              "HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst": 0x7000000E3
            },
            {
              "HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc": 0x7000000E7,
              "HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst": 0x7000000E0
            },
        ]}'

# [OUTPUT]
UserKeyMapping:(
        {
        HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst = 30064771299;
        HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc = 30064771129;
    },
        {
        HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst = 30064771296;
        HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc = 30064771303;
    }
)
```

### Persistence

`hidutil` settings are lost after reboot. You can create a plist file in `~/Library/LaunchAgents/`; it will run automatically after startup. If you do not want to write it manually, use the visual app 👉 [hidutil key remapping generator](https://hidutil-generator.netlify.app/)

```xml ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.local.KeyRemapping.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.local.KeyRemapping</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/bin/hidutil</string>
        <string>property</string>
        <string>--set</string>
        <string>{"UserKeyMapping":[{"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc":0x700000039,"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst":0x700000029}]}</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>
```

## Outro

Bilibili pushed me a video saying Safari in macOS 26.4 beta 1 supports compact mode. I do not use Safari, but I upgraded anyway out of curiosity.

At first I thought it would be like usual: a simple restart or reinstalling Karabiner would fix it. This time, it did not work.

Only after searching GitHub issues did I learn that Apple had tightened permissions, so Karabiner was basically unusable for the short term.

<div class="rip-container">

R.I.P, my beloved friends

- Chrome DevTools Theming 🪦
- IntelliCode extensions in VS Code 🪦
- macOS's Launchpad 🪦
- ~~Karabiner-Elements on macOS Tahoe betas~~ 🪦

</div>

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