PME Treasure

Make one PME hotkey work in Object Mode and Edit Mode

2 min read

Answer

Use the 3D View keymap when the same menu should naturally work across Object Mode and Edit Mode. Use separate Object Mode and Mesh registrations when the command set should be mode-specific or when a more specific mapping must win.

PME hotkeys are Blender keymap entries. The selected Blender keymap decides their scope; the menu name has no effect on it.

Setup

For one cross-mode menu:

  1. Open the menu’s hotkey editor in PME.
  2. Select the 3D View keymap.
  3. Assign the key and test it in Object Mode and Mesh Edit Mode with the pointer over the main viewport.

For mode-specific behavior:

  1. Register the Object Mode behavior in Object Mode.
  2. Register the Edit Mode behavior in Mesh.
  3. Reuse the same physical key only if each menu is valid in its own scope.

The historical solution was to select both Object Mode and Mesh. That still gives explicit mode-level control, but 3D View is simpler when one menu is meant to span both modes.

If the hotkey is still missing

  • Test with the pointer over the 3D View’s main view region. Header, toolbar, and sidebar input can use different keymap scopes.
  • Look for a mode-specific, active-tool, modal, or add-on keymap using the same key. A more specific handler can take precedence over a broad scope.
  • Use Window only when the hotkey truly belongs across editors. It is broad and can still lose to more specific keymaps.
  • Reserve Screen Editing for shortcuts that genuinely belong at that broad scope.

Pitfalls

  • Adding both a broad 3D View mapping and redundant mode mappings for the same PME menu can create confusing collisions.
  • A menu that opens in both modes can still contain operators that are valid in only one mode. Hotkey reachability and operator context are separate problems.
  • If the desired action differs by mode, separate menus are usually clearer than adding context tests to every item.

Sources

Graph View

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