hammerspoon script to toggle menu bar items (the little icons in the top right)

init.lua

local obj = {}
obj.__index = obj

obj.name = "MenuExtraTrigger"
obj.version = "1.0"
obj.author = "Ste"
obj.license = "MIT - https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT"

-- Configuration table: key = action name, value = { app = ..., menuItem = ... }
obj.actions = {}

local ax = hs.axuielement

--- obj:triggerAction(actionName)
--- Method
--- Triggers the configured menu item for the given action
function obj:triggerAction(actionName)
    local config = self.actions[actionName]
    if not config then
        hs.alert.show("No config for action: " .. actionName)
        return
    end

    local appName = config.app
    local menuTitle = config.menuItem

    for _, app in ipairs(hs.application.runningApplications()) do
        if app:name() == appName then
            local axApp = ax.applicationElement(app)
            local extrasMenuBar = axApp.AXExtrasMenuBar
            if extrasMenuBar then
                for _, item in ipairs(extrasMenuBar) do
                    local children = item.AXChildren
                    if children then
                        for _, child in ipairs(children) do
                            local subItems = child.AXChildren
                            if subItems then
                                for _, subChild in ipairs(subItems) do
                                    if subChild.AXTitle == menuTitle then
                                        local state = "Unknown"
                                        local mark = subChild.AXMenuItemMarkChar or ""
                                        local value = subChild.AXValue

                                        -- Check if it's toggleable and its state
                                        if mark ~= "" then
                                            state = mark == "✓" and "Checked" or "Unchecked"
                                        elseif value ~= nil then
                                            state = value and "Enabled" or "Unchecked"
                                        end

                                        -- Trigger the action
                                        local ok = subChild:performAction("AXPress")
                                        if ok then
                                            hs.alert.show(menuTitle .. " toggled: " .. state)
                                            print("✅ Triggered", menuTitle, "in", appName, "State:", state)
                                        else
                                            hs.alert.show("Failed to trigger " .. menuTitle)
                                            print("⚠️ Failed to trigger", menuTitle)
                                        end
                                        return
                                    end
                                end
                            end
                        end
                    end
                end
            end
        end
    end

    hs.alert("Menu item not found: " .. menuTitle)
end

--- obj:bindHotkeys(mapping)
--- Method
--- Binds hotkeys to menu extra actions
---
--- Parameters:
--- - mapping - Table with keys matching actions defined in `self.actions`
function obj:bindHotkeys(mapping)
    local spec = {}
    for actionName, _ in pairs(mapping) do
        spec[actionName] = hs.fnutils.partial(self.triggerAction, self, actionName)
    end
    hs.spoons.bindHotkeysToSpec(spec, mapping)
    return self
end

--- obj:registerAction(name, app, menuItem)
--- Method
--- Registers an action by name, specifying the app and menu item to trigger
function obj:registerAction(name, app, menuItem)
    self.actions[name] = {
        app = app,
        menuItem = menuItem,
    }
    return self
end

return obj

usage

menuExtraTrigger = hs.loadSpoon("MenuExtraTrigger")
spoon.MenuExtraTrigger:registerAction("toggleButtons", "Mac Mouse Fix Helper", "Tasten")
spoon.MenuExtraTrigger:bindHotkeys({
    toggleButtons = { {"alt"}, "f6" }
})

binding a hotkey to toggle the buttons menu item in Mac Mouse Fix by specifying the application name and the displayed label on the menu item