How to swap by Karabiner option+shift+brightness and brightness

Question

How to swap the behaviour of option+shift+brightness (e.g. changing the brightness in small increments) and the normal brightness key in Karabiner?

I tried

{
    "title": "Screen brightness in smaller steps",
    "rules": [
        {
            "description": "Screen brightness in smaller step",
            "manipulators": [
                {
                    "type": "basic",
                    "from": <%= from("apple_vendor_top_case_key_code":"brightness_down") %>,
                    "to": <%= to([["apple_vendor_top_case_key_code":"brightness_down", ["shift"], ["left_option"]], ["vk_none"]]) %>
                },
            ]
        }
    ]
}

but the brightness key still changes the brightness in big steps.

In case it makes any difference, I'm using MacOS 11.5 with the expanded control slip on the touch bar and an external mac keyboard with normal media keys

Answer 1

I had the same question but couldn't find the answer on the web. I created these tools for import to Karabiner. It works well for version 14.3.

I hope you'll get a chance to see my response and that the tools can help you well!

Decrease Display Brightness by small increments using F1. Equivalent to using option + shift Long press, fast here.

Increase Display Brightness by small increments using F2. Equivalent to using option + shift Long press, fast here.

Answer 2

The following configuration does not swap the behaviour, but it at least maps the touch bar brightness buttons to option+shift+brightness (needs Karabiner v13.3.0 or newer)

{
    "description": "Display brightness in small steps",
    "manipulators": [
        {
            "from": {
                "apple_vendor_top_case_key_code": "brightness_down"
            },
            "to": [
                {
                    "key_code": "display_brightness_decrement",
                    "modifiers": [
                        "left_shift",
                        "left_option"
                    ]
                }
            ],
            "type": "basic"
        },
        {
            "from": {
                "apple_vendor_top_case_key_code": "brightness_up"
            },
            "to": [
                {
                    "key_code": "display_brightness_increment",
                    "modifiers": [
                        "left_shift",
                        "left_option"
                    ]
                }
            ],
            "type": "basic"
        }
    ]
}