diff --git a/X/.config/xresources/xinitrc b/X/.config/xresources/xinitrc
index 3b55347..6152ecd 100644
--- a/X/.config/xresources/xinitrc
+++ b/X/.config/xresources/xinitrc
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@ type unclutter >/dev/null 2>&1 && unclutter &
 type picom >/dev/null 2>&1 && picom &
 
 # if sxhkd - the key-binding daemon is installed, start it up
-type sxhkd >/dev/null 2>&1 && sxhkd-piped &
+# set it to start up a custom fifo-creating version
+# and set the chain-mode exiting key to a non existing one (default would be escape)
+type sxhkd >/dev/null 2>&1 && sxhkd-piped -a "copyright" &
 
 # if nextcloud-client exists, start it up
 type nextcloud >/dev/null 2>&1 && nextcloud --background &
diff --git a/sxhkd/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc b/sxhkd/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc
index 942a6b7..b011193 100644
--- a/sxhkd/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc
+++ b/sxhkd/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ alt + m : shift + {j,k}
 # pause/stop player
 alt + m : {_,shift} + p
   playerctl {play-pause,stop}
+# exit mode
+alt + m : alt + m
+  pkill -ALRM sxhkd
 
 # mode:academia:alt + a
 # due papers this week
@@ -90,3 +93,6 @@ alt + a : F3
 # read wallabag articles from the cmdline
 alt + a : {r, shift+r}
   alacritty --class floating,floating -e wallr {-n,_}
+# exit mode
+alt + a : alt + a
+  pkill -ALRM sxhkd
diff --git a/sxhkd/.local/bin/sxhkd-chain-labels b/sxhkd/.local/bin/sxhkd-chain-labels
index 8272a93..103a497 100755
--- a/sxhkd/.local/bin/sxhkd-chain-labels
+++ b/sxhkd/.local/bin/sxhkd-chain-labels
@@ -5,65 +5,65 @@ OUTPUTF="$SXHKD_OUTPUTF"
 
 # set fifo input file, according (somewhat) to xdg
 if [ -n "$SXHKD_FIFO" ]; then
-  FIFO="$SXHKD_FIFO"
+    FIFO="$SXHKD_FIFO"
 elif [ -p "${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}"/sxhkd_fifo ]; then
-  FIFO="${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}"/sxhkd_fifo
+    FIFO="${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}"/sxhkd_fifo
 elif [ -p "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}"/sxhkd_fifo ]; then
-  FIFO="${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}"/sxhkd_fifo
+    FIFO="${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}"/sxhkd_fifo
 elif [ -p "$HOME/.sxhkd_fifo" ]; then
-  FIFO="$HOME/.sxhkd_fifo"
+    FIFO="$HOME/.sxhkd_fifo"
 fi
 
 # set label config file, according (somewhat) to xdg
 if [ -n "$SXHKD_LABELCONFIG" ]; then
-  LABELCONFIG="$SXHKD_LABELCONFIG"
+    LABELCONFIG="$SXHKD_LABELCONFIG"
 elif [ -f "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/sxhkd/chain-labels.conf ]; then
-  LABELCONFIG="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/sxhkd/chain-labels.conf
+    LABELCONFIG="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"/sxhkd/chain-labels.conf
 elif [ -f "$HOME/.chain-labels.conf" ]; then
-  LABELCONFIG="$HOME/.chain-labels.conf"
+    LABELCONFIG="$HOME/.chain-labels.conf"
 fi
 
 SXHKDRC_FILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/sxhkd/sxhkdrc
 
 main() {
-  while read -r event; do
-    detect_event "$event"
-  done <"$FIFO"
+    while read -r event; do
+        detect_event "$event"
+    done <"$FIFO"
 }
 
 detect_event() {
-  ev="$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^H.*$/hotkey/;s/^C.*$/command/;s/^BBegin chain.*$/chainstart/;s/^EEnd chain.*$/chainend/;')"
+    ev="$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^H.*$/hotkey/;s/^C.*$/command/;s/^BBegin chain.*$/chainstart/;s/^EEnd chain.*$/chainend/;')"
 
-  case $ev in
-  hotkey) ev_hotkey "$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^H//')" ;;
-  # command) ev_command "$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^C//')" ;;
-  chainstart) ev_chainstart "$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^B//')" ;;
-  chainend) ev_chainend "$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^E//')" ;;
-  *) ;;
-  esac
+    case $ev in
+    hotkey) ev_hotkey "$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^H//')" ;;
+    # command) ev_command "$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^C//')" ;;
+    chainstart) ev_chainstart "$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^B//')" ;;
+    chainend) ev_chainend "$(echo "$1" | sed -e 's/^E//')" ;;
+    *) ;;
+    esac
 }
 
 send_msg() {
-  if [ -n "$OUTPUTF" ]; then
-    echo "$1" >"$OUTPUTF"
-  else
-    echo "$1"
-  fi
+    if [ -n "$OUTPUTF" ]; then
+        echo "$1" >"$OUTPUTF"
+    else
+        echo "$1"
+    fi
 }
 
 ev_hotkey() {
-  LAST_HOTKEY="$1"
+    LAST_HOTKEY="$1"
 }
 
 # compare labels to last hotkey, return mode name
 ev_chainstart() {
-  [ -z "$LAST_HOTKEY" ] && return 1
-  found=$(echo "$LABELS" | sed -e "/$LAST_HOTKEY/!d;s/^\(.\+\):.*$/\1/")
-  send_msg "$found"
+    [ -z "$LAST_HOTKEY" ] && return 1
+    found=$(echo "$LABELS" | sed -e "/$LAST_HOTKEY/!d;s/^\(.\+\):.*$/\1/")
+    send_msg "$found"
 }
 
 ev_chainend() {
-  send_msg ""
+    send_msg ""
 }
 
 # TODO add option to also display last command done in chain
@@ -73,27 +73,27 @@ ev_chainend() {
 
 # read config from file, remove comments (lines starting with #) and empty lines
 read_config() {
-  [ ! -f "$1" ] && return 1
+    [ ! -f "$1" ] && return 1
 
-  parse_labels "$(cat "$1")"
+    parse_labels "$(cat "$1")"
 }
 
 # parse sxhkdrc for mode compatible comments
 read_sxhkdrc() {
-  [ ! -f "$1" ] && return 1
+    [ ! -f "$1" ] && return 1
 
-  _sxhkdrc_content="$(sed -e '/^# mode:/!d;s/^# mode://' <"$1")"
-  parse_labels "$_sxhkdrc_content"
+    _sxhkdrc_content="$(sed -e '/^# mode:/!d;s/^# mode://' <"$1")"
+    parse_labels "$_sxhkdrc_content"
 }
 
 # append
 parse_labels() {
-  LABELS="${LABELS}$(echo "$1" | sed -e '/^#/d;/^[[:blank:]]*$/d')"
+    LABELS="${LABELS}$(echo "$1" | sed -e '/^#/d;/^[[:blank:]]*$/d')"
 }
 
 get_help() {
-  printf \
-    "Usage: sxhkd-chain-labels [-c config file][-o output file][-s input pipe]
+    printf \
+        "Usage: sxhkd-chain-labels [-c config file][-o output file][-s input pipe]
     
  By default will take the input from the input pipe (at XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/sxhkd_fifo) and 
  print the current sxhkd chain mode to stdout. That means, sxhkd needs to be started
@@ -137,8 +137,9 @@ get_help() {
  information into the regular sxhkdrc as comments. They need to follow this exact format:
    # mode:mode-name:key-chain 
 
- They can occur anywhere in the file. The space before mode is necessary, and # needs to 
- be the first character on the line. The above example file as written into the sxhkdrc:
+ They can occur anywhere in the file. The space between # and mode is necessary, and # 
+ needs to be the first character on the line. 
+ The above example file as written into the sxhkdrc:
    # mode:media:super + alt + m
    # mode:system:super + backspace
 
@@ -148,39 +149,41 @@ get_help() {
 }
 
 get_version() {
-  printf \
-    "%s: 0.1
+    printf \
+        "%s: 0.3
 
   fifo input pipe:
-    %s
+    %s %s
   label configuration file:
-    %s
+    %s %s
   output:
     %s \n" \
-    "$0" \
-    "$FIFO" \
-    "$LABELCONFIG" \
-    "${OUTPUTF:-stdout}"
+        "$0" \
+        "$FIFO" \
+        "$([ -p "$FIFO" ] && echo "(found)" || echo "(NOT FOUND)")" \
+        "${LABELCONFIG:-"$SXHKDRC_FILE"}" \
+        "$([ -f "${LABELCONFIG:-"$SXHKDRC_FILE"}" ] && echo "(found)" || echo "(NOT FOUND)")" \
+        "${OUTPUTF:-stdout}"
 }
 
 while getopts "vho:s:c:" opt; do
-  case "$opt" in
-  \?)
-    printf "Usage: sxhkd-chain-labels [-c config file][-o output file][-s input pipe]\n"
-    exit 0
-    ;;
-  h)
-    get_help
-    exit 0
-    ;;
-  v)
-    get_version
-    exit 0
-    ;;
-  o) OUTPUTF="$OPTARG" ;;
-  s) FIFO="$OPTARG" ;;
-  c) LABELCONFIG="$OPTARG" ;;
-  esac
+    case "$opt" in
+    \?)
+        printf "Usage: sxhkd-chain-labels [-c config file][-o output file][-s input pipe]\n"
+        exit 0
+        ;;
+    h)
+        get_help
+        exit 0
+        ;;
+    v)
+        get_version
+        exit 0
+        ;;
+    o) OUTPUTF="$OPTARG" ;;
+    s) FIFO="$OPTARG" ;;
+    c) LABELCONFIG="$OPTARG" ;;
+    esac
 done
 shift $((OPTIND - 1))
 
diff --git a/sxhkd/.local/bin/sxhkd-piped b/sxhkd/.local/bin/sxhkd-piped
index e1ee4a0..7c555b4 100755
--- a/sxhkd/.local/bin/sxhkd-piped
+++ b/sxhkd/.local/bin/sxhkd-piped
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Starting sxhkd without arguments automatically creates
 # a fifo pipe in XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, to enable IPC for sxhkd.
 # Mostly used for sxhkd-chain-labels script.
 
 type sxhkd >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
-  return 1
+    return 1
 }
 
 # get the complete path to sxhkd to avoid
@@ -14,18 +14,19 @@ PROG="${PROG##* }"
 
 FIFO="$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"/sxhkd_fifo
 
+args="$*"
 # create a fifo and start sxhkd with it
 sxhkd() {
-  exist "$PROG" critical
+    exist "$PROG" critical
 
-  if [ -n "$1" ]; then
-    "$PROG" "$@"
-  else
-    [ -e "$FIFO" ] && rm "$FIFO"
+    if [[ "$args" = *"-s"* ]]; then
+        "$PROG" "$@"
+    else
+        [ -e "$FIFO" ] && rm "$FIFO"
 
-    mkfifo "$FIFO"
-    "$PROG" -s "$FIFO"
-  fi
+        mkfifo "$FIFO"
+        "$PROG" -s "$FIFO" "$@"
+    fi
 }
 
 sxhkd "$@"