Extension that helps you to learn keyboard shortcuts while you are working. Now with smart editor action detection that learns from your editing patterns!

Note: The current VSCode API does not allow the plugin to be implemented in full. Therefore, the plugin was implemented as a workaround and partially tracks user actions by indirect signs.

If you have any problems or want to participate in the development, welcome to the project repository on GitHub.

• 100% Local Processing - No data leaves your computer
• Open Source - Fully auditable code
• No Telemetry - Zero data collection
• In-Memory Only - No logs written to disk
• Focus-Aware - Automatically pauses when VS Code loses focus (only monitors within VS Code)

Read our Privacy Policy | No data collection | Local processing only

For antivirus users: This extension monitors keyboard events to suggest shortcuts. Some antivirus software may flag this as "keylogger-like" behavior, but the extension is completely safe and transparent. You can review the source code at any time.

• When you use the mouse on a button inside the editor, the extension shows you the keyboard shortcut that you should have used instead.

• For buttons that don't have a shortcut, the extension prompts you with the possibility to directly create one by opening the keybindings menu.

Key Promoter now intelligently detects inefficient editing patterns and suggests better shortcuts:

• Word Deletion - Detects when you delete a word character-by-character instead of using Ctrl+Backspace / Ctrl+Delete
• Line Deletion - Detects when you press Backspace multiple times to delete an entire line instead of using Ctrl+Shift+K

• Line Movement - Detects when you manually cut and paste to move lines instead of using Alt+Up / Alt+Down
• Line Duplication - Detects when you copy and paste to duplicate a line instead of using Shift+Alt+Down

• Arrow Navigation - Detects excessive use of arrow keys when keyboard shortcuts would be faster:
  • Character-by-character word traversal → suggests Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right
  • Navigating to line start/end → suggests Home / End
  • Page scrolling with arrows → suggests PageUp / PageDown
  • File navigation with arrows → suggests Ctrl+Home / Ctrl+End

• Inefficient Selection - Detects slow text selection patterns:
  • Character-by-character word selection → suggests Ctrl+Shift+Left / Ctrl+Shift+Right
  • Word-by-word line edge selection → suggests Shift+Home / Shift+End

• Repeated Word Selection - Detects when you repeatedly select the same word → suggests Ctrl+D for multi-cursor

Smart Learning: The extension learns from your editing patterns and only shows suggestions after you've repeated the same inefficient action multiple times. It won't annoy you with one-time actions!

Note: Editor actions have a separate, lower loyalty level (default: 1) because they represent complete patterns (like deleting an entire line), not individual command executions. The extension won't spam you - it still tracks the pattern multiple times internally before showing a notification.

You can use wildcards to ignore entire groups of commands or editor patterns:

{
  "Key Promoter.ignoredCommands": [
    "type",
    
    // Ignore command groups
    "inlineChat.*",                    // Ignores all inlineChat commands
    "workbench.action.terminal.*",     // Ignores all terminal actions
    "git.*",                           // Ignores all git commands
    "editor.action.*",                 // Ignores all editor actions
    "workbench.action.Editor",         // Ignores tab navigation group
    
    // Ignore specific editor patterns
    "editorPattern.line-delete-backspace",      // Ignore line deletion tips
    "editorPattern.word-delete-backspace",      // Ignore word deletion tips
    "editorPattern.arrow-navigation-excessive", // Ignore arrow navigation tips
    
    // Ignore all editor patterns
    "editorPattern.*"                  // Ignores all editor action tips
  ]
}

Editor Pattern IDs:

• editorPattern.line-delete-backspace - Line deletion with Backspace
• editorPattern.word-delete-backspace - Word deletion character-by-character
• editorPattern.line-movement-manual - Manual line movement
• editorPattern.line-duplication-manual - Manual line duplication
• editorPattern.word-selection-repeated - Repeated word selection
• editorPattern.arrow-navigation-excessive - Excessive arrow key navigation
• editorPattern.text-selection-navigation - Inefficient text selection

• ✅ Windows - Full support
• ✅ macOS - Full support (with permissions, see below)
• ✅ Linux (X11) - Full support

• ⚠️ Linux (Wayland) - May have issues with keyboard monitoring
• ⚠️ WSL - May have incorrect behavior

On macOS, you need to grant accessibility permissions:

1. Open System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Privacy → Accessibility
2. Add VS Code to the allowed applications
3. Restart VS Code

1. Monitors when you execute commands via mouse/menu or your editing patterns
2. Checks if the command has a keyboard shortcut
3. Shows your personalized shortcut after repeated usage

• Some default editor actions are not tracked
• Other extensions' commands are not supported
• May have issues on Linux Wayland
• WSL may have incorrect behavior
• Mouse selection patterns are not detected (by design, to avoid false positives)

Use the Key Promoter output panel to see detailed logs:

1. Open Output panel: View → Output
2. Select "Key Promoter" from the dropdown
3. Adjust log level in settings if needed

If you're unsure whether Key Promoter can detect your keyboard:

1. Open Command Palette (F1)
2. Run: Key Promoter: Test Keyboard
3. Press some keys to verify they are detected

This is useful for debugging platform-specific issues (especially on Linux Wayland or macOS without permissions).

• Check that Key Promoter.enabled is true
• On macOS: verify accessibility permissions are granted
• Check the output panel for errors

• Increase Key Promoter.loyaltyLevel for command notifications
• Increase Key Promoter.editorActions.loyaltyLevel for editor pattern notifications
• Add specific commands/patterns to Key Promoter.ignoredCommands
• Disable editor actions with Key Promoter.editorActions.enabled: false

• The extension monitors keyboard events locally - this is safe and necessary
• Add VS Code to your antivirus whitelist if needed
• Review the open-source code for transparency

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Key Promoter"
4. Click Install

Download the latest .vsix file (or build by yourself):

1. Go to GitHub Releases
2. Download the latest key-promoter-x.x.x.vsix file
3. Install in VS Code:
   • Open VS Code
   • Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
   • Click ... → Install from VSIX...
   • Select the downloaded .vsix file

See CHANGELOG.md for detailed release notes.

MIT License - see LICENSE for details