Feat/keybind teacher

[JohnABardo]

Keybinding Teacher Feature - PR Description

Description

This PR implements a Keybinding Teacher feature that helps users discover and learn keyboard shortcuts by showing notifications when they repeatedly use mouse/menu actions for commands that have keybindings.

Fixes #26729 (429 👍)
Related to #78091

As mentioned in #78091, the VS Code team expressed openness to accepting this as a core contribution.

What This Feature Does

The Keybinding Teacher monitors command execution and shows educational notifications when:

1. A command is executed via UI (mouse/menu) rather than keyboard
2. The command has an available keybinding
3. The UI execution count reaches the configured threshold (default: every 3 times)
4. The cooldown period has elapsed since the last notification (default: 60 minutes)
5. The user has not dismissed suggestions for that command

Example Notification

Key Features

• Smart Detection: Uses currentlyDispatchingCommandId to reliably distinguish keyboard shortcuts from UI actions
• Modulo-Based Threshold: Shows notification every N uses (e.g., 3rd, 6th, 9th time) while preserving historical statistics
• Configurable Cooldown: Prevents notification fatigue with adjustable time between suggestions
• Dismissible Suggestions: Users can permanently dismiss suggestions for specific commands
• Management Commands:
  • Keybinding Teacher: Manage Dismissed Suggestions - View and re-enable dismissed commands
  • Keybinding Teacher: Clear All Data - Reset all statistics and dismissed commands

Configuration Settings

All settings are under workbench.keybindingTeacher.*:

• enabled (default: false): Enable the keybinding teacher
• threshold (default: 3): Show suggestion every N UI executions
• cooldownMinutes (default: 60): Minimum time between suggestions for the same command (0 = no cooldown)

Implementation Details

Core Changes

1. Platform Layer (src/vs/platform/keybinding/):

   • Extended IKeybindingService interface with currentlyDispatchingCommandId property
   • Added public getter in AbstractKeybindingService to expose command dispatch state
   • Updated MockKeybindingService for test compatibility

2. Workbench Contribution (src/vs/workbench/contrib/keybindingTeacher/):

   • IKeybindingTeacherService - Service interface
   • KeybindingTeacherService - Main implementation with command execution tracking
   • KeybindingTeacherStorage - Persistence layer using IStorageService
   • keybindingTeacherConfiguration.ts - Settings registration
   • keybindingTeacher.contribution.ts - Service and command registration

Design Decisions

• High-Frequency Filter: Excludes cursor movement, delete, undo, redo, and clipboard commands
• Storage Scope: Uses StorageScope.APPLICATION for cross-workspace persistence
• UI/Keyboard Detection: Listens to onDidExecuteCommand and checks if currentlyDispatchingCommandId matches to determine execution source

Manual Testing Steps

1. Enable and configure the feature:

   • Open Settings (Ctrl+, / Cmd+,)
   • Search for "keybinding teacher"
   • Enable Workbench › Keybinding Teacher: Enabled
   • Set Threshold to your desired value (e.g., 3)
   • Set Cooldown Minutes as needed (e.g., 0 for testing)

2. Test basic notification:

   • Go to View > Command Palette N times (where N = your threshold value)
   • On the Nth execution, a notification should appear: "You can use Ctrl+Shift+P for 'show all commands'"

3. Test dismiss functionality:

   • In the notification, click "Don't Show Again for This Command"
   • Go to View > Command Palette N + 1 more times
   • ✅ There should be NO popup (command is dismissed)

4. Test Clear All Data:

   • Open Command Palette (F1)
   • Run Keybinding Teacher: Clear All Data
   • Confirm the action
   • Go to View > Command Palette N times
   • ✅ The popup should appear after N executions (data was properly cleared)

5. Test Manage Dismissed Suggestions:

   • Dismiss the notification again using "Don't Show Again for This Command"
   • Go to View > Command Palette N + 1 times to verify no popup appears
   • Open Command Palette (F1)
   • Run Keybinding Teacher: Manage Dismissed Suggestions
   • Select workbench.action.showCommands from the list
   • Go to View > Command Palette N times
   • ✅ The popup should appear after N executions (re-enabling works and count was reset)

6. Test keyboard shortcuts are NOT tracked:

   • Press Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P directly 10+ times
   • ✅ Should NOT see any notifications (keybindings don't trigger the teacher)

Expected Behavior

• Notifications only appear for UI actions (menu clicks), not keyboard shortcuts
• Dismissed commands stay dismissed until re-enabled
• Clearing data resets all statistics and dismissed states
• Re-enabling a dismissed command starts counting fresh from 0
• Settings changes take effect immediately without restart

Notes

• Feature is experimental and disabled by default
• No tests included in initial implementation (can be added if requested during review)
• Ready for feedback and iteration based on team review

[JohnABardo]

@microsoft-github-policy-service agree

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR introduces a Keybinding Teacher feature that helps users discover keyboard shortcuts by showing notifications when they repeatedly use mouse/menu actions for commands that have keybindings. The feature is experimental and disabled by default.

Key changes:

• Extends IKeybindingService with currentlyDispatchingCommandId to distinguish keyboard vs UI command execution
• Implements tracking service with configurable threshold and cooldown
• Adds management commands for dismissed suggestions and data clearing

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/vs/platform/keybinding/common/keybinding.ts	Adds currentlyDispatchingCommandId property to IKeybindingService interface
src/vs/platform/keybinding/common/abstractKeybindingService.ts	Implements public getter for currentlyDispatchingCommandId
src/vs/platform/keybinding/test/common/mockKeybindingService.ts	Updates mock service with new property
src/vs/workbench/contrib/keybindingTeacher/common/keybindingTeacher.ts	Defines service interface and types
src/vs/workbench/contrib/keybindingTeacher/common/keybindingTeacherConfiguration.ts	Registers configuration settings
src/vs/workbench/contrib/keybindingTeacher/common/keybindingTeacherStorage.ts	Implements persistence layer using storage service
src/vs/workbench/contrib/keybindingTeacher/browser/keybindingTeacherService.ts	Main service implementation with command execution tracking
src/vs/workbench/contrib/keybindingTeacher/browser/keybindingTeacher.contribution.ts	Service and command registration
src/vs/workbench/workbench.common.main.ts	Imports keybinding teacher contribution

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 8 comments.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.