Keyboard Shortcuts: Planning a Maintainable System

[jnovinger]

NetBox currently has a few keyboard shortcuts (/ for search, Alt+arrow for history navigation), and we've received requests for more (most recently #20570 requesting e for edit). Rather than continue adding shortcuts ad-hoc, I'd like to take a step back and plan this properly. Keyboard shortcuts benefit power users but are invisible to everyone else, so we need to understand if there's enough interest to justify the effort.

Scope for initial implementation:

Building the infrastructure to support keyboard shortcuts maintainably, plus a small set of high-value shortcuts. We need to walk before we run.

What we need to figure out:

1. Do people actually want this? Is there enough community interest? Should there be a user setting to disable shortcuts?

2. Which shortcuts for the initial set? What 5-10 actions would provide the most value? What contexts (list views, detail pages, forms) benefit most?

3. Discovery mechanism: Most apps use ? to show a help modal. Should we adopt this pattern?

4. Implementation approach: This needs to be done in TypeScript (not embedded JS). What libraries work well? How do we centralize registration and avoid scattering code across templates?

5. Conflict handling: Browser shortcuts, form inputs, accessibility, future additions. How do we avoid breaking things?

6. Platform and keyboard layout support: NetBox targets desktop browsers. How do we handle mobile/tablet users and non-QWERTY keyboards?

7. Testing requirements: Preventing regressions likely needs frontend testing infrastructure we don't have. Is that a blocker?

What we can learn from other apps:

Apps like GitHub, GitLab, Gmail, Slack, Notion, Figma, and Trello all have robust keyboard shortcut systems. Common patterns include ? for help, j/k for navigation, / for search, single-letter keys for actions, and context-aware shortcuts.

Community input:

If you're someone who would use keyboard shortcuts in NetBox, speak up. What actions and contexts would benefit most?

This is a discussion to help determine whether this is worth pursuing and how to do it right. Even if the community wants this, there's no guarantee it gets prioritized for development.

Related: #20570, #20308, #17824, #1820, #917

[jnovinger]

A few process notes for this discussion:

Timeline: I'll review feedback and summarize what we've learned in two weeks (around November 1st). That summary will help determine whether this moves forward and what shape it takes.

Gauging interest: If you'd use keyboard shortcuts in NetBox, please upvote this discussion. If specific shortcut suggestions resonate with you, use reactions on those comments. Concrete signals help more than lengthy debates.

Scope reminder: This is exploration to understand community interest and identify key decisions. Even if there's strong consensus, there's no guarantee this gets prioritized for development. We're figuring out if it's worth pursuing and how to approach it thoughtfully.

[seismiccollision]

i'd sure love hotkeys to cycle through tabs within an object view or jump to specific tabs. specifically i am regularly going for interfaces or contacts on objects and it could save me the extra mouse and click