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โ€ป /labs/ikdb

IKDB

the universal keybinding wrapper โ€” one mental model for every key in every app

skunkworks ยท pre-public

โ€ป vision

A single keybinding layer that sits above every app on macOS and iOS. App-aware, mode-aware, context-aware bindings, but with a coherent mental model โ€” so you don't relearn keystrokes when you switch from Cursor to Linear to Notes to a terminal. Inspired by the chord-grammar of Helix and the modal precision of Karabiner, but framed for muscle memory across apps, not within one.

โ€ป why

I have keybinding amnesia across forty applications. Every power user ends up with a Frankenstein stack: Karabiner-Elements for OS-level remaps, Hammerspoon for windowing, Keyboard Maestro for macros, Raycast for hotkeys, plus N apps with their own quirky modes. The cognitive tax is enormous and the mental model fragments. IKDB is the answer.

โ€ป core idea

A grammar of bindings โ€” `<context><object><verb>` โ€” instead of arbitrary chords. `c-app-cursor` invokes Cursor; `c-pane-split` splits the current pane regardless of app. Same verb, same fingers, different scope.

what would unlock for me

  • โ–ถone set of fingers for window management across every app
  • โ–ถa Hyper-mode that doesn't conflict with Raycast hotkeys
  • โ–ถcontext-aware bindings that change with focus but stay legible
  • โ–ถa teaching mode โ€” overlay shows what's bindable right now
  • โ–ถa cheatsheet that's literally generated from the binding tree
   IKDB ยท the binding tree (sketch)
   โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€
   <hyper> โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€ a/app   โ†’ cursor / linear / notes / terminal
             โ”œโ”€โ”€ w/wndw  โ†’ split / cycle / focus / send
             โ”œโ”€โ”€ m/move  โ†’ space-mode / mouse-mode / remote
             โ”œโ”€โ”€ s/srch  โ†’ fast-search / clipboard / recent
             โ””โ”€โ”€ ?/help  โ†’ live overlay

โ€ป current status

this is still a research artifact. I'm prototyping pieces of it inside LouTools (the Swift super-app) and the Raycast system. don't hold your breath, but do ask me about it.