Phase 9: Scan Cancellation & Keyboard Shortcuts - Context

Gathered: 2026-03-06 Status: Ready for planning

## Phase Boundary

Users can control library scans (cancel/pause/resume) and operate the entire app via configurable keyboard shortcuts. Scans stop gracefully without database corruption, paused scans resume without re-processing. Keyboard shortcuts work out of the box with sensible defaults, are fully customizable via a settings UI, context-aware across three scopes, and suppressed during text input.

## Implementation Decisions

Default key bindings

Hybrid style: Space/arrows for player controls (no modifier), Ctrl+key for app actions
Up/Down arrows adjust volume, Left/Right seek within track
Both / and Ctrl+F focus the search box
Q toggles the queue panel
S for shuffle, R for repeat (single-key player controls)
Ctrl+A for select-all in any multi-select context (track lists, etc.)
All bindings are configurable — the above are defaults
Claude fills in remaining defaults (mute, etc.) using common media player conventions

Shortcut settings UI

Record-style key capture: click a shortcut row, press the new key combo, it captures live
Conflicts show a warning with the conflicting action — user chooses to overwrite (old becomes unbound) or cancel
Shortcuts grouped by category (Player, Navigation, App) in the settings view
"Reset to defaults" button resets all shortcuts; individual per-shortcut reset also available
Lives as a "Keyboard Shortcuts" tab within the existing settings dialog

Context scoping

Three scopes: Global (always active), Panel-specific (when a panel has focus), Text Input (shortcuts suppressed)
Global scope: player controls (Space, arrows, S, R, Q, etc.) fire regardless of which panel is focused
Panel-specific scope: track list gets Enter-to-play and Delete-to-remove when focused
Text Input scope: only Escape works (blurs the text input) — all other shortcuts suppressed
No visual scope indicator — relies on natural browser focus behavior; users learn through use

Scan control UX

Pause and Cancel buttons placed next to the existing status label, above the existing progress bar in the scanner UI
On cancel: prompt the user — "Keep X tracks found so far, or discard?" — gives user control over partial results
On resume after pause: skip already-processed files and continue with remaining — no duplicate work
Scan control is buttons-only — no keyboard shortcuts for cancel/pause (scans are infrequent)

Claude's Discretion

Remaining default key assignments not explicitly discussed (mute, volume step size, etc.)
Scan progress detail level and error handling during scan
Loading/disabled states for scan control buttons
Visual design of the shortcut settings UI (spacing, grouping headers, etc.)
How the cancel confirmation dialog looks and behaves

## Specific Ideas

Hybrid key style inspired by media players (Foobar2000/Winamp feel for player controls, standard app conventions for Ctrl+key actions)
Both / and Ctrl+F for search — power users get slash, everyone knows Ctrl+F
Record-style key capture like VS Code's keybinding editor
Cancel prompt on scan gives user control without losing work

## Deferred Ideas

None — discussion stayed within phase scope

Phase: 09-scan-cancellation-keyboard-shortcuts Context gathered: 2026-03-06

3.4 KiB Raw Blame History