Keyboard-first, by default — a manifesto

When we say "keyboard-first" we mean every workflow has a one- or two-keystroke path. Not "you can use the keyboard if you really want to" — actually faster on keyboard than mouse, for the most common 20 actions.

The way we enforce this: every new shortcut goes through a 3-person review. Does it conflict? Is it mnemonic? Can it be invoked from anywhere, or just from a specific surface? Will it work on Windows + Mac + Linux?

The shortcut nobody uses is ⌘E (edit estimate). We made it. We reviewed it. We shipped it. Three months later, telemetry showed 0.3% of estimate edits used the shortcut — the rest used the mouse on the number field. We removed it. The cost of a bad shortcut isn’t the shortcut itself; it’s the discoverability cost of every other shortcut.