It is nice to have a common set of MSFS/XP key mappings. Unfortunately it appears that the keybinds are stored in the “cloud” and not locally, so I do not know how to get a MSFS key mapping file that can be shared.
As a result, there are some MSFS features that are disabled but I only care about the primary piloting functions that are convenient to have on the keyboard. I have looked through all the possible values a key press can be assigned to but could not find any for the autopilot.
The XP keys that I am very familiar with are the quick look keys (numpad 0 thru 9) and the quick look mem (ctrl numpad 0 -9), flight control keys 0-9, and engine control F1 - F12. Run X-Plane and it will rebuild the Default X-Plane Keys.prf file. Move your current copy out of the preferences folder to someplace safe. If you want to see the default and arent certain if you may already changed some you can get the original back. So I started with the default MSFS keybinds and created a custom “XP” compatible keybind. They are all in the file Output/preferences/X-Plane Keys.prf. I am not sure if this behavior has changed with the latest updates. A problem with the MSFS keybinds is that it seems to execute the primary keybinds of 0 - 9 regardless if they are already defined as part of other key combinations (ie. A couple exceptions are that I have a “Pause” key and I prefer that to “p” (XP) and I also prefer “End” to “shift 8” (XP). Otherwise, commands can be assigned to peripheral input devices like joysticks or other hardware or bound to a keyboard key combination with identical results.
I have made the MSFS keybinds as close to XP as possible. A command is a command - theres no way to determine what input device initiated a command that Im aware of using the X-Plane SDK.