Reference
Keyboard shortcuts
The chords the studio honors, which ones you can rebind, and where the bindings live on disk.
The studio runs from the keyboard. Seven chords are named, rebindable actions you edit in Settings. The rest are fixed and bound to one surface each, so they fire only where they apply: in a list, in the composer, in the code view.
One platform rule covers every chord below. Where the table shows ⌘, the studio reads ⌘ and Ctrl as the same modifier: Command on macOS, Ctrl on Windows and Linux. There is no second Windows table to drift out of sync.
Global chords
These fire from anywhere in the studio. The command palette is the one chord that stays live even while you type in the composer. Slash search and the rail jumps stand down whenever a text field holds focus, so typing / or 1 into a message writes text instead of navigating.
| Chord | Action | What it does |
|---|---|---|
⌘K | command palette | Open or close the palette. Type to filter every action and surface, then press Enter. |
/ | slash search | Open the same palette in search mode. Only outside a text field, so a bare slash still types. |
⌘1 | go to chat | Jump to the chat surface. |
⌘2 | go to agents | Jump to the agents surface. |
⌘3 | go to code | Jump to the code surface. |
⌘4 | go to kernels | Jump to the kernels surface. |
⌘, | open settings | Jump to Settings. The comma matches the platform convention. |
These seven are the only chords you can rebind. Everything in the next section is fixed.
Quick ask
One global chord sits outside the rebindable set. ⌘⇧Space opens a quick-ask overlay from anywhere, mid-compose included: type a question, press Enter, and the resident model answers it over in chat. The same chord, or Esc, dismisses it. Settings cannot edit this one yet.
Rebinding
The seven named actions live in Settings under Keyboard. Each row shows its current chord, a record button that captures your next keypress, and a reset. Press record, press the keys you want, and the new chord takes effect across the studio with no reload. Esc cancels a recording; reset restores the default.
A chord belongs to one action at a time. Record a combo another action already holds and the editor refuses it, naming the clash rather than letting two actions shadow each other. Moving ⌘K onto a new action takes only after you free it from the old one.
In-context keys
None of these are global. Each belongs to one surface, fires only there, and is not rebindable in Settings.
In the command palette and file finder
The palette and the code surface’s file finder share one navigation grammar: both take arrow keys, the readline-style Ctrl chords, Enter, and Esc. A couple of extra keys are palette only, noted below.
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
↓ | Move to the next result (also Ctrl+J or Ctrl+N). |
↑ | Move to the previous result (also Ctrl+K or Ctrl+P). |
Tab | Next result; Shift+Tab for the previous. Palette only. |
Home / End | Jump to the first or last result. Palette only. |
Enter | Run the highlighted action. |
Esc | Close the overlay (also Ctrl+[). |
In the chat composer
The composer follows the standard convention: Enter sends, Shift+Enter inserts a newline. ⌘Enter also sends, kept as a second binding for the older habit.
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
Enter | Send the message. |
Shift+Enter | Insert a newline without sending. |
⌘Enter | Send, the second binding. |
Esc | Interrupt the turn while one is generating; a no-op when idle. |
↑ / ↓ | Walk prompt history, but only when the caret is at the very start of the box, so multi-line editing is never hijacked. |
⌘[ / ⌘] | Cycle to the previous or next conversation. Fires on the chat surface, not while the composer holds focus. |
Esc-to-interrupt only acts mid-turn, so an idle Esc passes through to whatever is below it.
In the code surface
The code view’s welcome screen carries two openers.
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
⌘O | Open a folder. |
⌘L | Clone a repository; Shift+⌘L for the SSH form. |
Esc | Close the model picker when it is open. |
See also
When a key does nothing where you expect it to, the usual culprit is a focused surface swallowing the event; the troubleshooting page covers that class. The glossary defines the terms used above. New chords land in the changelog.
None of these shortcuts touch the runtime CLI. To drive Conifer from a terminal instead of the studio, see the conifer CLI.
command palette ⌘K
slash search /
go to chat ⌘1
go to agents ⌘2
go to code ⌘3
go to kernels ⌘4
open settings ⌘,