Command palette & hotkeys
Ghostex shares one command palette for session switching and command fuzzy-finding. Cmd+P opens session search; Cmd+Shift+P opens command mode with a leading > prefix. All shortcuts are configurable in Settings → Hotkeys.
Command palette modes
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
Session search (Cmd+P) | Open the palette with no leading >. Search current sessions, previous sessions, and switch focus. |
Command mode (Cmd+Shift+P) | Opens with > pre-filled. Commands are only searched while the leading > prefix remains. |
The input value is the mode switch. Type > manually in an open palette to enter command mode from session search.
Command mode groups
- Ghostex — built-in commands: settings, sidebar toggle, clone repository, wake pet.
- Pane Actions — focused-pane commands: open browser, split, rotate, merge, fork, reload, delayed send, pop out.
- Project Actions — configured terminal and browser action buttons with slot hotkeys.
Session search
- Current sessions grouped by project in macOS sidebar order.
- Previous sessions (up to 20) with debounced remote search.
- Select a row to focus or restore the session.
Default hotkeys
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
Cmd+Shift+P | Open command palette in command mode. |
Cmd+P | Open command palette in session search mode. |
Cmd+T | Create a terminal session (new tab in focused split pane). |
Cmd+N | Open a browser tab beside the focused tab. |
Cmd+B | Collapse or expand the sidebar. |
Cmd+, | Open Settings. |
Cmd+R | Rename the focused session. |
F12 | Open the project command terminal panel. |
Cmd+D | Split sideways — create a terminal beside the focused pane. |
Cmd+Shift+D | Split downwards. |
Cmd+Tab / Cmd+Shift+Tab | Next / previous tab in the focused split pane. |
Cmd+Alt+Arrow | Move focus up/right/down/left between panes. |
Cmd+1…9 | Focus session slots 1–9. |
Cmd+Ctrl+1…5 | Focus groups 1–5. |
Alt+1…4 | Switch workarea views: Agents, Source, GitHub, Kanban. |
Ctrl+Shift+1…5 | Start action slots 1–5 from the Actions list. |
Ctrl+Shift+L | Rotate panes clockwise. |
Ctrl+Shift+R | Reload the focused session. |
Ctrl+Shift+F | Fork the focused session. |
Ctrl+Shift+S | Delayed send (schedule Enter). |
Ctrl+Shift+M | Merge all tabs in the focused group. |
Ctrl+Shift+O | Pop out or restore the focused pane. |
Customizing hotkeys
Settings → Hotkeys lists every action with its current binding. Set a blank string to intentionally unassign a shortcut. Retired default keys (like Cmd+K for the palette) are migrated automatically.
Hotkeys dispatch from both AppKit (terminal-focused) and sidebar DOM, using the same shared hotkey model.
Action slot hotkeys
Ctrl+Shift+1 through Ctrl+Shift+5 map to the first five entries in Settings → Actions. Slots are positional — reordering actions does not require rebinding hotkeys.