Keyboard shortcuts

Dispatch can be driven from the keyboard. Press ? on any page to see the shortcuts that page offers.

Ctrl below means ⌘ on a Mac, and Alt means ⌥ (Option). A shortcut written g i is a sequence: press g, let go, then press i within a second. While you wait, the keys pressed so far show in the bottom right corner.

While you type in a text field, only Ctrl+K, Escape, and Ctrl+Alt+M in a document work as shortcuts, so single letters never interrupt your typing.

The help and the palette

? opens Keyboard shortcuts: every shortcut the current page offers, grouped by where it applies. Type in its filter box to narrow the list. A shortcut that would do nothing right now, such as one that needs a focused row, is greyed out.

Ctrl+K opens the palette. With an empty box it lists the actions for the page you are on, each with the keys that also run it. Type to filter those actions and to search all of Dispatch. Use the arrow keys and Enter to pick a row. Some actions are only in the palette, because a single key would be too easy to press by mistake: Close issue, Reopen issue, and Set priority P0 to P3.

/ opens the palette for search alone, with your last search selected so that typing replaces it. g p opens it as a project list.

Global

These work on every page.

Keys	Action
Ctrl+K	Search and actions
/	Search only
?	Keyboard shortcuts
c	Create issue
g i	Go to Inbox
i	Open the Inbox as a drawer over the current page (not offered on the Inbox page itself)
g a	Go to Agents
g s	Go to Settings
g d	Go to the current project’s Documents (on a project or issue page)
g p	Go to project…
Shift+S	Toggle the sidebar (wide screens)
Shift+M	Toggle the margin (wide screens, on a page with a document)

Inbox

From 1280 px the Inbox page is two columns, and these keys act on the selected row: the one the right column is showing. Below that width, and in the Inbox drawer, they act on the focused row.

Keys	Action
j / k	Next / previous row
↓ / ↑	Next / previous row, while the focus is in the list (below 1280 px, while a row is focused)
l	Move the focus into the reading pane, which the arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down, Space, Home and End then scroll (nothing below 1280 px, in the drawer, or with no row selected)
Enter	Answer the selected ask (moves into its answer box, opening the note field of a decision block first)
1 – 9	Pick option 1–9 of the selected ask
o	Open the row’s issue, document or thread
y	Copy the selected row’s reference
x	Tick or untick the selected ask, for a snooze of several at once
h	Snooze the selected ask, or every ticked ask
f	Move the focus to the Search asks box above the list
Escape	From the search box, to the selected row, or the first row where none is selected; from the right column, back to the row l was pressed on, else the row it is showing; then back to the row, then off it; from the bulk snooze menu, back to the list; with no row focused, drop every tick

Enter, 1 – 9, x and h are an open question’s: a thread row has no options, no answer box and no snooze, so they do nothing on one. An agent-message row has no dispatch:// reference, so y does nothing on one either.

Project

Keys	Action
v	Toggle List / Board (on the Issues tab)

On the List table, j and k follow the current sorted, filtered page, skip collapsed groups, and scroll virtual rows into view:

Keys	Action
j / k	Next / previous issue
o	Open issue
Enter	Open the focused issue (from the row)
x	Select or deselect the focused issue

Board

Keys	Action
j / k	Next / previous card
l / h	Next / previous column
↓ / ↑	Next / previous card, while one is focused
→ / ←	Next / previous column, while one is focused
Shift+J / Shift+K	Move card down / up
Shift+L / Shift+H	Move card to the next / previous status
o	Open issue
Enter	Open the focused card’s issue (from the card)
p	Focus the card’s priority
y	Copy the card’s issue reference
Shift+Y	Copy the card’s issue key
Escape	Back to the card, then off it

Architecture

Keys	Action
j / k	Next / previous component
↓ / ↑	Next / previous component, while one is focused
Enter or o	Open the focused component: its children, else its details
l or →	Into the focused component’s children
h or ←	Up one level
Escape	Back to the component row, then off it

Issue

Keys	Action
s	Focus the status
p	Focus the priority
0 – 3	Set priority P0–P3
l	Edit labels
e	Edit the title
Shift+P	Pin or unpin the issue
t s	Spec tab
t k	Verification tab
t p	Plan tab
t c	Conversation tab
t h	Children tab
t a	Artifacts tab
t v	Activity tab
t d	Decisions tab
t o	Collaborators tab
Escape	Back out of the focused status or priority

0 – 3 and Shift+P do nothing while focus is in an ask’s card or on a checkbox or option, where the key belongs to that control.

Document

These work in an issue’s documents and in a project’s documents.

Keys	Action
Ctrl+Alt+M	Comment on the selected text

Ctrl+Alt+M is the shortcut Google Docs uses. It does what the selection bar’s Comment does: it opens a comment on the text you selected and puts the cursor in it. It works while the cursor is in the document and text is selected. With nothing selected, in a comment you are writing, or on a document you cannot edit, it does nothing.

Agents

Keys	Action
j / k	Next / previous agent
Enter	Message the focused agent
i	Pick an issue for the message
Shift+P	Pin or unpin the focused agent
x	Select or deselect the focused agent
Escape	Close the issue picker, or go back to the agent row

Dialogs

Keys	Action
Escape	Close the dialog
Ctrl+K	Close the search palette

While a dialog is open, only its own keys work.

Writing

These keys belong to the message boxes rather than to a page, so ? does not list them. The live view’s message box is the exception to the Enter row only: there Enter sends, as at the agent’s terminal, Shift+Enter starts a new line, and Ctrl+Enter sends as everywhere.

Keys	Action
Ctrl+Enter	Send
Enter	New line
Enter in the live view’s message box	Send
Shift+Enter in the live view’s message box	New line
After / in the live view’s Send or Aside box	Arrow keys choose a command; Tab or Enter picks it; Escape closes the list
Ctrl+K	In a new comment on an issue, open the reference picker to insert a dispatch:// link