Keyboard shortcuts

Every keyboard shortcut in Polaris, and how to change them.

Polaris’s most useful shortcut is Cmd+K (Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux): it opens Search, where you can jump to any Session or run any action by typing its name. On a computer, each action there shows its shortcut. To see every shortcut, press Cmd+/ (Ctrl+/). Hovering a button also shows its shortcut, and in a Session, holding Cmd (Ctrl) on its own shows the shortcuts of the buttons around the composer, such as Next and the model control. They go away when you let go or press any other key, so they stay out of screenshots. When you run an action from Search on a computer, Search then reminds you of its shortcut, if it has one.

On a Mac, iPad included, Polaris uses Cmd. On Windows and Linux it uses Ctrl. The action names below are the ones Settings and Search show.

General

Action	Mac	Windows and Linux
Search: find a Session, a setting or an action	`Cmd+K`	`Ctrl+K`
Keyboard shortcuts: list every shortcut	`Cmd+/`	`Ctrl+/`
Open settings	`Cmd+,`	`Ctrl+,`
Leave Settings, when you’re not typing in a field	`Esc`	`Esc`

Moving around

Action	Mac	Windows and Linux
New session	`Shift+Cmd+O`	`Ctrl+Shift+O`
New session, when you’re not typing in a field	`Option+Return`	`Alt+Enter`
New session with what you typed, in Search	`Option+Return`	`Alt+Enter`
Actions for the Session selected in Search	`Cmd+Return`	`Ctrl+Enter`
Previous session in the sidebar	`Option+Cmd+↑`	`Alt+↑`
Next session in the sidebar	`Option+Cmd+↓`	`Alt+↓`
Next needing me: open the next Session that needs you	`Option+Cmd+N`	None
Mark read & next: mark this Session read and open the next that needs you	`Shift+Option+Cmd+N`	None
Go to file on the Machine	`Cmd+P`	`Ctrl+P`

Previous and next follow the order of the sidebar, with its grouping and filters, even while the sidebar is closed. For Back and Forward, use the arrows at the top of the sidebar on a computer, or your browser’s own keys: Cmd+[ and Cmd+] on a Mac, Alt+← and Alt+→ on Windows and Linux. They have no Polaris shortcut until you give them one.

Sidebars

Action	Mac	Windows and Linux
Toggle sidebar: show the Session list and move into it, or hide it	`Cmd+B`	`Ctrl+B`
Toggle Context Sidebar: show or hide the right sidebar	`Option+Cmd+B`	`Ctrl+Shift+B`
Show changes: open the right sidebar on Changes	`Control+Shift+G`	`Ctrl+Shift+G`

Session

Action	Mac	Windows and Linux
Find in transcript	`Cmd+F`	`Ctrl+F`
Archive session	`Shift+Cmd+E`	`Ctrl+Shift+E`
Answer question: jump to the agent’s question above the composer	`Shift+Cmd+K`	`Alt+Shift+K`
Continue to the next question, once you’ve chosen an answer	`Cmd+Return`	`Ctrl+Enter`

Composer

Action	Mac	Windows and Linux
Send, or Steer or Queue while the agent works	`Return`	`Enter`
Queue or Steer the other way, once	`Cmd+Return`	`Ctrl+Enter`
New line	`Shift+Return` or `Option+Return`	`Shift+Enter` or `Alt+Enter`
Start, on the Start page	`Return` or `Cmd+Return`	`Enter` or `Ctrl+Enter`
Focus composer: put the cursor in the composer	`Control+Shift+A`	`Ctrl+Shift+A`
Add images and files	`Cmd+U`	`Ctrl+U`
Change model and effort	`Shift+Cmd+M`	`Ctrl+Shift+M`
Open the model menu, while typing in the composer	`Cmd+/`	`Ctrl+/`
Dictate; press again to stop and insert what you said	`Shift+Cmd+D`	`Ctrl+Shift+D`
Stop dictating and discard; Undo brings it back	`Esc`	`Esc`
Use the suggested next message, in an empty composer	`Tab` or `→`	`Tab` or `→`

While the agent works, Return does whatever the send button shows, Steer or Queue; see Talk to the agent. While an input method is composing text, these keys finish the composition and do nothing else.

Queued messages

Press ↑ with the cursor on the composer’s first line to move into the messages queued above it. Then:

Action	Key
Move between queued messages	`↑` and `↓`
Steer the selected message into the current work	`Return` or `Enter`
Edit it in the composer	`E`
Remove it from the queue	`Delete` or `Backspace`
Go back to the composer	`Esc`

Terminal

Action	Mac	Windows and Linux
Toggle terminal focus: go to the Terminal, or back to where you were	Control+`	Ctrl+`
New terminal	Control+Shift+`	Ctrl+Shift+`

Control+` opens a terminal if there is none. While you type in a terminal, the program in it gets your keys, so other shortcuts wait until you leave it with the same key. A Browser or Desktop tab also keeps every key while you use it.

Change a shortcut

Open Settings → Keyboard shortcuts, or choose Edit shortcuts in the Cmd+/ list. Each action shows its keys, or No shortcut.

Edit waits for the keys you press and replaces the action’s shortcut. Add keeps the current keys and adds another. Press Esc to cancel.
Select the × beside a key to remove it. An action without a shortcut still runs from its button or from Search.
Reset puts one action back to its default. Reset all puts every action back, after you confirm.
If the keys already belong to another action, Polaris says Used by that action and offers Replace, which moves the keys to the one you’re editing.

Some keys can’t be shortcuts: keys your browser keeps, such as Cmd+W, Cmd+T and Cmd+N; Tab, Return and Space; and on Windows and Linux, Ctrl+Alt with a letter or digit. The composer’s sending keys, Continue to the next question, and Esc where it cancels or leaves something can’t be changed.

Some actions start without a shortcut, such as Stop agent, Change permissions, Show files, Copy transcript as Markdown, Jump to latest, Report a bug, Open Polaris docs, Open notifications and Mark viewed. Give them one here, or run them from Search.

Your shortcuts are saved to your account, so they apply on every device you sign in on. A shortcut you changed stays as you set it when Polaris changes that action’s default.

Single-key shortcuts

Shortcuts without Cmd, Ctrl or Option (Alt), such as ? for the shortcut list, are off until you turn on Single-key shortcuts in Settings → Keyboard shortcuts. When on, they work whenever you’re not typing in a text field. While off, they stay listed in Settings, dimmed.