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spotlight opens on alt-space, and on nothing else

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Third chord in a day, and each move was the owner naming a collision on the machine he actually uses:
ctrl-space is Brave's address bar, shift-space types a space, alt-space is the window menu — and he rebound
that rather than give up the chord.

Shift-space was the worst of the three and it is worth saying why, because it read as the safe choice.
It is a real key combination inside a text field: it types a space, and people hold shift through one more
often than they think while typing capitals. So it had to stand down whenever focus was in an input — which
is where focus usually is, the chat composer — and a launcher you have to click out of a field to reach is
not a launcher.

Alt-space means nothing in a text field, so the isTyping guard stops being the thing holding the feature up
and becomes belt-and-braces. Kept anyway: two lines against some layout delivering alt-space as a literal
character, which is cheap to prevent and expensive to discover.

`altKey` with `ev.code`, not `ev.key` — alt-space produces a different `key` on several layouts and nothing
at all on others, while the physical key is `Space` everywhere.

No second chord. Two triggers for one thing means two things to collide with, and this one has moved twice.

The TODO item's id still says ctrl-space. Ids are stable by design, so it stays; its body now records all
three moves and which guard was load-bearing for which.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
pastilhas
2026-08-22 03:31:44 +00:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5
parent f9dfd05676
commit 6b07aafc67
3 changed files with 66 additions and 48 deletions
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files
TODO.md
+30 -30
View File
@@ -22,36 +22,36 @@ the owner's OS user and can never be granted. Indirection there really is accide
**85 open, 22 closed**, across 28 themes.
| Theme | Open | Closed |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---- | ------ |
| [Affordances](todo/affordances/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Speaking into a session from the backend](todo/agent-delivery/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Backburner](todo/backburner/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Background jobs](todo/background-jobs/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Chat interface](todo/chat/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Code editor](todo/code-editor/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Components — the shared UI layer](todo/components/) | 1 | 0 |
| [File watchers](todo/file-watchers/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Fleet — one command across every server](todo/fleet/) | 5 | 2 |
| [Headscale](todo/headscale/) | 0 | 5 |
| [Infra (alpha)](todo/infra/) | 6 | 0 |
| [Known bugs](todo/known-bugs/) | 4 | 1 |
| [Mobile apps](todo/mobile-apps/) | 3 | 0 |
| [Multi-user](todo/multi-user/) | 18 | 3 |
| [Notifications](todo/notifications/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Plugin ecosystem — before it opens to third parties (2026-08-18)](todo/plugin-ecosystem/) | 3 | 0 |
| [Plugin infrastructure](todo/plugin-infrastructure/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Plugin repos — what writing their READMEs turned up](todo/plugin-repos/) | 10 | 9 |
| [Plugin system — gaps the email extraction found (2026-08-18)](todo/plugin-system/) | 3 | 0 |
| [Prompt library](todo/prompt-library/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Shell — spotlight and the dock](todo/shell/) | 1 | 1 |
| [Sub-agents — agents spawning agents](todo/sub-agents/) | 1 | 1 |
| [Sudo terminal modal](todo/sudo-terminal-modal/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Tooling — the list about the list](todo/tooling/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Transmission](todo/transmission/) | 6 | 0 |
| [URL state — routing, query strings and selection](todo/url-state/) | 4 | 0 |
| [Waiting on the owner to run it](todo/waiting-on-owner/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Workspaces & Panels](todo/workspaces-panels/) | 2 | 0 |
| Theme | Open | Closed |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Affordances](todo/affordances/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Speaking into a session from the backend](todo/agent-delivery/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Backburner](todo/backburner/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Background jobs](todo/background-jobs/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Chat interface](todo/chat/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Code editor](todo/code-editor/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Components — the shared UI layer](todo/components/) | 1 | 0 |
| [File watchers](todo/file-watchers/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Fleet — one command across every server](todo/fleet/) | 5 | 2 |
| [Headscale](todo/headscale/) | 0 | 5 |
| [Infra (alpha)](todo/infra/) | 6 | 0 |
| [Known bugs](todo/known-bugs/) | 4 | 1 |
| [Mobile apps](todo/mobile-apps/) | 3 | 0 |
| [Multi-user](todo/multi-user/) | 18 | 3 |
| [Notifications](todo/notifications/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Plugin ecosystem — before it opens to third parties (2026-08-18)](todo/plugin-ecosystem/) | 3 | 0 |
| [Plugin infrastructure](todo/plugin-infrastructure/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Plugin repos — what writing their READMEs turned up](todo/plugin-repos/) | 10 | 9 |
| [Plugin system — gaps the email extraction found (2026-08-18)](todo/plugin-system/) | 3 | 0 |
| [Prompt library](todo/prompt-library/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Shell — spotlight and the dock](todo/shell/) | 1 | 1 |
| [Sub-agents — agents spawning agents](todo/sub-agents/) | 1 | 1 |
| [Sudo terminal modal](todo/sudo-terminal-modal/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Tooling — the list about the list](todo/tooling/) | 1 | 0 |
| [Transmission](todo/transmission/) | 6 | 0 |
| [URL state — routing, query strings and selection](todo/url-state/) | 4 | 0 |
| [Waiting on the owner to run it](todo/waiting-on-owner/) | 2 | 0 |
| [Workspaces & Panels](todo/workspaces-panels/) | 2 | 0 |
## Records — no items, kept for the reasoning
src/apps/officer-web/Screens/Dashboard/Layout/Spotlight/Spotlight.tsx
+25 -13
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@@ -11,17 +11,25 @@ import { useSpotlightItems, type SpotlightItem } from './useSpotlightItems';
//
// ── Keyboard first, and the trigger ──
//
// `shift-space`. The two obvious chords were both taken: `ctrl-space` focuses the address bar in Brave,
// and `alt-space` is load-bearing for the owner elsewhere. `cmd-k` belongs to the browser on some
// platforms and to text fields on others.
// `alt-space`, and ONLY that. It went ctrl-space → shift-space → alt-space, and each move was the owner
// telling us what the chord actually collides with on the machine he uses:
//
// **Shift-space is a real key combination inside a text field** — it types a space, and people hold shift
// through one more often than they think while typing capitals. So the trigger is IGNORED when focus is
// in an input, a textarea or anything contenteditable, and the space is typed as normal.
// ctrl-space focuses the address bar in Brave
// shift-space types a space — see below, this was the real problem
// alt-space taken by the window menu, and the owner rebound it rather than give up the chord
//
// The cost of that is worth stating: focus usually IS in the chat composer, so opening Spotlight from
// there means clicking out first. If that turns out to be the common case, a double-tap of shift is the
// escape hatch — it conflicts with nothing anywhere.
// **Shift-space was never a good choice**, and that is why it did not last a day. It is a real key
// combination inside a text field: it types a space, and people hold shift through one more often than
// they think while typing capitals. Guarding it meant IGNORING the trigger whenever focus was in an input
// — which is where focus usually is, the chat composer — so opening Spotlight meant clicking out first.
// A launcher you have to prepare for is not a launcher.
//
// Alt-space has no meaning inside a text field, so the guard is now belt-and-braces rather than the thing
// holding the feature together. It stays: alt-space reaching a composer as a literal character on some
// layout is cheap to prevent and expensive to discover.
//
// Nothing else opens it. There is deliberately no second chord — two triggers for one thing means two
// things to collide with, and this one moved twice already.
//
// Escape closes, arrows move, enter goes. The mouse works, but nothing here is designed around it.
@@ -41,9 +49,11 @@ import { useSpotlightItems, type SpotlightItem } from './useSpotlightItems';
/**
* Is the user typing into something?
*
* `shift-space` types a space in any text field, so the trigger has to stand down there or it eats a
* keystroke people make by accident all day. `isContentEditable` covers the editor and any rich input a
* panel brings with it.
* Kept after the trigger moved to `alt-space`, where it is no longer load-bearing. It was written for
* `shift-space`, which types a space in any text field and so HAD to stand down or it ate a keystroke
* people make by accident all day. Alt-space means nothing in a text field — but a layout that delivers it
* as a literal character exists somewhere, and this is two lines. `isContentEditable` covers the editor
* and any rich input a panel brings with it.
*/
function isTyping(target: EventTarget | null): boolean {
const el = target as HTMLElement | null;
@@ -175,7 +185,9 @@ export const Spotlight = () => {
// anywhere — including inside a panel that has its own key handling.
useEffect(() => {
const onKey = (ev: KeyboardEvent) => {
if (ev.shiftKey && ev.code === 'Space' && !isTyping(ev.target)) {
// `altKey` and `code`, not `key`: alt-space produces a different `key` on several layouts (and
// nothing at all on some), while the physical key is `Space` everywhere.
if (ev.altKey && ev.code === 'Space' && !isTyping(ev.target)) {
ev.preventDefault();
setOpen((wasOpen) => !wasOpen);
return;
todo/shell/a-spotlight-style-launcher-on-ctrl-space.md
+11 -5
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@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
---
id: shell/a-spotlight-style-launcher-on-ctrl-space
title: "A Spotlight-style launcher, on `shift-space`"
title: 'A Spotlight-style launcher, on `alt-space`'
theme: shell
status: done
created: 2026-08-20
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ him elsewhere, so `ctrl-space` unless that clashes too.
---
**Built 2026-08-21** (`81f32a1f`, retriggered in `a2cca526`). `shift-space` in the end: `ctrl-space`
**Built 2026-08-21** (`81f32a1f`, retriggered in `a2cca526`). **`alt-space`** in the end, after two moves: `ctrl-space`
focuses the address bar in Brave and never reached the app.
It **indexes the dock** rather than keeping a list of its own — the dock is already the composed,
@@ -29,9 +29,15 @@ added on top, hand-listed, which is a known cost written into the file.
Matching is subsequence with weighted scoring in its own testable file: `chq` finds Command HQ, `apik`
finds API keys, `fi` gives Files rather than Profile. Nine tests, all about ORDER rather than matching.
Stands down inside inputs and textareas, because shift-space types a space there. The consequence is
real and stated: focus is usually in the chat composer, so opening it from there means clicking out
first — double-tap shift is the escape hatch if that bites.
The trigger moved twice, and both moves were the owner naming a real collision: `ctrl-space` is Brave's
address bar, then `shift-space` types a space in every text field. The second was the worse one, because
guarding against it meant standing down whenever focus was in an input — which is where focus usually is,
the chat composer — so the launcher had to be prepared for rather than used. **`alt-space`** has no meaning
in a text field, so the guard is now belt-and-braces rather than the thing holding the feature up. It stays
anyway: two lines against a layout somewhere delivering alt-space as a character.
The id of this item still says `ctrl-space`. Ids are stable by design — see `todo/README.md` — so it is
left alone.
**Still open, and the other half of this item:** pruning the dock, and dock auto-hide with effects. Those
live in `shell/dock-effects-and-auto-hide`. Chats, files and actions are not in the index yet — routes