---
id: shell/a-spotlight-style-launcher-on-ctrl-space
title: "A Spotlight-style launcher, on `ctrl-space`"
theme: shell
status: open
created: 2026-08-20
date_source: assumed
order: 1
---

**A Spotlight-style launcher, on `ctrl-space`.** The dock is full and cannot grow; navigation
already borrows from macOS (see `docs/navigation-audit.md`), so the launcher is the same borrowing
taken one step further. Type a few letters, get routes, chats, files, plugins, settings sections —
and hit enter. Dock settings already exist, so the other half is pruning the dock down to what is
actually used and letting the launcher carry the rest.
**Trigger to confirm:** `alt-space` is the owner's preferred chord but is already load-bearing for
him elsewhere, so `ctrl-space` unless that clashes too.