Keyboard shortcuts
Novaterra is built to be driven from the keyboard as much as the mouse — the Path (the omnibar) in
particular exists so you rarely need to click anywhere. Nothing here is hidden: this table is the
same list SHORTCUTS in apps/web/src/shell/Omnibar.tsx renders on-screen when you press ? —
that file’s own comment says so — so it can never drift out of date with what the app actually
listens for.
Anywhere
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
⌘K / Ctrl+K | Open the Path |
/ | Open the Path, unless you’re already typing |
? | Open this shortcut sheet |
z | Undo the last thing you did (see Undo) |
Esc | Close whatever’s on top: the Path, the theme panel, an urgent Attention overlay, a modal |
The Path
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
/ | Places: world, muse, twin, studio, market, beings, settings |
> | Commands: shortcuts, add widget, reset layout, wrap |
! | Generators, by name |
? | Search what your Twin remembers |
@ | Beings, by handle or name |
# | Threads, by title |
+ | Note something into memory |
| a leading space | Always means ask the Muse, even if the rest of the text starts with a prefix character |
↑ ↓ | Move through results |
Tab | Complete the top match |
↵ | Resolve |
See Signals and the Path for what each of the seven prefix characters actually does, and why a bare, unprefixed query is the only kind that ever reaches a model call.
Signals
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
j k | Move between Signal cards |
1–9 | Answer with that numbered option |
↵ | Answer with the first option |
x | Dismiss |
s | Snooze until dawn |
e | Why am I seeing this? |
z | Undo |
Esc | Leave the card |
Your desktop
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
← → | Move the focused widget one grid cell, while arranging |
Shift + ←/→ | Resize it instead, down to its type’s minimum size |
Delete / Backspace | Remove the focused widget, while arranging |
Esc | Stop arranging |
Arrange mode is entered from the bottom dock, which reveals when your pointer nears the bottom edge
of the screen, or stays open while arranging. Source: apps/web/src/desktop/Desktop.tsx and
apps/web/src/desktop/Dock.tsx.
Writing (Muse, the Twin’s TeachBox, the town square, Studio briefs)
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
↵ | Send |
Shift+↵ | Newline, without sending |
⌘↵ / Ctrl+↵ | Submit a brief, or teach your Twin |
Esc | Clear the composer |
Sources: apps/web/src/muse/Composer.tsx, apps/web/src/beings/Square.tsx,
apps/web/src/desktop/widgets/shared.tsx, apps/web/src/twin/TeachBox.tsx,
apps/web/src/studio/components/HeroComposer.tsx.
The Studio, beyond writing
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
Enter / Space | Select a focused node in the task graph view |
Esc | Close the Skills shelf |
Sources: apps/web/src/studio/components/TaskGraph.tsx,
apps/web/src/studio/components/SkillsShelf.tsx. When filling in a generator’s own form, comma or
Enter commits a tag-style list field, and Backspace on an empty tag input deletes the last tag
(apps/web/src/studio/lib/schemaForm.tsx).
The Twin’s Constellation (memory map)
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
Enter | Open the currently-searched memory, when nothing else is focused |
Esc | Clear the current selection/search |
Source: apps/web/src/twin/Constellation.tsx.
Elsewhere
Esc also closes the Marketplace’s listing detail modal (ListingDetail.tsx) and the Twin’s memory
drawer (MemoryDrawer.tsx) — the rule across the whole app is consistent: Esc always closes
whatever layer is topmost, never navigates away.