AddThisFeature

Command Palette

Add a keyboard-accessible command interface for navigation and actions.

moderate User Experience

What it adds

A command palette turns your app's navigation and actions into a single searchable
overlay, opened from anywhere with a keyboard shortcut.

  • Keyboard shortcut to open the palette from anywhere
  • Fuzzy search across navigation destinations and actions
  • Full keyboard navigation, with the mouse as an option rather than a requirement
  • Recent items, so the thing you did last is one keystroke away
  • Responsive behaviour that degrades to something usable on a phone
  • Accessible focus management and screen reader support

What your agent is told to do

5
  1. 1

    Find the app's routes and pages. Every primary destination the user can

  2. 2

    Find the app's existing actions — "create X", "log out", "open settings" —

  3. 3

    Register a global keyboard shortcut to open the palette. Do not hijack a

  4. 4

    Search. Filter commands as the user types, matching label and keywords.

  5. 5

    Group results by kind (Navigation, Actions) when there is more than one

Edge cases it handles

7
  • The user is typing in a form. The shortcut must not fire while focus is in an
  • The palette is already open. Pressing the shortcut again closes it.
  • Another modal is open. Either block the palette or close the other modal
  • An action the user lacks permission for. Hide it. Never show a command that
  • The user is signed out. Show only the commands that make sense signed out.
  • A very long command list. Cap or virtualize the rendered results; do not
  • A recent item pointing at a deleted record. Drop it from the list rather than

Definition of done

11
  • The palette opens from anywhere via the keyboard shortcut.
  • It does not open while the user is typing into a field.
  • Every primary navigation destination is reachable from it.
  • Actions call the app's existing handlers rather than reimplementing them.
  • Search filters results as the user types.
  • The list is fully keyboard-navigable and Enter activates the selection.
  • Escape closes the palette and restores focus.
  • Focus is trapped while it is open.
  • It works on mobile, with a non-keyboard way to open it.
  • It matches the app's existing design system — no new palette or UI library.
  • No existing keyboard shortcut or functionality is broken.

Related features

How it works

  1. 1

    Copy the link

    Grab the Markdown instruction URL for this feature.

  2. 2

    Give it to your AI

    Paste it into Claude Code, Cursor, v0, Lovable — whatever you build with.

  3. 3

    It inspects, then implements

    Your agent reads your existing app first, then adds the feature to fit it.

Works with your stack

These instructions are written to adapt. They tell the agent to detect your framework, match your existing design system, and reuse what you already have — rather than assuming a particular stack.

Need it tighter than that? Customize the feature and tell it exactly what you're running.