Keyboard shortcuts
Shepherd is built to drive from the keyboard. These shortcuts are desktop-only and are suppressed while a modal or overlay is open. The plain-key shortcuts fire only when the dashboard body has focus (not while you are typing in a field); the command bar and the Alt / Option switchers work even while the terminal is focused.
Command bar
Section titled “Command bar”| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
⌘K / Ctrl+K |
Open the command bar — a quick-switcher over your sessions, repositories, and herd lenses. Fires even while an input or the terminal is focused. Type to filter, ↑ / ↓ to move, Enter to activate the highlighted row, Esc to close. |
The command bar also carries verbs beyond navigation — including Next needs you, which jumps to the next session waiting on your reply (offered whenever another session is waiting), and Decommission, which decommissions the session you have selected (offered whenever that session is on screen). Type part of a verb’s name to surface it.
Destructive verbs take two presses: the first Enter (or click) arms the row, which turns red and asks you to confirm; the second decommissions. The arm clears itself after three seconds, or as soon as you type or move the cursor. Decommission still opens the usual undo window, so an accidental confirm is recoverable until it expires.
Session & herd navigation
Section titled “Session & herd navigation”These fire when the dashboard body has focus — not while typing in a field.
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
j / ↓ |
Select the next session |
k / ↑ |
Select the previous session |
1–9 |
Select the Nth session |
n |
Open New Task |
r |
Open the Repos / backlog view |
Enter |
Return keyboard focus to the terminal |
Switch sessions while the terminal is focused
Section titled “Switch sessions while the terminal is focused”The Alt combos work even while the terminal owns the keyboard, so you can move around the herd without leaving the active session. On macOS the modifier is ⌥ Option, and matching is on the physical key (Option changes the character that would be typed).
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Alt+J / Alt+↓ |
Next session |
Alt+K / Alt+↑ |
Previous session |
Alt+] / Alt+Tab |
Next session |
Alt+[ / Alt+Shift+Tab |
Previous session |
Alt+1–Alt+9 |
Select the Nth session |
The Alt+Tab / Alt+Shift+Tab variants work on macOS; on Windows and Linux the OS window switcher captures Alt+Tab before the app sees it, so use Alt+] / Alt+[ there.
Terminal
Section titled “Terminal”| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+Shift+C |
Copy the terminal selection (plain Ctrl+C sends an interrupt to the agent) |
New Task
Section titled “New Task”Inside the New Task prompt you can switch repositories without leaving the field.
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Alt+[ / Alt+] |
Previous / next repository |
Alt+1–Alt+3 |
Jump to the Nth recent repository |
Alt+R |
Open the repository picker |
⌘Enter / Ctrl+Enter |
Submit the task (plain Enter inserts a newline) |