Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard Shortcuts

Scarf exposes a focused set of shortcuts. The defining patterns are window switching (⌘1…⌘9), standard dialog flow (Return / Esc), and a handful of context-specific actions inside views.

Window / server switching

Keys	Action	Defined in
⌘1	Open the local server window	scarfApp.swift
⌘2 … ⌘9	Open remote server window 2 through 9 (in registry order)	scarfApp.swift
⌘⇧S	Open the Manage Servers picker	scarfApp.swift
⌘Q	Quit Scarf	macOS standard, declared in scarfApp.swift

You can have a local window and up to 8 remote windows reachable by ⌘ + number. Beyond that, use Manage Servers (⌘⇧S).

In-view shortcuts

Keys	Where	Action
⌃B	Chat	Toggle the sessions sidebar inside Chat
⌘S	Personalities (SOUL.md editor)	Save the current SOUL.md

Dialog defaults

These follow the macOS convention; Scarf is consistent across every dialog:

Keys	Behavior
Return	Confirm — fires the .defaultAction button (Save, Add, Create, Run, etc.).
Esc	Cancel — fires the .cancelAction button.

Sheets that follow this pattern include: project create / rename, session rename, MCP server add, Add Server, Add Cron Job.

Standard system shortcuts

These work in Scarf because they're macOS standards, not because Scarf binds them explicitly:

Keys	Action
⌘W	Close window
⌘M	Minimize window
⌘N	New window (opens a new local window)
⌘⌥N	New window without tabs (when tabbing is on)
⌘,	Open Settings (Settings is part of scarfApp.swift's scene config)
⌘C / ⌘V	Copy / paste — works inside text fields, message bubbles, log lines
⌘F	Search inside the Sessions browser and Logs view

What there isn't

There's no command palette and no global shortcuts beyond ⌘ + number for windows. The sidebar is mouse / arrow-key navigated; there's no ⌘1 / ⌘2 within a window for switching sections.

If you'd like to see additional shortcuts, file an issue — keyboard accessibility is welcome contribution territory.

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Last updated: 2026-04-20 — Scarf v2.0.1