User Workflow and Shortcuts

User Workflow & Shortcuts

Daily Workflow

1. Activate: Press Cmd+Space anywhere to summon the launcher.
2. Search: Start typing to instantly filter across installed applications, recent files, indexed folders, clipboard clips, and custom sources.
3. Navigate: Use Up / Down arrows or Tab / Shift+Tab to cycle candidates.
4. Action: Press Enter to open or execute, Cmd+Enter to launch a web query, or Cmd+F to reveal the target in Finder.
5. Dismiss: Tap Esc or Shift+Esc to hide the panel and return to your previous app.

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Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Shortcut	Context	Action
Cmd+Space	Global	Show / hide Look launcher window
Enter	Search Results	Launch selected application or open file
Cmd+Enter	Search Results	Trigger external web search for the query
Cmd+F	File / Folder	Reveal selected item in Finder / file manager
Cmd+K	File / Folder / App	Open action menu
Cmd+E	File / Folder	Edit with preferred text/code editor
Cmd+T	File / Folder	Open terminal here
Cmd+C	File / Folder	Copy path to system clipboard
Cmd+D	File / Folder	Move selected file/folder to Trash (recoverable)
Cmd+P	File / Folder	Toggle item in multi-pick selection basket
Cmd+Shift+P	File / Folder	Clear all multi-picked items
Cmd+I	Clipboard row	Paste clip directly into previously active window
Cmd+/	Main Bar	Enter Command Mode catalog
Cmd+Shift+,	Any	Open / close Settings panel
Cmd+Shift+;	Any	Reload ~/.look/config runtime configuration
Cmd+- / Cmd+=	Any	Adjust launcher UI zoom scale
Cmd+0	Any	Reset launcher UI zoom scale to 100%

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Query Modes & Prefixes

Type a prefix at the very beginning of the query to restrict or change the search mode:

Prefix	Mode	Description
(None)	Unified Search	Searches apps, files, bookmarks, commands, and math expressions
a"	Applications	Restricts candidates strictly to .app bundles
f"	Files	Restricts search to user documents and files
d"	Directories	Restricts search to folders
r"	Regex	Regular expression search across indexed paths
rc"	Recent Files	Shows recently modified or opened disk assets
c"	Clipboard History	Fuzzy search (fzf scoring) over recent clipboard text entries
ci"	Clipboard Images	Visual thumbnail gallery of recent screenshot/image copies
t"	Translate	Quick multi-language text translation
tw"	Dictionary	Quick word definition and synonym lookup
ps"	Process Manager	Search running processes by name or listening port (e.g. ps"3000)
/ or ~	Path Navigation	Direct file system exploration with Tab folder completion
>	AI Assistant	Natural-language conversations, meeting joins, and actions

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Path Navigation & Fuzzy File Jumping

Look includes a filesystem navigation mode:

1. Activate: Begin your query with / (absolute root path) or ~ (home directory).
2. Tab Drill-Down: Press Tab when highlighted on a folder to drill down into its subdirectories.
3. Fuzzy Jumping: Type partial path components (e.g. /u/l/b jumps to /usr/local/bin).
4. Execution: Press Enter to open the file in its default editor or open the directory in Terminal/Finder.