Quick Actions

Quick Actions are saved sequences of commands. Create one for a routine you repeat, then run it from the Quick Actions (⚡) toolbar menu or from the command palette.

What a Quick Action contains

Every Quick Action has four parts:

An action must have a name and at least one step before you can save it. Quick Actions cannot contain other Quick Actions, so a chain always consists of regular app commands.

Open and run Quick Actions

Use any of these entry points:

• Click the Quick Actions ⚡ button in the toolbar.

• Open the command palette with Mod+K (⌘K on macOS), then choose Open Quick Actions.

• Open the command palette and search for the name of a saved Quick Action. Press Enter or click the result to run it.

The ⚡ launcher shows each action's icon, name, aliases, and a compact summary of its steps. It closes before the chain starts. For a chain that includes a focus-stealing command, the launcher also skips restoring focus to its toolbar trigger so the new surface can take focus.

When no actions exist, the launcher offers Create your first Quick Action. With saved actions, choose Edit at the bottom of the launcher to open the builder.

Build a Quick Action

Open Settings → Quick Actions → Open Quick Actions Builder, or choose Open Quick Actions Builder from the command palette. You can also open the builder from Edit in the ⚡ launcher.

Desktop builder

The desktop builder uses a master–detail layout:

• The list on the left shows your actions, their icons, step counts, aliases, and an Incomplete marker when an action has no name or steps.

• The detail pane on the right edits the selected action. Change its icon, enter its name, add aliases, and manage its steps.

Changes are saved explicitly with Save. Cancel closes the builder; if you changed anything, the builder asks whether to discard the unsaved changes. Delete removes the selected action.

Mobile builder

On a narrow screen the builder becomes a full-screen dialog. It starts with the action list. Tap an action to open its detail view, then use the back arrow to return to the list. The same name, icon, alias, step, Save, Cancel, and Delete controls are available in the detail view.

Add and order steps

1. In the detail pane, choose + Add step. The searchable command step picker opens.

2. Type a keyword or several words in Search commands…. With an empty search, commands are grouped by category; with a search, matching commands are shown in one ranked list. Each result includes its icon and, when relevant, its category and shortcut.

3. Select a command by clicking it, or highlight it with ↑ / ↓ and press Enter.

4. Use Replace on an existing step to swap its command, or Remove to delete it.

5. Drag a step by its grip to reorder the chain. Keyboard users can focus the grip and use the sortable keyboard controls.

The picker does not list Quick Actions themselves, which prevents nested chains. If a command has been removed or is not available in the current app, the builder keeps the step and marks it as unavailable so you can replace or remove it.

How chains run

Steps run sequentially. The app resolves each step against the current command list, runs its command, waits for an asynchronous command to finish when it returns a promise, and then gives the renderer a chance to apply the previous change before starting the next step. This means a later step acts on the state produced by the earlier one.

If a step is missing, disabled, status-only, a menu-opening command, nested, or throws an error, the chain stops at that step; remaining steps do not run. A stale step is also shown as unavailable in the ⚡ launcher. Open the builder and replace or remove it before using the action again.

The active frame matters when a chain changes the layout:

• Split Frame to Right, Split Frame to Left, Split Frame to Top, and Split Frame to Bottom create a new empty frame but keep the source frame active. If the next command should act in the new frame, follow the split with Focus Next Frame; for the right- and bottom-split recipes below, this selects the new frame.

• Open AI Assistant opens the assistant in the active frame when that frame is empty. Otherwise it splits to the right, puts the assistant in the new frame, and focuses it.

• Go to Inbox and Go to Archives apply the corresponding pin and rebuild the frameset from that pin's template. A later step therefore acts on the newly applied frameset.

• Duplicate Frame to Right and Duplicate Frame to Bottom copy the active frame into the requested direction and keep the source frame active.

Commands that open a dialog should normally be the last step in a chain. A dialog takes control of focus, so commands placed after it may target a different surface or may not be reachable until the dialog closes.

Aliases in the command palette

To add an alias, enter one or more short names in the Alias field. Separate names with spaces or commas; each saved alias is a single word.

Open the command palette with Mod+K (⌘K on macOS) and type an alias. Alias matches are placed in a bucket above ordinary name and category matches, so the matching Quick Action rises to the top of the results. Its row shows an accent [alias] badge. Alias matching is case-insensitive while you type.

A one-step Quick Action with an alias replaces the former Command Aliases entry: give the action the command as its only step, then use its alias from the palette. The alias and the action stay together in the Quick Actions builder.

Doc Cloud and embedded-tree commands

Open Doc Cloud opens or focuses the one frameset-scoped core.doc-cloud provider; it never constructs an outline leaf. Doc Cloud: Publish is enabled only while a loaded Doc Cloud frame is active and opens the guarded publish dialog. Because it requires that active state and user confirmation, keep it as the final step of a Quick Action rather than assuming an earlier asynchronous open has already loaded a project.

Toggle file tree is likewise contextual: it appears only for an active External File Editor and toggles that frame's embedded tree. It does not open a Directory View provider, split a frame, or target another EFE leaf.

Recipes

These recipes illustrate how ordered steps combine. Enter the commands in the order shown:

In AI on the right, the split leaves the source active, Focus Next Frame selects the new right-hand empty frame, and Open AI Assistant reuses that empty frame and focuses the assistant there.

Discovery surfaces

The empty Quick Actions palette explains reusable multi-step actions, shows examples and offers Create your first Quick Action… through the existing builder, plus a Manual link. Dashboard's Quick actions widget references the same saved definitions by id and runs them through the live app command context; it does not copy action definitions into widget settings.