Keybindings

Keybindings let you open common Scient actions without leaving the keyboard. Open Settings → Keybindings to see every command and the shortcut used by the version you are running.

The settings page shows whether a shortcut is built in or customized and warns when two active commands conflict. Change a shortcut there, remove a custom shortcut, or reset it to the default. Use the command list in the app rather than a copied list because available actions can change between versions.

Common searchable commands include opening the command palette, creating a thread, toggling the terminal or right panel, finding a project file, searching inside project files, refreshing a preview, and running a configured project action. Project actions use command IDs such as script.test.run.

Edit the JSON directly

Use Open keybindings.json only when you want advanced control. It opens the authoritative file for the selected environment. A remote environment therefore has its own keybinding file; editing one environment does not silently change another.

The file is a JSON array of rules:

[
  { "key": "mod+g", "command": "terminal.toggle" },
  {
    "key": "mod+shift+g",
    "command": "terminal.new",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
  }
]

Each rule has:

• key: a shortcut such as mod+j, ctrl+k, or cmd+shift+d;
• command: the command ID to run; and
• optional when: a condition that limits where the shortcut is active.

mod means Cmd on macOS and Ctrl on Windows and Linux. Other accepted modifier names include cmd, meta, ctrl, control, shift, alt, and option.

Scient ignores an invalid rule. If the complete JSON file is invalid, it keeps the app usable with the valid built-in configuration and reports the problem in the server log.

Conditional shortcuts

A when expression can use the current UI context, including terminalFocus, terminalOpen, previewFocus, previewOpen, and modelPickerOpen. Unknown keys evaluate to false.

Supported operators are ! (not), && (and), || (or), and parentheses. For example:

• "when": "terminalFocus"
• "when": "terminalOpen && !terminalFocus"
• "when": "!terminalFocus"

Rules are evaluated in array order. For a key press, the last matching rule whose condition is true wins, even when an earlier rule belongs to a different command. Use the conflict warnings in Settings → Keybindings to check the result after editing the JSON.