Keys

Every key tsk binds, by surface. Press ? on the board or the task page for the same list, searchable. Clicks are on Mouse.

Status, edit, delete, and archive keys take ctrl. Bare letters move, open, and filter.

Board

Action	Key
Move up / down through tasks and group headers	↑ / ↓ or k / j
Open the task page	Enter
Peek / close the peek, below 110 columns	→ / ← or l / h
Add a task	+
Edit title	ctrl+e
Start, a blocked task too; an assigned task dispatches to its agent	ctrl+s
Set ready	ctrl+n
Set open (back to the inbox)	ctrl+o
Mark done	ctrl+d
Toggle blocked / ready; blocking opens the block card	ctrl+b
Toggle review / ready; review opens the review card	ctrl+r
Delete, with a second press to confirm	ctrl+x or ctrl+Delete
Undo the last change (what undoes)	ctrl+u
Archive / restore	ctrl+f
Assign to an agent, you, or a person, or none	@
Reply to a blocked row, or give feedback on a review row	r
Open / close the done drawer	d
Group by none, project, thread, or assignee	g
Sort by recent, project, thread, title, or assignee; on the Projects view, sort the projects	s
Fold / unfold the cursor’s group	f
Fold / unfold every group in view	shift+F
Hide / show agent messages, the live lines under rows	z
Open the desk / last project / Projects view	1 / 2 / 3
Pick a project	p
Filter by thread, project, or assignee	t
Choose a view on the Projects view	v
Search the board	/
Command palette	:
All keys	?

• On the desk, t filters by thread, project, or assignee. On a project board it filters by thread or assignee.
• Bare d, s, and f open the drawer, sort, and fold. With ctrl they mark done, start, and archive.

Group headers

Group sub-headers, the inbox, and archived in the done drawer are headers.

Action	Key
Fold an open header / unfold a folded one	← / → or h / l
Open a sub-header’s board: its project, the desk, or its thread’s or assignee’s view	Enter
Mark every task under a sub-header, unfolding it	shift+M

• With nothing to fold or unfold, ← and → keep their usual meaning: the peek, or the wide slider.
• no thread, unassigned, desk on the desk, the inbox, and archived open nothing.

Multi-select

Action	Key
Start / stop multi-select	shift+M
Mark / unmark the cursor task	Space
Mark the current task, then move	shift+↑ / shift+↓

• With tasks marked, status keys, ctrl+x, ctrl+f, @, and the palette’s set commands act on the whole set. Enter, ctrl+e, and task-page keys stay on the cursor.
• ctrl+s starts each open, ready, or blocked task in the set and skips the rest.
• ctrl+b and ctrl+r skip done tasks and send the rest to blocked or review through one card. If every one already has that status, they all return to ready.
• ctrl+n and ctrl+o also reopen done tasks.
• One ctrl+u reverses the whole set.
• Removing the last mark keeps multi-select on. shift+M on a task, Esc, any task action, or a change of view leaves it and clears the marks.
• In a text field, shift+M types M.

Cards

ctrl+b opens the block card and ctrl+r the review card. One card covers a whole marked set.

Action	Key
Next / previous field: why · on · needs, or done · check · next · on	Tab / shift+Tab
Cycle the on field: you · task · other, or you · agent · other	← / →
New check line, in the review card’s check field	shift+Enter
Block, or set review; an empty card does it with no text	Enter
Cancel; the marks stay	Esc or ctrl+c

Decision cards

A decision card asks before a start or a cleanup. What each card does.

Card	Options
Start anyway: the task still waits on others	y start
Relaunch: the assigned agent is gone	y relaunch · n just start
Start a marked set	y start and launch every listed task
Cleanup: done with a live dispatch	m merge and tidy up · y tidy up · n complete only
Archived project at launch	y restore · n keep archived

Action	Key
Run an option	its letter
Move the ▸ cursor, then run it	↑ / ↓, then Enter
Scroll a long card	page keys or the wheel
Cancel, keeping any marks	Esc, or click [x] or esc cancel
Keep the project archived (archived-project card)	Esc or n

• A card shows only the options that apply.
• An Enter pressed as the card opens is ignored.
• A click selects an option line; a double-click runs it.
• After cleanup starts, Esc hides the card while cleanup continues.

Task page

In view mode, before you start an edit:

Action	Key
Close the page	Esc
Move among steps (↓ selects the first); otherwise scroll	↑ / ↓ or k / j
Walk the top line, options or checks, replies, steps, + step, and the paper trail	Tab / shift+Tab
Check / uncheck the selected step	Enter
Add a step below the selected one, else at the end	ctrl+a
Move the selected step up / down	alt+↑ / alt+↓
Edit the title, or the selected step, block, review, or reply	ctrl+e
Mark the selected step for removal, then remove it	ctrl+x
Delete your selected reply; with nothing selected, delete the task	ctrl+x
Assign to an agent, you, or a person	@
Expand / collapse the paper trail	g, or Enter on its heading
Expand / fold a closed block or review round	Enter
Status, undo, and archive, on this task	the board’s ctrl keys
Command palette	:
All keys	?

On a blocked page or a review:

Action	Key
Reply to the block, or give feedback on the review	r
Reply with option N, prefilled	1…9, or Enter on the option
Unblock, or send the review back, with nothing typed	ctrl+s
Approve the review	ctrl+d
Change who it waits on	w, or Enter on the top line
Cycle the selected check: open → passed → failed → open	Enter
Show / fold the passed checks	Enter on the N passed line

• Keys inside the reply and feedback box: Blocked and Review.
• Digits pick options on the task page. 1 2 3 switch views only on the board.
• alt+↑ / alt+↓ also work while editing, with a step selected and no field open.
• Your terminal must send alt+↑ as one modified key, as xterm does by default. A terminal that sends Option or Alt as a leading Esc closes the page instead.

Text editing

Action	Key
Save the task edit	shift+Enter
Cancel the field	Esc or ctrl+c
Next / previous field	Tab / shift+Tab
Title: move to Notes	Enter
Notes: new line	Enter
Notes: move through wrapped lines	↑ / ↓
New step: save it and open the next row	Enter
Existing step: keep the rename in this edit	Enter
Add a step from a selected step, + step, the Scope row, or a selected Thread	ctrl+a
Stage removal of the selected step	ctrl+x
Open the Scope, Assignee, Base, or After picker; confirm the choice. In the After picker, Enter pins and shift+Enter saves	Enter
Cycle Scope or Assignee without opening it	Space or ← / →
Open / close the Thread editor	Enter
Line start / end	Home / End or ctrl+a / ctrl+e
Word left / right	alt+← / alt+→, ctrl+← / ctrl+→, or alt+b / alt+f
Delete a character backward / forward	Backspace / Delete
Delete a word backward	alt+Backspace or ctrl+w
Delete a word forward	alt+Delete or alt+d
Delete to line start / end	ctrl+u / ctrl+k

In the step editor, ctrl+d and ctrl+o still act on the task, and ctrl+x stages the step’s removal until the task edit is saved. In a new step’s row, ctrl+x discards that row, as Esc does.

• Field order: Edit.
• The word and line keys work in every text field: Title, Notes, steps, Thread, and quick-add.
• A word is a run of non-space characters, as with Option+arrow in macOS. In Notes, word moves cross line breaks and a word delete stops at one.
• In Notes, ctrl+u at a line start joins the line above, and ctrl+k at a line end joins the next line.
• Search, the palette, Help, and the pickers you type into have no cursor. There, alt+Backspace and ctrl+w delete the query’s last word, and ctrl+u and ctrl+k do nothing. The assignee picker’s ctrl+u is the exception: it puts back a removed name.
• Outside text fields, ctrl+u is undo.
• Paste keeps line breaks in Notes and turns them into spaces in one-line fields.
• On macOS, Cmd+← and Cmd+→ arrive as ctrl+a and ctrl+e, and Cmd+Backspace as ctrl+u.
• On macOS, Option reaches tsk only when the terminal sends it as Meta. Turn on Terminal.app’s Use Option as Meta key, or set iTerm2’s Option key to Esc+. If Option+B types ∫, use ctrl+←, ctrl+→, and ctrl+w.
• On Windows, AltGr letters type as characters.

If shift+Enter does not save

Some terminals send a plain line feed for shift+Enter, such as Ghostty with keybind = shift+enter=text:\n. tsk reads it as ctrl+j and changes nothing. In a form or the After picker it shows Shift+Enter sent Ctrl+J: check terminal keys. Remove the binding, or map shift+Enter to a sequence that keeps the Shift modifier.

Quick-add

Action	Key
Save and close	Enter
Save and keep adding	shift+Enter
Open notes and details	Tab
Cancel the line, or return from details	Esc

In the Herdr popup, shift+Enter saves and closes it. Esc or ctrl+c discards the popup, after first closing an open step editor or picker. Capture.

Pickers, search, palette, help

Surface	Keys
Project picker (p)	↑ / ↓ or j / k select · Tab or ← / → switch tabs · s changes the order · Enter opens · Esc or q closes
Project picker, archive	ctrl+f archives the selected project · on the archived tab, ctrl+f or ctrl+u restores
Archived project’s board	ctrl+u restores · Esc, p, or 1–3 leaves
Filter and view pickers (t, v)	type to filter · ↑ / ↓ select · Tab or ← / → switch tabs, shift+Tab back · Enter chooses · Esc closes
Group, sort, assignee, and base pickers	type to filter · ↑ / ↓ or Tab / shift+Tab select · Enter applies · Esc closes with no change
Assignee and waiting-on pickers, type a name…	the row shows what you typed, such as @dana · Enter applies it
Assignee picker, a person selected	ctrl+x removes the name from the list · ctrl+u puts it back
Waiting-on picker	as the assignee picker, and ← / → also move
After picker	type a number or words · ↑ / ↓ select · Enter pins a match or unpins a pinned task · ctrl+x unpins every task · shift+Enter saves the pinned tasks · Esc closes with no change
Board search (/)	type or paste · Backspace · Enter pins the query · Esc clears and closes
Palette (:)	type to filter · ↑ / ↓ or Tab / shift+Tab select · Enter runs · Esc closes
Help (?)	type to filter by key or action · ↑ / ↓, page keys, or the wheel scroll · Esc clears the search, then closes
Failed save	r or Enter retries · c or Esc cancels

• The base and after pickers have no key. Open them from the palette (set base, set after (wait for)…), the task page footer, or the edit form’s Base and After fields.
• h, j, k, l, ?, and / are text wherever you type: text fields, search, the palette, Help, and the pickers you type into.

Wide slider

At 110 usable columns or wider, → / l and ← / h move through the wide stage slider while you are not editing. Wide layout.

View	→ / l	← / h	Esc
Board	Split	No change	Quit at root
Split, board focused	Task with rail	Board	Board
Task with rail	Full screen	Split	Split
Full screen	No change	Task with rail	Return to the view remembered when opening

Enter from the board opens full screen and remembers the view to return to. Tab never changes the view.

On the Projects view:

Stage	→ / l	← / h	Esc
Full board	Split preview	No change	Quit at root
Split, index focused	Rail	Full board	Full board
Rail, right board focused	Narrow board keys	Return to index	Return to index

With the right board focused, board keys act on that board.

Esc and quit

Action	Key
Close the top layer: a picker, the palette, Help, search, the peek, the task page, or the right column	Esc
Quit at the board root, with no confirmation	Esc
Quit from any surface except text entry	ctrl+q
Quit from the board, the task page, quick-add details, Help, or the archived-project card	ctrl+c
Cancel a field, an edit, the block or review card, or the reply box	Esc or ctrl+c

• With tasks marked, Esc first leaves multi-select and clears the marks. In a picker you type into, a card, or the reply box, it closes that first and keeps them.
• At the board root, Esc quits from any tab. It does not go back to the desk. With the cursor on the inbox or archived header, it does nothing.
• On an archived project’s board, Esc returns to the desk.
• In a wide split, Esc closes the right column once no editor or overlay is open. If narrowing the terminal hides the right column, Esc quits at once.
• ctrl+q does not quit from a text field, board search, the quick-add line, the palette, the block or review card, or the reply box.
• Unsaved work blocks quitting and closing the Projects view’s right board. Save or cancel the draft first. During a failed save, retry or cancel it first.