Keys

Use the mouse, the keyboard, or both. Tabs, selectors, tasks, and footer actions are clickable. Press Shift+M to enter multi-select, then click tasks or their numbers to toggle marks. Outside multi-select, double-click a task to open it.

Press ? on the board, task page, or another non-text surface for a searchable list of all shortcuts. Status and delete shortcuts use Ctrl; navigation uses bare keys. The website demo uses bare status keys because browsers reserve control chords.

Board

Action	Key
Select previous / next row (tasks and group headers)	↑ / ↓ or k / j
Enter / leave multi-select	Shift+M
Mark current task, then move in multi-select	Shift+↑ / Shift+↓
Mark / unmark cursored task in multi-select	Space
Open task full screen	Enter
Open a group sub-header’s board: its project, the desk, or its thread’s view	Enter on the sub-header
Fold / unfold the header under the cursor: a sub-group, the inbox, or archived	← / → or h / l
Peek / close peek below 110 columns	→ / ← or l / h
Move through wide views	→ / ← or l / h
Add task	+
Edit title	ctrl+e
Start open or ready task	ctrl+s
Set ready, the picked queue	ctrl+n
Set open, the inbox	ctrl+o
Mark done	ctrl+d
Toggle blocked / ready	ctrl+b
Toggle review / ready	ctrl+r
Delete, with a second press to confirm	ctrl+x or ctrl+Delete
Undo completion/deletion; restore an archived selection	ctrl+u
Archive / restore selected task (archived tasks live in the done drawer’s archived group)	ctrl+f
Open / close done drawer	d
Group by none / project / thread	g
Sort by recent / project / thread / title	s
Fold or unfold the cursor’s group: a sub-group (inbox sub-groups included), the inbox, or archived in the done drawer	f
Fold or unfold every group in view	Shift+F
Desk / selected project / projects	1 / 2 / 3
Project picker	p
Filter: thread and project on the desk, thread on a project board	t
Switch the desk filter’s threads / projects tab	← / →
Cross-project view selector	v on Projects
Search current board rows	/
Command palette	:
All shortcuts	?
Close a layer; quit at the full-board root	Esc
Quit outside text entry	ctrl+q
Quit from board view	ctrl+c

ctrl+q quits from task views, Help, and pickers too, including the wide project preview. It does not quit while editing text, using board search, typing a quick-add line, or filtering the palette. Save or cancel any unsaved draft first. During save recovery, resolve the pending save instead.

Esc leaves multi-select and clears its marks first, then closes the current layer. At the full-board root on any tab, with multi-select inactive, it quits without confirmation rather than switching back to the desk. In either wide split, Esc closes the right column after any editor or overlay is dismissed. A further Esc at the full-board root quits. A project preview with unsaved work refuses to close. If narrowing the terminal hides the right column, the visible board/index is already at the root: Esc quits without an extra collapse, unless a parked draft blocks quitting.

Bare s and f are navigation beside their Ctrl verbs, like d beside ctrl+d: s sorts while ctrl+s starts, and f folds while ctrl+f archives.

On a fold header (a group sub-header, the inbox, or archived in the done drawer), ← / h folds it when it is open and → / l unfolds it when it is folded; the cursor stays on the header. When there is nothing to fold or unfold, the key keeps its usual meaning (the peek, or the wide stage slider), so a header never blocks the slider. Enter on a group sub-header opens its project’s board, the desk, or its thread’s cross-project view; no thread opens nothing, and Enter on the inbox or archived header does nothing. A click on any header only selects it; a double-click opens a sub-header’s board, or folds and unfolds a header that opens nothing (no thread, desk on the desk, the inbox, archived).

Shift+M enters or leaves multi-select while the board owns input. On a group sub-header it unfolds the group and marks all its tasks, adding them to the set when multi-select is already on. While it is active, Space, shifted arrows, and a plain task click change marks instead of opening a task. Removing the last mark leaves the mode active. Shift+M again from the board, Esc, a task action, or a lens change leaves it and clears the set. Text entry keeps Shift+M as a capital M; Esc leaves multi-select before cancelling that surface.

When tasks are marked, the status, delete, and archive shortcuts act on that set; without marks they act on the cursor. Enter and ctrl+e remain cursor-only. ctrl+s starts each eligible open or ready task and leaves started, blocked, and review tasks unchanged. Marked done tasks are skipped too, and the status row says so: started N · skipped M done (ctrl+n or ctrl+o reopens them). Bulk block and review toggles send every target to blocked or review unless all targets already have that status, in which case they all return to ready. ctrl+n and ctrl+o can send done tasks directly to ready or open. One ctrl+u reverses an entire marked completion or deletion.

Task page

These keys apply in view mode:

Action	Key
Select steps and + step	Tab / Shift+Tab
Activate first step, then move among steps	↓, then ↑ / ↓
Toggle selected step	Enter
Add step (below the selected step, else at the end)	ctrl+a
Move selected step up or down	alt+↑ / alt+↓
Edit title or selected step	ctrl+e
Change task status	Board status shortcuts above
Mark/remove selected step; otherwise confirm/delete task	ctrl+x
Command palette	:
All shortcuts	?
Close task	Esc
Quit the board	ctrl+q

Click a step to select it. Click + step to add at the end. Field clicks become editable only after task editing starts.

alt+↑ / alt+↓ is the one mutating shortcut without ctrl: macOS reserves ctrl+arrows for Mission Control. It also works during task editing while a step is selected and no field is open. Your terminal must send alt+↑ as one modified key (xterm’s default); a terminal set to prefix Option or Alt with Esc delivers Esc and then the arrow, which closes the task page.

Editing

Action	Key
Next / previous field	Tab / Shift+Tab
Save task edit	Shift+Enter
Cancel field	Esc or ctrl+c
Move from Title to Notes	Enter in Title
New line	Enter in Notes
Add another step	ctrl+a with no text field open, or Enter in a new step
Save new step and open next empty row	Enter in new step
Retain existing-step rename in session	Enter in existing step
Stage selected-step removal	ctrl+x in task edit
Open Scope picker / confirm selection	Enter
Cycle Scope	Space or ← / →
Open / close selected Thread editor	Enter
Line start / end	Home / End, or ctrl+a / ctrl+e (what macOS terminals send for Cmd+← / Cmd+→)
Word left / right	ctrl+← / ctrl+→, or alt+← / alt+→ (Option on macOS; also Esc b / Esc f)
Delete backward / forward	Backspace / Delete
Delete word backward	alt+Backspace or ctrl+w
Delete word forward	alt+Delete or alt+d
Delete to line start / end	ctrl+u / ctrl+k (macOS terminals send Cmd+Backspace as ctrl+u)
Move through wrapped notes	↑ / ↓

Every text field takes the word keys: Title, Notes, steps, Thread, and the quick-add line and draft. A word is a run of non-space characters; deleting a word also takes the spaces between it and the cursor. In Notes a word delete stops at a line break, and the next press removes the break. Search, the palette, Help, and pickers have no cursor, so alt+Backspace and ctrl+w drop the query’s last word there. On Windows, AltGr letters still type as characters. On macOS the Option keys reach tsk only when the terminal sends Option as Meta: Terminal.app’s Use Option as Meta key, or iTerm2’s Option key set to Esc+. If Option+B types ∫ instead, use ctrl+← / ctrl+→ and ctrl+w. While Notes is focused the footer shows enter new line.

ctrl+a and ctrl+e move to line start and end in every text field: Title, Notes, Thread, a step editor, and quick-add. ctrl+a adds a step only where no text cursor is open: task page view, a selected step or + step, the Scope row, or a selected Thread. ctrl+u deletes from the cursor to the line start and ctrl+k to the line end; in Notes, ctrl+u at the start of a line joins it to the line above and ctrl+k at the end of a line joins the next one. In a one-line field they take everything before or after the cursor. Outside text fields ctrl+u is still undo; search, the palette, Help, and pickers leave both keys alone. Paste preserves line breaks in Notes and converts them to spaces in single-line fields.

Editing keys take precedence over view-mode status shortcuts. In the step editor, ctrl+d and ctrl+o still address the task; ctrl+x removes the step being edited, staged until the task edit is saved; Enter in a new step saves it and opens the next row. Notes are reached with ctrl+e, then Tab. Alt+Enter does not save the task edit.

If Shift+Enter does not save

Some terminals are set to send a plain line feed for Shift+Enter (Ghostty’s keybind = shift+enter=text:\n, for example). tsk reads that as ctrl+j, so the form does not save. In a form editor, ctrl+j shows Shift+Enter sent Ctrl+J: check terminal keys on the status row and changes nothing. Remove the binding, or map Shift+Enter to a sequence that keeps the Shift modifier, then try again.

Quick-add

Action	Key
Save and close	Enter
Save and keep adding	Shift+Enter
Add notes and details	Tab (the footer shows tab notes)
Cancel line / return from details	Esc

In Herdr quick capture, Shift+Enter saves and closes the popup. Esc closes an active step editor or scope picker first; otherwise it discards the popup. During save recovery, it cancels the pending save. Capture guide.

Pickers

Surface	Controls
Project picker	Arrows or j/k select; Tab or ←/→ switch tabs; Enter opens; ? opens Help; Esc or q closes
Project archive	ctrl+f archives; on archived tab, ctrl+f or ctrl+u restores
Archived project view	ctrl+u restores; Esc, p, or 1–3 leaves
Thread/view selector	Type or paste to filter; arrows or Tab select; Enter chooses; Esc closes
Board search	Type or paste; Backspace edits; Enter pins; Esc clears and closes
Palette	Type to filter; arrows or Tab select; Enter runs; Esc closes
Help	Type or paste to filter by key or action; arrows, page keys, or wheel scroll; Esc clears the search, then closes
Archived-project launch prompt	y restores; n or Esc keeps archived; ? opens Help
Failed save	r or Enter retries; c or Esc cancels

j and k are text in board search, thread/view filters, and Help search, not navigation. ? and / are text in every input field, including Help search.

Wide stage slider

At 110 usable columns or wider, the arrow keys or h / l move through these views when you are not editing:

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 previous view. Tab navigates task fields or steps; it does not switch wide views.

On Projects Overview at 110+ columns, clicking a row or moving the index selection opens the Split preview automatically. The project slider is shorter:

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

The right seat keeps its own project-board cursor, multi-select, marked set, and state. Its → / l and ← / h are peek controls (and fold controls on a header), and Enter opens a task page inside the column. ctrl+d, d, g, s, f, +, and the other board actions apply to the right seat while it is focused; its group, sort, and folds are its own.

h and l are navigation aliases only while a board or task view owns input. Text editors, quick-add, search, filters, the palette, and Help continue to insert them as ordinary characters.

Board views and mouse behavior.