Going further
Shortcuts and the command palette
Press ⌘K for everything, ? for the list. Several genuinely useful panels have no button anywhere — this is the only way to reach them.
The command palette
⌘K opens it from anywhere. Start typing and it searches commands, tools, features and positions at once.
It also takes a prefix, which narrows what it is searching and makes it much faster:
| Type | Searches | Example |
|---|---|---|
> | Commands only. | > export |
@ | A position in the current sequence — jumps there and selects it. | @500 |
: | Features in the current sequence — jumps to it. | :lacZ |
# | Restriction enzyme reference — recognition site and cut position for common enzymes. | #EcoRI |
| (nothing) | Everything at once. | primer |
Keyboard shortcuts
Press ? for the in-app list. Single-letter shortcuts are suppressed while you are typing in a field, so they will not fire mid-sentence.
Navigation
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
| ⌘K | Command palette |
| ⌘L | Open the AI chat |
| N | Notifications |
| O | Lab requests |
| ? | Show this list |
Tools
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
| P | Design primers |
| R | Find restriction sites |
| D | Digest simulation |
| B | BLAST search |
| ⇧P | Plate designer |
| ⌘F | Find and replace |
Editing and the assistant
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
| ⌘Z | Undo |
| ⌘⇧Z | Redo |
| A | Ask the assistant about the current selection |
| ⌘⇧A | Analytics dashboard |
| ⌘⇧T | Team settings |
The panels with no button
| Panel | How to open | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Analytics | ⌘⇧A | Activity and usage across your projects. |
| Notifications | N | What has happened while you were away — completed analyses, changes to shared projects. |
| Lab requests | O | Requests within your team, and raising a new one. |
| Plate designer | ⇧P | Lay out plates, manage templates, assign samples to wells. |
| Team | ⌘⇧T, or ⌘K → “Team” | Members, roles, project sharing, invitations and the activity feed. |
The four worth learning first
⌘K to get anywhere. A to ask about whatever you have selected. R to check cut sites, because you will do that more than anything else. ? when you forget the rest.
One that is not in the in-app list: ⌘P also opens the palette.
One thing that is not a shortcut
Switching between Plan and Act has no keyboard shortcut, deliberately. It is the control that decides whether the assistant can change your files, and it is not something to flip by accident.