Short answer: Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+4 toggle the four panels, Enter sends a chat message (Shift+Enter for a line break), and Escape closes whatever dialog or menu is open. Everything else below is scoped to a specific panel or dialog.
Global
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl+1 | Toggle the Files panel |
| Ctrl+2 | Toggle the Chats panel |
| Ctrl+3 | Toggle the Lists panel |
| Ctrl+4 | Toggle the Workers panel |
| Ctrl+, | Open Settings (no-ops if a dialog is already open) |
| F10 | Move keyboard focus to the app menu |
| Escape | Close the focused dialog, menu, or popover |
Chat compose box
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| Enter | Send the message |
| Shift+Enter | Insert a line break instead of sending |
| Ctrl+V | Paste a clipboard image into the prompt as an attachment (needs a vision-capable model) |
The edit-and-resend box and the clarification dialog’s free-text answer field use the opposite convention on purpose, since both start as multi-line editors: Ctrl+Enter submits, and plain Enter inserts a line break. The tool-approval reply box matches the main compose box instead: Enter submits, Shift+Enter for a line break.
Files panel (file tree)
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| → / ← | Expand / collapse the focused folder |
| X, then V | Cut the focused file or folder, then paste to move it into another folder |
| Menu key (or Shift+F10) | Open the right-click context menu on the focused row |
Lists panel
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| F2 | Edit the focused card |
| Alt+↑ / Alt+↓ | Move the focused card up / down within its stage |
| Alt+← / Alt+→ | Move the focused stage left / right |
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| Arrow keys | Move between items in a list, file tree, menu, or tab strip |
| Enter / Space | Activate or select the focused item |
| Home / End | Jump to the first / last item |
| Escape | Close / cancel |
| F | Toggle favorite on the focused model (Connect AI Model dialog) |
Good to know
- Standard Windows text-editing shortcuts (Ctrl+C/X/V for copy/cut/paste, Ctrl+A for select all, Ctrl+Z/Y for undo/redo) work in any text field the same way they do in any other app. Build Perch doesn’t override them, so they aren’t app-specific behavior.
- This is the complete list of app-specific shortcuts. Right-click menus and drag-and-drop aren’t keyboard shortcuts and aren’t included here.
- The in-app Help → Shortcuts reference shows this same list.
