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Keyboard shortcuts
Every keyboard shortcut in Buildliy, from sending a prompt to talking instead of typing, editing your preview and running a database query.
You can do almost everything in Buildliy with a mouse, but a few keys make it faster. This page lists every shortcut, grouped by where you use it.
The shortcuts are written for a Mac. On Windows and Linux, use Ctrl wherever you see Cmd, and Alt wherever you see Option. The one exception is voice input, which has its own default on each system (see Voice input).
Anywhere in Buildliy
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cmd, | Open Settings. Works on your dashboard and inside a project. |
| Esc | Close the open dialog or menu. |
Your app's preview is a separate website shown inside Buildliy. While your keyboard is focused inside the preview, most of Buildliy's shortcuts don't reach it. Click anywhere outside the preview first.
Prompt boxes
Starting a new app
In the big prompt box on your dashboard and on the home page:
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| CmdEnter | Send your idea and start the build. |
| Enter | Add a new line. |
| CmdV with an image copied | Attach the image to your prompt. |
Chatting in a project
In the chat box inside a project:
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Enter | Send your message. While a build is running, it's added to the build or queued instead (see below). |
| ShiftEnter | Add a new line. |
| CmdEnter | Also sends your message. |
| CmdV with an image copied | Attach the image to your message. This doesn't work while a build is running. |
| Esc in an empty box | When the box is pointed at a card (it shows Answering: or About: above what you type), go back to sending a normal message. |
| @ | Point the AI at a page, a file or another project, so it knows exactly what you mean. |
When you type @, a list opens:
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| ↑ ↓ | Move through the list. |
| Enter or Tab | Pick the highlighted item. |
| Esc | Close the list. |
In Build mode, when you start typing while a build is running, a small choice appears in the chat box: Add to this build or Queue for after. To switch with the keyboard, press ShiftTab to move from the chat box to the choice, then use the arrow keys.
Queued requests
Requests waiting to run are listed under Up next.
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Option↑ Option↓ | Move a request up or down the list. Press Tab until the request is highlighted first. |
| CmdEnter | Save a request you're editing. |
| Esc | Cancel editing. |
Answering the AI's questions
When the AI asks a question or needs your OK, it shows a card with choices. These keys work while your keyboard is inside the card, so press Tab to move into it or click one of its choices first.
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1 to 9 | Pick a choice by its number. On a card where one click answers, the number highlights the choice and Enter answers. |
| ↑ ↓ | Move between the choices. Space picks the one you're on. |
| Enter | Continue to the next question, or send your answer. |
| CmdEnter | Continue or send from a box with several lines (Enter adds a new line there). In a one-line box, Enter sends. |
| Esc | Close the Do it differently… box. |
Voice input
Hold a key combination, speak, and let go. Your words appear in the prompt box, ready for you to check and send. Nothing is sent until you send it.
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Hold CmdShiftM (Mac) | Talk while you hold, and your words are added when you let go. |
| Hold CtrlShiftM (Windows and Linux) | The same, on Windows and Linux. |
| Esc while listening | Throw away the recording. |
You can also click the microphone button in the prompt box to start and stop recording. Voice input works anywhere there's a prompt box: the home page, your dashboard and a project's chat. It works in Chrome, Edge and Safari, but not in Firefox.
Change the voice shortcut
Open the voice settings
Go to Settings → Voice.
Record a new combination
Under Push-to-talk hotkey, click Change, then press the keys you want. It must include Cmd, Ctrl or Option, so it doesn't fire every time you type. Press Esc to cancel.
Save it
Click Save new hotkey. To go back to the default later, click Reset.
Your choice is saved in this browser on this device, so set it again if you use another computer or browser.
Preview and edit mode
These work after you click the pencil icon to enter edit mode, the arrow icon to pick an element, or the pin icon to pin notes. See Edit by clicking.
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Esc | Cancel picking an element. In pin mode, close the open note, then stop pinning. In edit mode, clear the element you selected. |
| CmdZ | In edit mode, undo your most recent unsaved edit. Works when you're not typing in a box. |
| Double-click text in the preview | In edit mode, edit the text in place. |
| Enter | Finish editing text in place. The change joins your unsaved edits. |
| CmdEnter | Finish editing text in place, even in text where Enter adds a new line. |
| Esc while editing text | Cancel and put the original text back. |
In the edit panel:
| Where | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Content box | CmdEnter | Apply your new text. Enter adds a new line and Esc puts the text back. |
| Link box | Enter | Save the link. Esc puts it back. |
| Image description box | CmdEnter | Save the description. Esc puts it back. |
| Hex code box under Text color or Background color | Enter | Apply the color. |
| Ask AI box | CmdEnter | Send your request to the AI. |
Other preview keys:
| Where | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| A pinned note | Enter | Finish the note. ShiftEnter adds a new line and Esc closes it. |
| A note you're changing above the chat box | Enter | Save the change. Esc cancels it. |
| Ask AI tab in Edit (next to an element you picked) | Enter | Send the request. ShiftEnter adds a new line and Esc closes the box. |
| Go to path in the page picker | Enter | Jump to that page. |
Code tab
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| CmdShiftF | Jump to the Search code… box. |
| Esc in the search box | Clear the search. |
Manage tab
| Where | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| SQL editor | CmdEnter | Run your query. |
| A table in Database | Enter | Save the value you changed. In a box with several lines, ShiftEnter adds a new line. |
| A table in Database | Esc | Cancel the change. |
See Database.
Images, sketches and templates
| Where | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Full-size image viewer | ← → | Step through the images, when there's more than one. |
| Full-size image viewer | Esc | Close the viewer. |
| Sketch pad (Sketch a layout in the chat box's + menu, or Mark up on a picture) | P B E | Switch to Pen, Box or Erase. |
| Sketch pad | CmdZ | Undo your last step. |
| Sketch pad | Esc | Close the pad. If you've drawn something, it asks before discarding it. |
| Template preview | ← → | Show the previous or next template. |
Resize the chat
On a wide screen, you can also resize the chat panel with the keyboard. Press Tab until the divider between the chat and your preview is selected, then use ← → to make the chat narrower or wider, or Home and End to jump to the narrowest or widest size.
In these docs
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| CmdK or / | Open the docs search. |
| ↑ ↓ and Enter | Move through the results and open one. |
| Esc | Close the search. |
Related
Still stuck? Read the FAQ or contact us.
