What is Command Palette?

A command palette is a keyboard-driven search interface (usually Cmd+K or Ctrl+K) that lets users quickly find and execute actions without navigating through menus. Think of it as a universal search for your app—type a few letters and jump to any page, run any command, or trigger any action. Popular in developer tools and productivity apps because it's much faster than clicking through menus.

When Should You Use This?

Use command palettes in complex apps with many features (dashboards, dev tools, productivity apps) where power users want to move fast. It's especially valuable when users perform repetitive actions or navigate between many pages. Not necessary for simple apps or consumer apps where users rarely learn keyboard shortcuts.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• •Not discoverable—show the keyboard shortcut (Cmd+K) visibly in your UI
• •No fuzzy search—users should find items even with typos or partial matches
• •Only navigation—also include actions like "Create new project" or "Export data"
• •No recent items—showing recent/frequent actions makes it faster
• •Poor mobile experience—command palettes don't work well on touch devices, have fallback UI

Real-World Examples

• •Linear—Cmd+K to navigate issues, projects, and run actions
• •Notion—Cmd+K for page search and quick actions
• •Vercel Dashboard—Cmd+K for project navigation and deployments
• •GitHub—Cmd+K for repo search, navigation, and actions