Skip to content

ACE keymap configuration

This page explains how configurable keymap scopes interact. The generated TUI keymap reference lists action names and current bindings; the generated configuration reference documents the config shape and defaults.

ace.keymaps

Keymaps are scoped to the surface that handles them. An active pane or modal can reuse a key that belongs to another surface because only one scope receives the event. App-level actions apply across surfaces and have a small set of intentional overlaps between mutually exclusive tabs.

The keymap reference groups bindings by surface, including the application, Admin Center panes, prompt panels, and prefix modes. Use it as the single catalog of action names and bindings.

Admin Center scopes

Gate, Config, Statistics, Memory, Snippets, Projects, Machines, and Tools keymaps are active only while their surface has focus. Their actions do not become application shortcuts. Memory and Snippets also have fixed numbered-chip gestures; those digits are part of the panel interaction rather than configurable action bindings.

The Projects keymap serves the Projects, Repos, and Workspaces sub-tabs. Some actions are limited to one sub-tab: project creation and editing belong to Projects, while the shared project picker and filter clearing apply to Repos and Workspaces. The selected sub-tab and focused filter determine which actions handle input.

Application scope

open_config_center also controls the Admin Center home page's resume action. Agents-tab actions can open a pending gate or Patch, and the action chooser appears when both apply. Starting an agent from a Patch uses the most recently launched VCS macro when available; otherwise it opens a home-workspace prompt.

Remote-agent actions are available through the command palette. A configured key only acts when the Agents tab and selected remote row support that action. Query editing uses the shared app action across Patches, Stitches, Plans, Files, Services, and Agents; the Agents tab also has its own filter action and inline deck search.

The saved-query prefix arms slot selection. Its digit subkeys are fixed slot identifiers, not separate configurable bindings.

Prefix modes

The built-in Fold, Copy, Leader, and Bang modes can be reconfigured, and custom modes can be added. A custom mode defines exactly one of shell or action. See the generated keymap reference for the built-in mode bindings and the configuration reference for the mode schema.

Validation

Invalid keys fall back to their defaults. Duplicate bindings within a scope are warned about, and conflicts between custom-mode prefixes and app bindings are detected. A small allowlist permits known app-level overlaps whose actions cannot be active on the same surface. An override that collides with an action outside that allowlist is logged and reverted to its default while the rest of the keymap remains in place.

The glossary scope is accepted as compatibility input but has no effect: it defines no defaults or active bindings. Configure the Memory panel through ace.keymaps.memory.

_[project]: A sase project is a named unit of work registered with SASE. _[workspace]: A sase workspace is a numbered clone of a project's primary repo, managed by the workspace store and tracked in that project's registry.json. _[agent]: A sase agent is an agent session or a single agent that does not belong to a session. _[prompt]: A prompt is the text SASE hands to a provider to start an agent turn. _[macro]: A macro is a reusable prompt triggered with #name in agent prompts. _[Patch]: A Patch is SASE's local unit of change. _[bead]: A bead is one tracked work item in SASE's git-native issue tracker. _[plan]: A plan is a persisted, approved artifact recording the intent behind agent work. _[TUI]: The TUI is SASE's terminal interface for running agents and reviewing results. _[epic]: An epic is an executable multi-phase plan run with sase bead work. _[gate]: A sase gate is a durable, command-backed request for one user decision, created when work must pause for the user. _[monitor]: A sase monitor is a monitor turn that runs one long command under a detached supervisor, so the command outlives the agent that started it. *[stitch]: A stitch is the lightweight ordered change record inside a Patch's STITCHES: section.