PiLot Studio contributes commands to the Command Palette, the editor context menu, the Explorer context menu, and the Source Control title bar. It also registers a small set of sidebar shortcuts.

Default keybindings

On macOS, use Cmd instead of Ctrl. Some shortcuts only fire when the PiLot sidebar or an editor chat panel has focus; the condition is noted.

Shortcut	Action	Focus condition
`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+P`	Open PiLot Studio	Anywhere
`Ctrl+Shift+I`	Focus chat input	Anywhere
`Ctrl+F`	Search the current chat	PiLot chat view or editor chat panel
`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N`	New session	PiLot sidebar has focus
`Ctrl+Shift+;`	Toggle voice dictation	Anywhere
`Ctrl+Shift+A`	Add the current file to chat	PiLot sidebar has focus

Ctrl+F is deliberately scoped. Outside the chat, VS Code's normal find still works.

While focus is not inside a text field, the number keys switch panels:

Key	Panel
`1`	Conversation
`2`	History
`3`	Models
`4`	Providers
`5`	Capabilities
`6`	Packages
`7`	Skills
`8`	System Prompt
`9`	Preferences
`0`	MCP Servers

Escape closes dialogs, dropdowns, and the in-chat search bar. In the composer, Enter sends and Shift+Enter inserts a newline. F3 and Shift+F3 move through chat search matches.

Composer shortcuts

Key	Action
`Enter`	Send the prompt.
`Shift+Enter`	New line.
`@`	Open workspace file autocomplete.
`/`	Open slash-command autocomplete.
`ArrowUp` / `ArrowDown`	Move through an open autocomplete.
`Tab` or `Enter`	Accept the highlighted autocomplete item.
`Escape`	Close autocomplete or search.
`Ctrl+F`	Open chat search.
`F3` / `Shift+F3`	Next / previous search match.

Command Palette

Run these with View: Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P).

Chat and editor

Command	ID
PiLot Studio: Open PiLot Studio	`pi-agent.openPanel`
PiLot Studio: New PiLot Session	`pi-agent.newSession`
PiLot Studio: Explain Code with PI	`pi-agent.explainCode`
PiLot Studio: Refactor Code with PI	`pi-agent.refactorCode`
PiLot Studio: Analyze Project with PI	`pi-agent.analyzeProject`
PiLot Studio: Focus Chat Input	`pi-agent.focusInput`
PiLot Studio: Search Chat History	`pi-agent.searchChat`
PiLot Studio: Edit Last Message	`pi-agent.editLastMessage`
PiLot Studio: Add File to Chat	`pi-agent.addFileToChat`
PiLot Studio: Attach Files to Chat	`pi-agent.attachFile`

Models and providers

Command	ID
PiLot Studio: Cycle Model	`pi-agent.cycleModel`
PiLot Studio: Cycle Thinking Level	`pi-agent.cycleThinkingLevel`
PiLot Studio: Open Settings	`pi-agent.openSettings`

Sessions and windows

Command	ID
PiLot Studio: Open Current Session in Editor	`pi-agent.openCurrentSessionInEditor`
PiLot Studio: New Chat in Editor	`pi-agent.newChatInEditor`

Resources

Command	ID
PiLot Studio: List Resources (Open Document)	`pi-agent.listResources`
PiLot Studio: Install Resource (Open Terminal)…	`pi-agent.installResource`
PiLot Studio: Remove Resource (Open Terminal)…	`pi-agent.removeResource`
PiLot Studio: Update Resources (Open Terminal)	`pi-agent.updateResources`
PiLot Studio: Manage Resources	`pi-agent.manageResources`

The install/remove commands ask for a package source such as npm:my-package or a local path.

Voice, updates, and maintenance

Command	ID
PiLot Studio: Toggle Dictation	`pi-agent.toggleVoiceCapture`
PiLot Studio: Toggle PI Light Mode (local LLMs)	`pi-agent.toggleLightMode`
PiLot Studio: Check for Updates	`pi-agent.checkForUpdates`
PiLot Studio: Show Diagnostics Log	`pi-agent.showDiagnosticsLog`
PiLot Studio: Export Diagnostics Log…	`pi-agent.exportDiagnosticsLog`
PiLot Studio: Rebuild Native Addons	`pi-agent.rebuildNativeAddons`
PiLot Studio: Generate Commit Message	`pi-agent.generateCommitMessage`

Two additional commands are registered for internal use and normally invoked by the UI: pi-agent.navigateToSession and pi-agent.deleteSessions.

Context menus

Editor

Explain Code with PI — appears when there is an editor selection. It sends the selected text with a language-tagged code block.
Refactor Code with PI — same selection behavior, with a refactoring prompt.
Add File to Chat — appears for file resources and inserts the file as an @mention.

Explorer

Analyze Project with PI — appears on folders. It sends a prompt asking for the project structure, key files, technologies, and potential improvements.

Source Control

Generate Commit Message — a sparkle button in the title bar of a Git repository. It drafts a message for staged changes and fills the commit box; it does not commit.

Slash commands

Slash commands are typed in the composer, not the Command Palette. The full list is in Chat, context, and editor actions. Built-ins cover navigation, export, compaction, naming, reloading resources, and opening panels. Skills use /skill:<name>; PI prompt templates use their own /name.

Customizing shortcuts

Open Code → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts and search for pi-agent. The contributed keybindings can be remapped like any VS Code command. The sidebar number keys and composer keys are handled inside the webview and are not separate VS Code keybindings.

Why a shortcut did nothing

New session and Add file to chat require the PiLot sidebar to have focus.
Chat search requires the chat view or an editor chat panel.
Number keys are ignored while the cursor is inside an input, textarea, or contenteditable element.
If another extension owns the same keybinding, VS Code shows both commands in the Keyboard Shortcuts editor; disable or remap one of them.

Commands and keyboard shortcuts