Quick Search is the QuickSearchPanel component that slides in below the SearchBar while you are typing and no conversation is open. It searches your indexed shortcuts (applications, files, and recent sessions) in real time and lets you open a result or continue into a full AI query.
When Quick Search appears
The panel opens automatically when all of the following conditions are met:
- No conversation is currently active (the conversation history is empty).
- The search bar has non-empty text.
- The input is single-line (not multi-line).
- No model override tag is set in the search bar.
- No attachments are staged.
- The model picker dropdown is not open.
If any condition is no longer satisfied — for example, you submit a query and a conversation starts — the panel closes immediately.
What it searches
Quick Search queries a native index of shortcuts via the native.quickSearch.searchShortcuts API. The index includes:
- System applications
- Files and folders known to the OS
- Recent items
Results are ranked by a combination of native relevance and a click-frequency score stored in a local SQLite table. Items you open more often appear higher for the same query.
Each search is debounced at 80 ms and returns at most 60 results per query. Matched characters in each result name are highlighted in the grid.
Result grid
Results are displayed as an icon grid. Each cell is 88 × 88 px and shows:
- A file/application icon (or image thumbnail for image files)
- The item name, with matched query characters highlighted
Icons and thumbnails are loaded asynchronously after the grid renders to avoid blocking the layout.
Keyboard navigation
| Key | Action |
|---|
| ArrowDown | Open Quick Search / move highlight down |
| ArrowUp / ArrowDown / ArrowLeft / ArrowRight | Move the highlighted cell through the grid |
| Enter (item highlighted) | Open the highlighted item and hide the window |
| Enter (no item highlighted) | Close Quick Search and submit the query to the AI |
| Escape | Close Quick Search (focus returns to search bar) |
Press ArrowDown from the search bar to enter the grid without typing anything extra. The first press moves the selection to the first item.
Opening a result
Clicking or pressing Enter on a highlighted result:
- Records a click in the local stats table (used for future ranking).
- Hides the TouchAI window.
- Opens the item using the OS default handler via
openPath.
Closing behaviour
The panel closes automatically when:
- The conversation history becomes non-empty (a query was submitted).
- The query text is cleared.
- A model override or attachment is added.
- The window loses focus (and is not pinned).
- Escape is pressed.
When the parent page sets open to false directly (e.g., when a conversation starts), the panel also cancels any in-flight search requests and resets its internal async state to prevent stale results from appearing. 