CmdTab
macOS window switching
Command Palette
Command Palette uses the same eligible-window set and exact-window recency sequence as Classic Grid, then narrows it with deterministic local matching when you type.
Last reviewed:
Open in the full showcase →Definition
CmdTab Command Palette is a keyboard-first window-search mode. It matches application and window text, supports acronym-style queries, and can promote a previously chosen result when its relevance remains close to the strongest match.
Command Palette
Command Palette local window search
A deterministic product poster shows the current search layout, controlled fixture results, and selected-row treatment used by Command Palette.
Deterministic product poster
The poster depicts the local search field and a filtered fixture-window list. The selected result uses the current blue outline and return-key affordance.
Command Palette narrows the current exact-window sequence by application and window text without sending the raw query in the current telemetry payload. Source: Deterministic product poster. Controlled fixture windows protect private desktop content; the Evidence page records the separate signed-app acceptance boundary.
Current behavior
These statements describe the current implementation and are intentionally narrower than an unmeasured performance claim.
| Behavior | Current CmdTab contract |
|---|---|
| Search fields | Application name and window title |
| Matching | Space-insensitive local similarity plus acronym and word-start signals |
| Empty query | Preserves the current exact-window sequence |
| Ties | Stable source order is preserved when relevance scores are equal |
| Remembered choice | May promote a prior stable target when its relevance remains close to the best match |
| Current telemetry | Does not include raw search queries |
Decision guide
A useful feature page should state the tradeoff instead of treating every workflow as proof of superiority.
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