Command Palette Development

Build professional command palette interfaces for web applications using React, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS. Command palettes provide keyboard-first navigation that enables power users to access functionality without leaving the keyboard, combining CLI efficiency with GUI discoverability.

Purpose & When to Use

Command palettes solve the tension between feature-rich applications and clean interfaces. Instead of cluttering screens with buttons and menus, palettes consolidate functionality into a searchable, keyboard-driven interface that appears on demand (typically via ⌘K or ⌘+Shift+P).

Use command palettes when building applications that:

• Have numerous actions or navigation targets (20+ commands)
• Serve power users who prefer keyboard workflows
• Need searchable, discoverable functionality
• Require context-aware command suggestions
• Want to provide multi-step command flows (e.g., select repository → choose action)

This skill provides generator scripts, templates, examples, and comprehensive guidance for implementing command palettes matching the quality of Raycast, Linear, GitHub, and Notion.

Choosing Implementation Patterns

Modal Palette - Centered overlay with backdrop (⌘K standard):

• Use for: App-wide actions, global search, navigation
• Examples: GitHub's command palette, VS Code's command palette
• Generated with: create-command-palette.sh --type modal

Embedded Palette - Floating element attached to trigger:

• Use for: Contextual actions, inline search, form controls
• Examples: Notion's slash commands, mention autocomplete
• Generated with: create-command-palette.sh --type embedded

Drawer Palette - Slide-in panel from screen edge:

• Use for: Filter panels, advanced search, settings navigation
• Examples: Raycast's Store, application settings
• Generated with: create-command-palette.sh --type drawer

Quick Start Guide

1. Initial Setup

Install dependencies and create base configuration:

cd /path/to/your/project
/path/to/skills/command-palette-dev/scripts/setup-palette-stack.sh

This script:

• Detects your package manager (npm/pnpm/yarn/bun)
• Installs required packages: cmdk, @floating-ui/react, zustand, @tanstack/react-query, @tanstack/react-virtual
• Creates ThemeProvider.tsx and CommandProvider.tsx
• Sets up command-registry.ts for command registration
• Adds Tailwind configuration for palette variants
• Validates existing dependencies and suggests remediation if issues found

2. Generate Your First Palette

Create a basic modal command palette:

./scripts/create-command-palette.sh \
  --type modal \
  --name SearchPalette \
  --output ./src/components

This generates:

• SearchPalette.tsx - Main component with keyboard navigation
• SearchPalette.types.ts - TypeScript interfaces
• index.ts - Barrel export

3. Integrate into Application

Wrap your app with providers:

// src/App.tsx
import { ThemeProvider } from './providers/ThemeProvider';
import { CommandProvider } from './providers/CommandProvider';
import { SearchPalette } from './components/SearchPalette';

function App() {
  return (
    <ThemeProvider>
      <CommandProvider>
        <YourApp />
        <SearchPalette />
      </CommandProvider>
    </ThemeProvider>
  );
}

Register commands:

// Anywhere in your app
import { useCommandRegistry } from './providers/CommandProvider';

function MyComponent() {
  const registry = useCommandRegistry();

  useEffect(() => {
    registry.register({
      id: 'navigate-home',
      label: 'Go to Dashboard',
      keywords: ['home', 'dashboard', 'main'],
      shortcut: 'g then d',
      icon: HomeIcon,
      onSelect: () => navigate('/'),
    });
  }, []);
}

4. Customize Layout and Results

Generate specific layout patterns:

# Two-column with preview panel (Raycast style)
./scripts/create-palette-layout.sh \
  --layout two-column \
  --name FileSearch \
  --with-preview

# Card grid for rich results (Raycast Store style)
./scripts/create-palette-layout.sh \
  --layout card-grid \
  --name StorePalette \
  --virtualized

Create typed result components:

# Person results with avatars
./scripts/create-result-type.sh \
  --type person \
  --name PersonResult

# File results with icons and metadata
./scripts/create-result-type.sh \
  --type file \
  --name FileResult \
  --with-actions

Core Concepts

Command Palette Anatomy

Every command palette consists of four essential parts:

1. Trigger - Keyboard shortcut or button that opens the palette (⌘K, ⌘+Shift+P)
2. Input Field - Search box with real-time fuzzy filtering
3. Results List - Filtered commands with keyboard navigation (arrow keys, enter)
4. Footer (optional) - Keyboard legend showing available shortcuts

The cmdk library handles filtering, keyboard navigation, and accessibility automatically. Focus on command registration and result rendering.

Layout Patterns

Command palettes support multiple layout configurations depending on data richness and use case:

Single-Column List - Basic vertical list of results:

• Best for: Simple actions, text-heavy commands, mobile
• Performance: Excellent (handles 2,000-3,000 items)
• Reference: references/layouts.md for implementation details

Two-Column with Preview - List on left, detail panel on right:

• Best for: Files, documents, rich content needing preview
• Examples: Raycast file search, GitHub repository picker
• Requires: Preview component that updates on selection change

Multi-Panel - Sidebar filters + center results + right details:

• Best for: Complex filtering, data tables, admin panels
• Examples: AWS console command palette
• Consideration: Responsive behavior on smaller screens

Card Grid - Rich cards with images, badges, metadata:

• Best for: Extensions, plugins, visual content
• Examples: Raycast Store, Figma plugin browser
• Requires: Virtual scrolling for 100+ items

Horizontal Cards + Lists - Mixed layout with scrollable cards and list items:

• Best for: Grouped content types, contextual results
• Examples: Linear's command palette
• Implementation: Combine multiple result type components

For detailed layout implementations and responsive strategies, see references/layouts.md.

Result Types

Different command types require different visual presentations:

• Person - Avatar, name, email/role, status indicators
• File - File type icon, name, size, modification date
• Action - Action icon, label, description, keyboard shortcut
• Card - Image, title, description, badges, metadata

Generate result components with create-result-type.sh to get type-safe, accessible implementations matching your design system.

State Management with Zustand

Command palettes maintain several state concerns:

interface CommandPaletteState {
  isOpen: boolean;              // Palette visibility
  searchQuery: string;          // Current search text
  selectedId: string | null;    // Active result
  recentCommands: Command[];    // Usage history
  favorites: string[];          // Pinned commands
  commandStack: Command[];      // Multi-step navigation breadcrumb
}

The generated CommandProvider uses Zustand for lightweight, performant state management. For server-side search, Tanstack Query handles caching and loading states separately.

Detailed state patterns and integration with Tanstack Query are documented in references/state-management.md.

Theming System

All generated palettes support three theme modes:

• Light - Light backgrounds, dark text
• Dark - Dark backgrounds, light text
• System - Follows OS preference via prefers-color-scheme

Themes use CSS variables for runtime switching without re-renders:

:root {
  --palette-bg: white;
  --palette-text: black;
}

[data-theme="dark"] {
  --palette-bg: #1a1a1a;
  --palette-text: white;
}

Tailwind's dark mode integrates seamlessly. For custom theme creation and per-palette overrides, see references/theming.md.

Generator Scripts Guide

Five generator scripts create components without reading templates into context:

create-command-palette.sh

Generate complete palette components:

./scripts/create-command-palette.sh \
  --type modal|embedded|drawer \
  --name ComponentName \
  --output ./src/components \
  --theme light|dark|system

Flags:

• --type (required) - Palette variant: modal, embedded, drawer
• --name (required) - Component name in PascalCase
• --output (default: ./src/components) - Output directory
• --theme (default: system) - Theme mode
• --with-footer (default: true) - Include keyboard legend
• --with-groups (default: true) - Support command groups
• --interactive - Prompt for all options

create-palette-layout.sh

Generate layout-specific components:

./scripts/create-palette-layout.sh \
  --layout single-column|two-column|multi-panel|card-grid|horizontal-cards \
  --name ComponentName \
  --virtualized

Flags:

• --layout (required) - Layout pattern
• --name (required) - Component name
• --output (default: ./src/components) - Output directory
• --virtualized (default: false) - Enable Tanstack Virtual for 10k+ items
• --with-preview (default: true for two-column) - Add preview panel

create-result-type.sh

Generate typed result components:

./scripts/create-result-type.sh \
  --type person|file|action|card \
  --name ResultComponent \
  --with-actions

Flags:

• --type (required) - Result type
• --name (required) - Component name
• --output (default: ./src/components/results) - Output directory
• --with-avatar (default: true for person) - Include avatar
• --with-icon (default: true) - Include icon
• --with-metadata (default: true) - Include metadata line
• --with-actions (default: false) - Include inline action buttons

setup-palette-stack.sh

Initial project setup:

./scripts/setup-palette-stack.sh \
  --project-root . \
  --with-examples

What it does:

1. Detects package manager
2. Validates Node/TypeScript versions
3. Installs dependencies with version compatibility check
4. Creates provider components
5. Initializes command registry
6. Configures Tailwind for palettes
7. Optionally copies working examples

add-palette-feature.sh

Add features to existing palettes:

./scripts/add-palette-feature.sh \
  --feature virtual-scroll|server-search|keyboard-shortcuts|recent-commands|favorites|multi-step \
  --target ./src/SearchPalette.tsx

Features:

• virtual-scroll - Tanstack Virtual for 10k+ items
• server-search - Tanstack Query integration with debouncing
• keyboard-shortcuts - ⌘+1-9 favorites and custom bindings
• recent-commands - Track and display recent usage
• favorites - Pin commands with persistence
• multi-step - Nested command flows with breadcrumbs

Workflow Patterns

Basic palette creation:

setup-palette-stack.sh
create-command-palette.sh --type modal --name Actions

Rich file search:

create-palette-layout.sh --layout two-column --name FileSearch
create-result-type.sh --type file --name FileResult
add-palette-feature.sh --feature virtual-scroll --target FileSearch.tsx

API-driven search:

create-command-palette.sh --type modal --name ApiSearch
add-palette-feature.sh --feature server-search --target ApiSearch.tsx

Additional Resources

Reference Files

Comprehensive documentation in references/:

• design-principles.md - UX patterns, fuzzy search, discovery, accessibility from research
• layouts.md - Detailed implementation guides for all five layout patterns
• theming.md - CSS variables, Tailwind integration, custom themes, reduced motion
• keyboard-navigation.md - Arrow keys, shortcuts, focus traps, multi-key sequences
• state-management.md - Zustand patterns, command registry, Tanstack Query integration
• server-side-search.md - API integration, debouncing, pagination, infinite scroll
• virtual-scrolling.md - Tanstack Virtual setup, performance benchmarks, dynamic heights
• testing.md - Vitest + RTL unit tests, Playwright E2E, performance testing
• floating-positioning.md - Floating UI middleware for embedded palettes
• plugin-system.md - Extensibility patterns, third-party command providers
• analytics.md - Telemetry patterns (reference only, not in examples)

Example Implementations

Working examples in examples/:

• file-search/ - Virtual scroll, fuzzy search, file metadata, recent files
• action-palette/ - Grouped actions, keyboard shortcuts, icons
• navigation/ - Breadcrumbs, route groups, search history
• multi-step/ - Nested commands, command chaining, back navigation (Raycast-style)
• server-search/ - API integration, Tanstack Query, debounce, loading states
• virtual-list/ - 10k+ items, Tanstack Virtual, performance optimizations

Each example includes a README explaining what it demonstrates and key implementation details.

Utility Functions

Reusable TypeScript utilities in utilities/:

• fuzzy-search.ts - Fuzzy matching, scoring, highlight rendering
• keyboard-shortcuts.ts - Shortcut parsing, matching, hooks, display formatting
• command-registry.ts - Command registration API, searching, grouping, providers
• theme-utils.ts - Theme detection, switching, CSS variable generation

Copy these files into your project and customize as needed.

Scripts Directory

All generator scripts with dependency validation:

• create-command-palette.sh - Main palette generator
• create-palette-layout.sh - Layout variants
• create-result-type.sh - Result components
• setup-palette-stack.sh - Initial project setup
• add-palette-feature.sh - Feature additions

Scripts validate dependencies before generation and provide remediation steps for missing or incompatible packages.

Best Practices

Performance:

• Use virtual scrolling (Tanstack Virtual) for 1,000+ items
• Debounce server searches (300-500ms)
• Memoize result components to prevent re-renders
• Lazy load preview content

Accessibility:

• Maintain focus trap when palette is open
• Announce result count changes to screen readers
• Support keyboard-only navigation
• Respect prefers-reduced-motion

User Experience:

• Show recent/frequent commands on open
• Provide empty state guidance for new users
• Display keyboard shortcuts next to commands
• Support fuzzy search for typo tolerance

Architecture:

• Keep command registration decentralized (register in feature components)
• Use Zustand for UI state, Tanstack Query for server state
• Separate result rendering from business logic
• Design for plugin extensibility from the start

For detailed guidance on each best practice, consult the relevant reference documentation.

Getting Help

Common Issues:

1. Palette doesn't open - Check keyboard shortcut conflicts, verify trigger is registered
2. Search not filtering - Ensure commands have keywords array, check fuzzy search configuration
3. Results not rendering - Verify result type components are imported, check TypeScript types
4. Poor performance - Enable virtual scrolling, check for unnecessary re-renders with React DevTools

Deep Dives:

• Layout not working as expected → references/layouts.md
• Theme not switching → references/theming.md
• Keyboard nav issues → references/keyboard-navigation.md
• Server search slow → references/server-side-search.md
• Testing failures → references/testing.md

Extending:

• Adding custom result types → create-result-type.sh --type custom
• Third-party integrations → references/plugin-system.md
• Performance optimization → references/virtual-scrolling.md
• Analytics/telemetry → references/analytics.md