GitHub has “paused” the removal of the command palette, which enables keyboard control of the GitHub web application, following developer protests.
On July 16, GitHub declared in a now-updated post that the feature would be removed from August 6. The reason given was “low usage” and the advice for users of the feature was to “plan for this change.”
Yesterday this decision was reversed. “Your feedback highlighted how integral this feature is to many developers’ workflows,” said a GitHub staff member. There is no promise to keep the command palette permanently, but it will remain available while the team explores improvements to navigation.
The GitHub Command Palette was introduced at the Universe event in October 2021 as a public beta. It is categorized as an accessibility feature, but also valued by developers who prefer quick keystrokes to fiddling with the mouse.
Summoned by Ctrl+K (or Cmd+K on macOS), the command palette appears as a panel with navigation shortcuts and search options. Pressing > switches to command mode, with options including cloning a repository, creating a new issue, opening a repository in the github.dev web editor, closing or reopening issues, editing pull requests, and more.
“All developers in our organization heavily rely on this feature. Please reconsider the removal. It was the best addition to github in a long time in my opinion,” said a comment to the discussion on the feature deprecation, which attracted hundreds of posts.
The command palette was enhanced in February 2022 with the ability to customize the keyboard shortcuts, but has remained in beta for three and a half years. This means it is disabled by default, but can be enabled via a Feature Preview dialog.
Many developers never spot it. “I just found out about this feature a few weeks ago and I use it all the time now. I wish I would have known it existed sooner,” said one.
Enabling the command palette requires a trip to the Feature Preview settings – click to enlarge
In February 2024, adoption was further hindered by it being disabled even for those who had previously enabled it.
GitHub has not explained why the feature has remained preview for so long. The command palette is a separate feature from the / keyboard command, which starts a search using the box in the top bar. Some users may feel there’s too much overlap between these features, although a developer remarked:
“The command palette really has no substitute. The top-of-page search bar is a shotgun to the command palette’s laser beam.” The ability to switch quickly between repositories is highly appreciated.
“I didn’t know this existed! … just enabled it and tried it, and it’s super good!” said another comment. It seems that the best way to promote a preview feature is to threaten to remove it. ®