The launcher, search tools and Quick AI share one floating panel. AI Chat, Notes, Camera and command output also have their own windows. The launcher is the palette's root screen. esc takes you back one screen at a time.

Moving around

Key	Does
`return`	The main action for the selection
`⌘return`	The second action, usually Show in Finder or Copy
`⌘K`	Open the Actions menu for the selection
`↑` `↓`	Move the selection
`tab`	Move between the launcher, Quick AI and the clipboard
`esc`	Clear the search, then go back a screen, then close
`⌘esc`	Go back to the root search from any screen
`delete`	In an empty search field, go back one screen
`⌘,`	Open Settings
`⌘W`	Close the window

⌘K is the best way to learn the app. Every screen lists all of its actions there, with shortcuts beside actions that have them. Type in the menu to filter its actions; esc clears the menu search first, then closes the menu. The full list is in Keyboard shortcuts.

Every screen except the launcher has a back arrow in the top-left corner. Hover over it to see whether clicking goes back a step or closes the window.

⌘esc needs the Accessibility permission, because macOS uses that shortcut itself unless Tinycast intercepts it first.

Emacs chords

These work anywhere in the palette:

Chord	Same as
`⌃N`	`↓`
`⌃P`	`↑`
`⌃F`	`→`
`⌃B`	`←`

On the emoji grid, all four move the selection. Everywhere else, ⌃F and ⌃B move the text cursor, which is what you usually want in a search field. In the collapsed compact bar, they select Search or a shortcut. Chords with an extra modifier, like ⌃⇧Q, are ignored.

Letter shortcuts use your ASCII keyboard layout, so a Japanese, Russian or other non-Latin input source keeps them working. ASCII layouts such as Dvorak keep their own letter positions, including the Command positions of Dvorak–QWERTY ⌘. While an input method is composing text, its candidate selection keys keep their normal behavior.

Tab moves between three screens

tab cycles through three screens: launcher → Quick AI → clipboard → launcher.

From the launcher, tab sends whatever you typed to Quick AI as a question. When this will happen, the header shows a Quick AI hint next to a tab key.
From the clipboard, your search text carries over to the launcher.
esc goes back through the screens in reverse.

Quick AI is skipped while AI is off, and the clipboard is skipped while clipboard history is off.

Other screens, like Calculator History or Search Quicklinks, aren't part of the cycle. On screens that don't use tab themselves, it returns to the launcher with your search text. Rooms uses it to try layouts, and forms use it to move between fields.

There's one exception: when the selected row takes arguments, like a quicklink, a custom command or an extension command, tab moves through its fields first.

How screens stack

If you open a screen by typing its name in the launcher, it opens on top of the launcher, and esc takes you back to your search.

If you open a screen with its own global shortcut while the palette is hidden, it opens by itself with nothing behind it. If the palette is already visible, the new screen opens over the current one. Press its shortcut again to close it; Switch Windows uses repeated presses to move the selection.

Settings → General → Escape Key Behavior sets what esc does when the search is empty:

Navigate back or close window (default): go back a screen, and close only at the root.
Close window and pop to root: close right away, and start at the launcher next time.

In both cases, the first press clears any text you typed.

In compact mode, esc in the expanded launcher clears your text, then collapses the palette, then closes it. This happens with either setting.

Where it opens

Both placement settings are in Settings → General → Appearance.

Follow the cursor across displays (on by default) opens the palette on the display your pointer is on. Turn it off to always use the display with the menu bar.

Drag to move the launcher (off by default) lets you move the panel. Drag the thin strip above the search field, the empty space in the header, or the search field itself while it's empty.

While you drag, dotted guides show the default position and light up when you're close enough to snap to it. Release there and the palette snaps back. Release anywhere else and Tinycast remembers that position, even after a restart.

Tinycast forgets a saved position only when no display can show it anymore, for example after you unplug a monitor. Positions aren't included in backups, since they don't carry over between Macs.

Appearance

Settings → General → Appearance has these settings:

Setting	Options	Default
Appearance	System · Light · Dark	System
Show animations	On · Off	On
Interface size	Default · Large · Larger	Default
Window mode	Compact · Expanded	Compact

Appearance. System follows macOS whenever it changes. Light uses the same design with inverted colors, and the layout, type and animations stay the same.

Show animations. Turn it off and every Tinycast window opens, closes and changes at once, with no motion.

Interface size makes the palette and its floating windows 10% or 20% larger. The Settings window stays the same size.

Window mode. Compact opens the launcher as a slim search bar that expands into the full list as you type. In the slim bar, ← and → select Search or a shortcut, stopping at either end. ↓ on Search expands the list and selects its first row; on a shortcut it opens that item. return opens a selected shortcut. Typing from any shortcut starts a search. Expanded always shows the full list.

Settings → General → Compact Shortcuts appears when Compact is selected. Add, change, remove and reorder up to four shortcuts, or remove them all for a search-only bar. The defaults are Clipboard History, Emoji & Symbols, Search Files and Search Quicklinks. You can also choose Search Snippets, Show Notes, My Schedule and Quick AI. Show Notes opens the Notes window. A disabled feature's shortcut stays configured and marked Off in Settings, then reappears in its place when enabled again.

The Toggle System Appearance action changes the appearance of macOS itself. Tinycast follows it only while its own Appearance is set to System.

Input source

Settings → General → Auto-switch input source picks a keyboard layout to use while the palette is open.

This helps if you type Japanese or Chinese most of the day but your app names use Latin letters. Tinycast switches layouts when the palette opens and switches back when it closes. If you changed the layout yourself while the palette was open, Tinycast keeps your choice.

Pop to root

Settings → General → Pop to Root Search sets how long after the window closes Tinycast returns to the launcher: Immediately (default), or after 5, 15, 30, 60 or 90 seconds.

Use a longer delay if you often close the palette and then come back to the same screen.

AI Chat has its own setting for reopening a conversation. See AI Chat.

The Tinycast menu bar icon has Open Tinycast, Clipboard History (while clipboard history is on), Check for Updates…, Support Tinycast…, Settings… and Quit Tinycast.

Settings → General → Show in menu bar hides the icon. Your shortcuts still work without it.

The palette