GitHub Projects keyboard shortcuts

GitHub Projects has a small set of keyboard shortcuts for moving around a project table. Gitsu has 28, all declared in one table in its source code, and this page lists every one of them. The keys are fixed: nothing on this page can be remapped, and the same list appears in the app when you press ?.

If you are new to Gitsu, getting started with the Gitsu Web App covers sign-in and choosing boards first. The shortcuts below work the same in the Web App and the desktop app for macOS, apart from two desktop-only rows marked below.

Which shortcuts does GitHub Projects have?

GitHub's documentation lists these shortcuts for a project on github.com. They mostly act on the table layout, where the keyboard moves a focused cell.

GitHub's table row menu also shows Del beside Remove from project, and the Relationships menu on an issue page shows Option+Shift+P for Add parent, B B for Mark as blocked by and B X for Mark as blocking. Those three relationship chords are the ones Gitsu uses too.

The source for the table is GitHub's keyboard shortcuts reference at docs.github.com, under GitHub Projects. On github.com, pressing ? on most pages opens GitHub's own shortcut dialog for that page.

How are Gitsu's shortcuts organised?

Each Gitsu shortcut belongs to one place in the app, and it only works while that place is on screen. There are four places with shortcuts:

• Anywhere: eight shortcuts that work on every screen.
• Project view: five that work in the list and the board, wherever the filter bar shows.
• Open issue: nine that work while an issue is open.
• New issue: six that work while the new-issue composer is open.

The list view and the board view have no shortcuts of their own. Navigation between them lives in the project view group, because it has to work from either view.

In the tables, Cmd/Ctrl means the shortcut answers to both keys on every platform, and Option/Alt means the Option key on a Mac or Alt elsewhere. G then L means press G, release it, then press L.

What works anywhere in Gitsu?

Escape is deliberately last in line. A dialog, a popover, an inline rename or the open issue all get the key first, so it only clears your selection when none of them wanted it.

What works in the list and board views?

All five belong to the toolbar the list and the board share, so they do nothing on settings screens. The four letters stand down while a menu or popover is open, which stops F from reopening a filter menu that is already in front of you. Display settings is Shift+D rather than D because plain D sets the date on an open issue.

What works on an open issue?

The six field letters press the same control you would click in the issue's side rail. The change shows at once and rolls back with a message if GitHub refuses the write, exactly as it does with the mouse.

What works in the new-issue composer?

These are the open issue's S A L P M letters with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift added, because in the composer a plain letter is text in the title or body. All six work while you type. While the composer is open, Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+L adds labels instead of toggling the theme.

Why can't I remap a shortcut?

Gitsu keeps every shortcut in one fixed table, and nothing else in the app turns a key into an action. The decision is recorded in ADR 0007: no remapping, no override store and no shortcuts settings screen. The trade is that you cannot move a key you dislike. In return, a key shown next to a command in the palette is always the key that runs it, because both are read from the same row.

Press ? in Gitsu to open the Shortcut Sheet. It is generated from the same table as this page, grouped the same way, and it hides the two desktop-only rows in the Web App.

Where to go next

The guide to GitHub project board examples shows five board setups you can rebuild and drive with these keys. If you are scripting a board instead, the GitHub Projects v2 GraphQL API guide walks through the queries and mutations Gitsu itself sends.