# Fuzzy finder Telescope

> Telescope is Inkdrop's command palette and fuzzy finder — search and run commands, jump to notebooks, tags, and the outline of the note you're writing, all from one search bar

Source: https://docs.inkdrop.app/reference/fuzzy-finder-telescope

Telescope is Inkdrop's built-in fuzzy finder — a single search bar that queries several sources at once. Run a command, jump to a notebook, filter by tag, or move around the note you're writing, without ever reaching for the mouse.

You might be familiar with the **command palette** from VS Code, Sublime Text, or other editors — yes, Telescope is Inkdrop's, and commands are only one of the things it searches.

## Open Telescope

Press `Command+K` / `Ctrl+K`, or choose **Navigate → Toggle Telescope** from the application menu.

![Telescope lists the available sources when the search field is empty](https://docs.inkdrop.app/images/telescope_overview.png)

While the search field is empty, Telescope lists the sources available to you, each with its prefix shown on the right. Start typing and it searches **all of them at once** — matching commands, notebooks, and tags appear together in one list, with the kind of each item labeled on the right.

Matching is fuzzy, so you don't have to spell anything exactly: type a few characters in the right order and Telescope finds it, highlighting the characters that matched.

## Narrow the search to one source

Type a source's prefix followed by `Space` to scope Telescope to that source alone. The prefix disappears, the placeholder tells you what you're searching now, and a button appears on the left of the search field to take you back.

| Source                | Prefix | What it searches                                                                                                                         |
| --------------------- | ------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Commands**          | `>`    | Every command available in the app                                                                                                       |
| **Notebooks**         | `b`    | All notebooks, by their full path                                                                                                        |
| **Tags**              | `t`    | All tags                                                                                                                                 |
| **Table of contents** | `#`    | Headings and task items in the note you're editing — comes from the [telescope-toc](https://my.inkdrop.app/plugins/telescope-toc) plugin |
| **Themes**            | `h`    | Every installed theme — comes from the [telescope-themes](https://my.inkdrop.app/plugins/telescope-themes) plugin                        |

`Esc` steps back one level at a time: it clears what you've typed first, then returns you to the source list, and finally closes Telescope.

## Run a command

Nearly every operation in Inkdrop is a command, and the **Commands** source (`>`) is how you find one by name. Its keyboard shortcut, if it has one, is shown on the right — a good way to learn shortcuts as you go.

![Searching commands in Telescope](https://docs.inkdrop.app/images/telescope_commands.png)

The list is built for wherever your focus was when you opened Telescope, so editor commands show up when you were writing, and note list commands show up when you were browsing. Choose **Navigate → Run Command…** to jump straight to this source.

## Jump to a notebook

The **Notebooks** source (`b`) lists every notebook by its full path — `Awesome SaaS : Website` — along with its icon and note count.

![Searching notebooks in Telescope](https://docs.inkdrop.app/images/telescope_notebooks.png)

| Press                                                    | Action                                          |
| -------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| `Enter`                                     | Open the notebook in the note list              |
| `Command+Enter` / `Ctrl+Enter` | Open the notebook as a workspace                |
| `Shift+Enter`                               | Move the note you're editing into that notebook |

## Filter by tag

The **Tags** source (`t`) lists your tags in their colors, with the number of notes carrying each one.

![Searching tags in Telescope](https://docs.inkdrop.app/images/telescope_tags.png)

| Press                                                    | Action                                      |
| -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| `Enter`                                     | Show the notes with that tag                |
| `Command+Enter` / `Ctrl+Enter` | Add the tag to the current note list filter |
| `Shift+Enter`                               | Add the tag to the note you're editing      |

## Navigate the current note

The [telescope-toc](https://my.inkdrop.app/plugins/telescope-toc) plugin — installed for you automatically — adds the **Table of contents** source (`#`). It lists the headings of the note you're editing, with their level shown as `#`, `##`, `###`, plus its task items, so you can jump to any section by name.

![Navigating the outline of a note in Telescope](https://docs.inkdrop.app/images/telescope_toc.png)

Press `Enter` to move the cursor to that line in the editor, or to scroll the preview to it when you're in preview mode. You can also click the **#** button in the editor header, which runs the plugin's `telescope-toc:show` command — it opens this source with the section your cursor is currently in already selected.

## Switch themes

The [telescope-themes](https://my.inkdrop.app/plugins/telescope-themes) plugin adds a **Themes** source (`h`) listing every installed theme, each with a swatch rendered from its color palette, whether it's light or dark, and a **current** badge on the one you're using. Press `Enter` to apply a theme immediately.

![Switching themes from Telescope](https://docs.inkdrop.app/images/telescope_themes.png)

| Command                              | Default shortcut                | What it does                                        |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `telescope-themes:show`              | `Ctrl+Alt+T`       | Open Telescope on the theme list                    |
| `telescope-themes:toggle-light-dark` | `Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T` | Switch between your preferred light and dark themes |

Both are in **Plugins → Themes** in the application menu too. The toggle remembers the last theme you applied for each appearance, so it takes you back to exactly the light or dark theme you were using.

## Choose what Enter does

The footer along the bottom of Telescope always shows what will happen to the item you've selected, and which key does it. Hold `Command` / `Ctrl` or `Shift` and the highlighted action changes — press `Enter` while still holding it to run that action instead of the default one.

## Keyboard reference

| Key                                              | What it does                                                 |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `Command+K` / `Ctrl+K` | Open or close Telescope                                      |
| `Up` / `Down`          | Select the previous / next item                              |
| `Home` / `End`         | Select the first / last item                                 |
| `Enter`                             | Run the action shown in the footer                           |
| _prefix_ + `Space`                  | Narrow the search to that source                             |
| `Esc`                               | Clear the query, then go back to the source list, then close |

## Open Telescope on a specific source

Some places in Inkdrop take you straight into a single source, skipping the list:

- **Navigate → Run Command…**, **Go to Notebook/Workspace…**, and **Search Tags…** in the application menu.
- The buttons next to **Notebooks** and **Tags** in the sidebar.

![The search button next to Notebooks in the sidebar](https://docs.inkdrop.app/images/telescope_filter-notebooks-button.png)

Opened from the sidebar, the search is limited to the workspace you're currently in. Opened any of these ways, `Esc` closes Telescope rather than taking you back to the source list.

## Searching your notes

Telescope searches the things _around_ your notes — commands, notebooks, tags, sections. To search the notes themselves, use the search bar above the note list. See [Search and filter notes](https://docs.inkdrop.app/reference/search-and-filter-notes).

## Customize prefixes and hide sources

Prefixes and the set of enabled sources can be changed in your [`config.json`](https://docs.inkdrop.app/reference/user-data-directory) file. Each source is keyed by its ID — `commands`, `books`, and `tags` for the built-in ones, and whatever a plugin declares for its own (`toc`, `themes`):

```json
{
  "telescope": {
    "sources": {
      "toc": {
        "alias": "o"
      },
      "tags": {
        "disabled": true
      }
    }
  }
}
```

- `alias` — the prefix that scopes Telescope to this source.
- `disabled` — set to `true` to leave the source out of Telescope entirely.

## Add your own sources

Telescope is extensible: a plugin can register a source of its own, with its own items, icons, actions, and prefix — that's exactly what [telescope-toc](https://github.com/inkdropapp/telescope-toc) and [telescope-themes](https://github.com/inkdropapp/telescope-themes) do. Both are small, complete examples written in TypeScript — see the [plugin development docs](https://developers.inkdrop.app/) to build your own.

## See also

- [Get acquainted with Inkdrop interface](https://docs.inkdrop.app/reference/main-user-interface)
- [Search and filter notes](https://docs.inkdrop.app/reference/search-and-filter-notes)
- [Customize keybindings](https://docs.inkdrop.app/reference/key-customizations)
- [Extend with plugins](https://docs.inkdrop.app/reference/extend-with-plugins)