Search Window

The search window is CodeExpander’s universal launcher. One global shortcut opens a floating window where you can search snippets, run plugin commands, launch apps, or chat with AI — without ever touching the mouse.

Press your configured global shortcut (default varies by platform; set in Settings → Keyboard). The window appears centered on screen, ready for input.

Three Modes

Switch between modes with the tab bar at the top:

Search Mode

Search Snippets

Type any keyword to search across:

• Snippet names — e.g. sig, report
• Abbreviations — e.g. ai-gen
• Content — full-text search inside snippet bodies
• Pinyin — Chinese users can type pinyin to match Chinese-named snippets

Press Enter on a result to expand it instantly, or click to jump to the editor.

Run Plugin Commands

Plugins can define command triggers. When your input matches a plugin command, it appears in the list alongside snippets. Press Enter to run it directly.

Example: A “Timestamp converter” plugin may define a ts command — type ts 1714392000 and the plugin converts it to a readable date.

Launch Apps

Type the name of any installed application to launch it. Supports fuzzy matching and pinyin.

Example: Type chrome or guge (pinyin for 谷歌) to launch Google Chrome.

Search Filters

Click the filter icon for advanced options:

Empty State — Quick Access

When the search box is empty, the window shows:

• Common — Your most frequently used plugins (auto-learned)
• Pinned — Plugins you’ve manually pinned for instant access

Right-click a plugin to pin, hide, or uninstall.

AI Mode

Chat with the built-in AI assistant for:

• Code explanation and review
• Auto-generating comments
• Unit test generation
• General programming Q&A

The AI has access to your current context (e.g. selected files dragged into the search window) when relevant.

Plugin Mode

Browse all installed plugins as a grid. Click to open, or use the search box to filter by name or category.

From here you can:

• Install new plugins from npm (requires Node.js + npm)
• Import plugins from a local directory
• Uninstall unused plugins
• Open plugin details and settings

See Plugin Hub for full details.

Pro Tips

• Drag files into the search window to pass them to file-aware plugins
• Arrow keys navigate the list; Enter executes; Esc closes
• Pin frequently used plugins so they’re always one shortcut away
• Use regex for power searches like ^api.*test

Typical Workflows

Developer Daily

1. Press shortcut → search window opens
2. Type try-py → Enter → boilerplate expands in your editor
3. Press shortcut again → type ts + timestamp → plugin converts it
4. Drag a log file into search → file-aware plugin parses it

Remote Team Coordination

1. Press shortcut → AI mode
2. Paste error message → AI explains and suggests fix
3. Switch to search → find deploy snippet → expand in terminal

The AI Assistant tab can stream replies. Turn on MCP tools in Settings so it can call CodeExpander on this computer. Code from the chat can be written back into the snippet editor. See MCP · Inline search.

Power User Launcher

1. Pin your top 5 plugins (e.g. timestamp, JSON formatter, color picker)
2. Empty search shows them instantly
3. One Enter away from any tool you need

Inline search

You are mid-email and only remember the signature is something like “sig”. Stay in the field, type //sig, pick with the arrows, press Enter.

1. Open Settings → General and enable inline search.
2. The prefix defaults to //. You can change it to @@ or similar.
3. The float can follow the caret or the pointer.
4. “Only expand in these apps” does not block inline search, same as the search window.

Use this when you forget an abbreviation. For chat and the plugin marketplace, use the search window above.