Search and jump
Big maps make finding a specific project by sight impractical. The search palette jumps you straight to a project by name or key, then snaps the canvas to it.
On a portfolio with hundreds of projects you cannot spot the one you want with your eyes alone. Search is the keyboard-first way in: hit a shortcut, type three letters, press Enter.
01. Open the palette
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Click the search icon in the navbar | Open the palette |
Press Cmd K (Mac) or Ctrl K (Windows / Linux) | Same |
The palette opens centred on the screen with the input focused - start typing right away.
02. Find a project
- Type any part of the project name or key. Matching is case-insensitive and accent-insensitive (typing
elevematchesEleve). - Results show as
(KEY) Project Namewith the project's avatar. - The first match is highlighted automatically. Use arrow up and arrow down to move between matches.
- Press
Enterto select, or click a row.
If nothing matches, the palette tells you so: No project matches "xxx".
[ADD SCREENSHOT/IMAGE: Open search palette centred on the screen — input focused with a partial query typed, three result rows below showing
(KEY) Project Namewith project avatars, the first result highlighted in blue.]
03. What happens when you select
The palette closes and the canvas snaps to the project:
- The viewport pans to centre it.
- If you were zoomed out, Synaps zooms in just enough to see the project clearly. If you were already zoomed in, the zoom stays where it was.
- The animation is short (around 320ms) - grab the canvas or scroll during it to cancel.
The project is not selected after the snap - no dashed ring, no fade of unrelated projects. Search is purely a navigation gesture. To explore the project's neighbourhood after snapping, hover or click it as usual (see Reading the map).
[ADD SCREENSHOT/IMAGE: Before/after split — left half shows the canvas zoomed out with the whole portfolio visible, right half shows the same canvas snapped onto and zoomed in on a single project picked from search.]
04. Close without snapping
- Press
Esc. - Click the backdrop (outside the palette).
- Click the x in the top-right corner.
The element you were focused on before opening the palette gets focus back, so keyboard navigation continues where you left off.
05. In Split View
In Split View the palette only lists the hub projects (the ones at the centre of each island). Selecting a hub snaps the canvas to its island. To search for neighbour projects too, switch to Global View first.