Keyboard and mouse

Borago Board is used mostly with a mouse or a finger, and a few keys and gestures do more than they look. This page lists the ones the app defines. Where a shortcut says Ctrl, it is Cmd on a Mac. Everything here works the same in the desktop app, in a browser on your network and on the cloud board unless a row says otherwise.

Goal

Know which key, click or gesture does what, so nothing on the board has to be discovered by accident.

Before you start

Any board. Nothing on this page needs a setting.
For the terminal rows, an open container terminal, see The terminal, scripts and the file browser.

Dialogs

Key or action	What it does
Enter in a single-line field of a form	Submits the form. In a multi-line field it adds a line. The commit button is always the rightmost one, so Enter never discards.
Enter in a typed confirmation	Confirms once the required text matches.
Escape in a dialog	Closes it. In a confirmation it is Cancel, and a confirmation that is open owns Escape, so one press never closes the dialog underneath it.
Escape while editing a task	Asks Discard your changes? with Keep editing and Discard.
Closing a task with unsaved work	Every way out, the close button, Escape and the backdrop, asks Unsaved changes with Keep editing, Save and close and Discard. An unsaved comment draft counts as unsaved work.
Tab	Moves through controls in reading order. Cancel comes before the commit button.

The app draws its own right-click menu wherever there is something to act on. On a phone the platform's own selection bar is used instead, except in the terminal.

Where	Items
Selected text anywhere	Copy
A text field	Cut when text is selected, Paste, Select All. On the desktop, a misspelled word also lists up to five suggestions.
The terminal	Paste, Select All, and Open Link when the pointer is on a link.
An attachment thumbnail	Copy Image, Save Image
The window title bar in the desktop app	The window menu, not this one.

A task open with its description selected and the right-click menu showing Copy.

The terminal

Key or action	What it does
Ctrl+Shift+C	Copies the selection. Plain Ctrl+C is sent to the shell as an interrupt, as in any terminal.
Ctrl+Shift+V	Pastes. A multi-line paste arrives as one paste, not as a run of Enter presses.
Drag with the mouse	Selects text.
Ctrl+click on a link	Opens it in your default browser. A plain click never opens a link. Links include both real hyperlinks and plain web addresses in the output.

Cards and the board

Action	What it does
Click a card	Opens the task.
Drag a card to a column	Moves it to that status. Dropping in To Do queues it for the agent.
Drag a card onto Close Task	The zone that appears while dragging closes the task without deleting it. It is hidden in the Closed view.
Drag a card that is running	Does not move it. Instead it asks whether to stop the run, when the desktop that runs it is reachable.
Drag a card waiting on a question	Opens the task, since answering is the only way to move it. See When the agent asks a question or needs you.
Ctrl+click a card	Selects it without opening it, like its checkbox.
Shift+click a card	Selects the range from the last selected card.
Drag a selected card	Moves every selected card together. Dragging an unselected card moves only that one.
Escape during a drag	Cancels the drag.

On a phone

Gesture	What it does
Swipe left or right	Pages between columns. One column fills the screen at a time, and the strip at the top names them with their counts. Tapping a name pages to it.
Press and hold a card, then move	Starts a drag. A quick swipe never does, so scrolling and dragging do not fight.
Drop on the rail	While a card is held, a rail of targets slides in at the right edge with every other column and Close. Drop the card on one.
Tap	Opens a task. Controls that appear on hover on a desktop are always shown on a phone.

Text fields

Task descriptions and comments share one editor. The chat composer has the same mention picker.

Action	What it does
Type `@`	Opens the mention picker with everything it can point at, up to 8 matches as you type. Up and Down move, Enter or Tab inserts, Escape closes it.
Type `@#`	Narrows the picker to tasks. `@:` is knowledge areas, `@/` is files and folders in the project, `@~` is notes, `@=` is earlier conversations and works in chat only, `@!` is notifications, which appear only when asked for this way.
Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Shift+Z	Undo and redo inside the editor.
Enter in the chat composer	Sends the message. Shift+Enter adds a line.
Click the rendered text	A description or comment being edited shows as rendered Markdown when it is not focused. Clicking it opens the editor again.

Descriptions and comments render a small Markdown set, which is headings, bold, italic, strikethrough, inline code, fenced code blocks, links, bullet and numbered lists that nest and continue across blank lines, quotes and horizontal rules. A single line break is kept. The toolbar above the editor has buttons for Bold, Italic, Inline code, Link, Heading, Bullet list and Quote. A mention renders as a chip, and a task, note or conversation chip opens the thing it names. Links open in your default browser.

If it did not work

Ctrl+C in the terminal did not copy. That key interrupts the running command. Use Ctrl+Shift+C, or right-click and press Copy.
Right-click shows the browser's own menu. There was nothing to act on under the pointer, so the app stood aside. Select text or click in a field first.
A card will not drag on the phone. Hold it still for a moment before moving. Moving at once is read as a swipe between columns.

Source as Markdown: /docs/guides/keyboard-and-mouse.md · Updated 2026-10-07 · Was this right? Tell us