Last updated: November 2026
Each task has its own screen, the task page. The context panel lists everything attached to the task. Beside it, the content area shows the sessions, working copies, files, and details you open.
To open the task page, double-click a task’s row in the Kepler interface, or click Open task page in the task’s side panel. For what a task is and what you can attach to one, see Tasks and Resources.
The header
The header holds these controls, from left to right:
- Hide context panel or Show context panel, which hides and shows the context panel. See The context panel.
- Back to dashboard, a back chevron, which returns you to the Dashboard as you left it. With the views on the left side, it sits at the top of the views column instead.
- The task switcher, the task’s name as a chip, which jumps to another task without going back first. Type to search it. Right-click the name for the same actions as the ⋮ menu, or double-click it to rename the task.
- ⋮ Task actions, a menu of actions on the whole task. See Task actions.
- The Progress control, which shows the task’s stage, such as In Development or Done. Click it to set the stage yourself, to put the task on hold, or to set it back to Automatic. See Arranging your work.
- Terminal, at the right edge, which shows and hides the terminal drawer and counts the terminals running in it.
When a task looks finished, the header shows a Ready to archive? prompt with Archive beside it, until you archive the task or dismiss the prompt.
Task actions
The ⋮ Task actions menu holds these items:
- The task’s Progress submenu, with Reopen leading on a finished task.
- Mark as read while any of the task’s sessions is unread, which marks them all read. Otherwise the menu offers Mark as unread.
- Star or Unstar.
- Rename task and Add to group.
- Manage resources, which opens the task’s Resources screen. See What a task holds.
- Refresh, which reads the task’s worktrees and its pull requests and issues again.
- Copy task link, which copies a Kepler link that opens this task, and Copy task prompt.
- Shut down all agents, while any are running. When an agent is still working, Kepler asks you to confirm first.
- Archive task and Delete task. On an already-archived task, Restore task replaces Archive task.
Rename a task
To rename a task, do one of the following:
- Pick Rename task in the ⋮ Task actions menu.
- Press F2 anywhere on the page outside a text field.
- Double-click the task switcher.
The name turns into an editable field. Auto-name fills the field with a name suggested from the task’s prompt and resources, which you can accept or edit. It never renames the task on its own. To save, press Enter or click the check mark. To cancel, press Escape or click ×.
On a phone
At phone width, for example in a phone browser connected through Remote Access, the task page replaces its header with a single bar:
- Back, on the left, which shows a dot when another task needs you.
- The task’s name as a chip, which opens the task switcher. Swipe sideways on the name to go back to the previous task.
- A segment for each of Sessions, Changes, Terminal, and Resources.
Tap a segment to go to what needs you in that group, or else to the last session you had open. Each segment has a picker that lists that group’s rows, where you can archive or close a row, or add one with New session, New terminal, or Add resource. On a phone, a terminal fills the whole column instead of a drawer.
Below the bar, a details row holds the Progress control and Refresh. Unfold it to see the checkout and its pull request and issue chips.
Pull down on the bar, or long-press a segment, to open Everything in this task. This sheet takes the place of the context panel: it lists every session, checkout, terminal, and resource, each with its own actions menu. The sheet also offers New session, Add resource, New terminal, and the archived sessions. A long press opens it on that segment’s group only.
On a phone, the task switcher is a sheet that lists every task. Its header holds the current task’s actions menu.
The context panel
The context panel, on the left of the task page, lists everything attached to the task, grouped by kind:
Sessions · Changes · Merged · Terminals · Pull requests · Issues · Notes · Links · Files · Folders · Related tasks
The task’s worktrees are listed under Changes. Each row shows the checkout’s current state, and opening it opens the checkout’s diff review.
A planned worktree waits for the first session. When an agent creates a task on a new branch, Kepler makes its worktree when the task’s first session starts. Until then, Changes shows a row reading Created when a session starts. To drop the plan, right-click the row and pick Remove planned worktree.
Merged holds the worktrees whose branch has been merged, so they do not crowd the work still in progress. Each row says where it was merged. To delete all the merged worktrees at once, click Delete all… on the group header and confirm.
Related tasks lists the tasks linked to this one, each with its stage and its relation, such as Sub-task or Follow-up. Hover a row to see the reason for the link. Click the row to go to that task.
Sessions always appears, even on a task with no sessions, so you can always start the first one. Every other group appears only when it has something in it.
The task’s prompt has its own row. Prompt, with its own icon, is the first row in the Notes group. Open it to read or edit the prompt the task started with. Your edit changes the task’s prompt everywhere it appears. You cannot delete the Prompt row.
Files holds both files linked from disk and copies uploaded to the task. An uploaded copy shows Task folder under its name, where a linked file shows its path.
The context panel also has these controls and rows:
- Manage resources, at the bottom of the context panel, opens the task’s Resources screen. See What a task holds.
- The + on a group header opens that kind’s tab of the Resources screen, for example Add issues or Add notes. On Changes, the + is Add worktree. On Sessions, it’s New session, which opens a draft session. See Starting a session.
- A session you have not started yet shows as a Draft row in Sessions. Right-click it for Discard draft.
- Sessions that are not live, because they’re archived or have ended, collect under a {count} archived fold below the live ones. Click an archived session to restore and open it in a single step, or pick Restore in its menu.
Hide or show the context panel
To give the content area the full width, hide the context panel:
- Click Hide context panel in the header. Show context panel brings the panel back.
- Press Cmd/Ctrl+B. On Windows and Linux, a focused shell keeps Ctrl+B for itself.
While the context panel is hidden, the control shows the task’s session status, so you can still see when a session needs you. Hover the control to peek at the context panel over the content, and press Escape to close it. To keep the context panel open, click the control while peeking. To resize the context panel, drag its edge.
When the window is too narrow for the context panel beside the open columns, Kepler hides the context panel, and you peek at it the same way. Widen the window to bring it back.
What a row shows
Each row has 2 lines, cut off at the width of the context panel. Hover a row for a tip with its full name and the details the row has no room for, such as its path, repository, agent, or account.
Some kinds of row show more:
- A pull request or issue row shows the same live card as the Dashboard. A pull request row leads its subtitle with what needs attention, such as CI failed.
- A file row’s card adds the file’s size, type, and dates. An image file shows its own thumbnail as the row’s icon.
- A Changes row’s subtitle is a series of chips that show the checkout’s state: uncommitted files, commits on the branch, commits behind or ahead of the upstream and the merge target, conflicts, and an unpublished branch. A checkout with nothing to report shows Up to date. When the task spans more than 1 repository, each row also names its repository.
- A checkout in an unusual state shows that state instead of the chips, such as a paused rebase or merge, Detached for a detached HEAD, or Not trusted. Kepler runs no git here. for a repository you have not trusted. A detached row is titled with the commit’s short hash. See Trust a repository.
- A Changes row’s hover tip lists the branch, the repository and path, any unusual state, the pull request the branch owns, and how the branch compares with its upstream and merge target. With tabs on, a worktree’s tab shows the same tip.
- A session row starts with its state. When an agent has more than 1 account configured, the row also shows which Account the session runs under.
- A session row, and its tab, count the agent’s replies to your review comments that you have not read. A Changes row counts the unread replies on comments in its changes. See Replies and resolving.
Some rows have controls at the end of the subtitle line, always visible:
| Row | Controls |
|---|---|
| Folder | Open in… |
| Worktree (on disk) | Open in… and the run-a-command control. To open a shell, use the row’s menu or Cmd/Ctrl+J |
| Session | Show or hide the Agent Graph for that session alone, and Archive |
The run-a-command control shows the newest command running in that worktree, with Stop. When nothing is running, it shows your default command.
The row whose item is on screen is highlighted. A ring marks the column that has focus.
The row menu
Right-click any row for its menu. Every row menu starts with Open. When there’s somewhere for the item to go, Open to the side (tabs off) or Open beside (tabs on) follows. See Columns or tabs. A worktree row adds Open changes.
Each kind of row adds its own items to the menu:
| Row | Menu also holds |
|---|---|
| A worktree that’s on disk | Open changes, Open in, the Branch submenu, New session here, New terminal here, Run command here, the copy actions, and Refresh |
| A folder | New session here, New terminal here, Open in, and Copy path |
| A file | Open in default app, a way to show it in your file manager, Save as…, and Copy path |
| A note | Rename note, Copy note, Copy link to note, and Save as…, which saves the note as a Markdown file |
| A session | New session from this one, Rename session, Copy session link, Show Agent Graph, the ways to continue it, Restart agent, and Shut down agent |
| A session started outside Kepler | Open preview, Continue in this task, Create task, and the copy actions |
| A pull request or issue | Open, which opens it in Kepler, Open on {provider}, the copy actions, Refresh, and Go to worktree when its branch is checked out |
| A plain link | Open in browser and the copy actions |
| A terminal that’s closing | Force close terminal |
The worktree’s Branch submenu holds the actions that change the branch itself: Rename branch, the upstream (Set upstream, Change upstream, Unset upstream, or Publish as {remote}/{branch}…), Change merge target…, Rebase onto {target}, Merge {target} into this branch, and the sync control. A stopped rebase or merge adds rows to continue or abort it.
Run command here lists the repository’s commands, and so does the Run a command control on the row and on the worktree’s own strip. Pick a command to run it in that worktree. Its terminal appears in the drawer without taking your focus. Picking a running command stops it.
- Create command…, at the end of the menu, adds a command without leaving the task.
- Manage commands… opens the repository’s page in Settings → Repositories, and brings you back to the task when you leave it.
Open in lists your editors, with your default editor at the top. On a worktree, the list ends with Open on {provider}, which opens the branch on its Git host. To set the editor Kepler uses everywhere, use Open files and folders in under Settings → General.
Picking an editor or a command does not make it your default. To make one your default, use the set/unset toggle at the end of its row.
Rename branch opens a dialog for the new name. Tick Also rename remote branch to rename it on its remote too. Change merge target… opens a picker of remote branches; see Review Changes.
Rename session lets you name a Chat session yourself. Automatic titles never overwrite a name you chose.
Copy session link copies a Kepler link that opens the session. When the window is connected to a remote machine, the link names that machine, so it opens there. With the row focused, Cmd/Ctrl+C copies the same link. See Agent Sessions.
Continue as moves the conversation to another signed-in account of the same agent. The agent restarts under that account and keeps the conversation. Continue in Terminal and Continue in Chat move the conversation between the 2 ways a session runs. When the session is still running, Kepler asks first, and warns when queued messages would be discarded. Stop and switch stops the session and moves it. See Moving a session to another account and How a session runs.
Use another copy… appears when Kepler has more than 1 saved copy of the conversation. It lists each copy, with In use on the current one. Pick the one to continue when you resume. See Agent Sessions.
Option/Alt-click a resource row to open it in your browser instead of in Kepler.
The last item in a row menu removes the row from the task. It depends on the kind of row:
- Detach worktree…, Detach folder…, Detach file…, Detach pull request…, or Detach issue… for something that stays on disk or at its provider
- Delete file…, Delete note…, or Delete link… for something Kepler holds itself
- Archive session for a session
- Close terminal for a terminal
A worktree menu also ends with Delete worktree…, except on the repository’s main worktree. Detach worktree…, Delete worktree…, and Detach folder… are unavailable while a session of this task still runs there. Archive that session first.
Columns or tabs
The content area shows what you open in either columns or tabs. To choose, turn Show tabs on the task page on or off in Settings → Tasks → Task page:
| Setting | What the content area does |
|---|---|
| Off (the default) | Fixed columns, one per kind of thing, each showing one thing at a time |
| On | Free-form tabs you can pin, drag between groups, and arrange side by side |
In both layouts, terminals open in the drawer below the content area, never in a column or a tab. Closing a column or a tab only changes the view. It does not detach anything or stop a session, and the context panel still lists everything.
The columns
With tabs off, the kind of row you open decides its column:
| Column | What opens here |
|---|---|
| Sessions | Agent conversations, whether they run in Chat or in a terminal, and draft sessions you have not started yet |
| Changes | A worktree: a strip of actions over its changed files. See Review Changes |
| Resources | Folders, files, pull requests, issues, links, notes |
To resize columns, drag the divider between them. Kepler keeps the sizes you set.
Clicking a row toggles it. Click a row to open it in its column. Click the row that’s already on screen to close it again. A column with nothing open disappears, and the other columns take its space.
When the window is too narrow for the open columns side by side, the page shows one column at a time: the one with focus. Clicking a row in the context panel shows its column. Widen the window to see every column again.
When you open the task page, it shows a conversation and the checkout that conversation works in.
To close a column, click Close panel (X) on its strip.
Split a column to see 2 items of the same kind. Cmd-click a row in the context panel (Ctrl-click on Windows and Linux), or pick Open to the side in its menu. The item opens beside what that column already shows. While a column is split, a plain click replaces only the focused pane and leaves the others alone.
Shift-click to open a range of rows. Use a range to watch several agents at once. Click one session, then shift-click another, and every session from the first to the second opens side by side in the Sessions column.
The close control on a session’s strip depends on the session:
- On one of Kepler’s own sessions, it’s Archive session, which stops the agent, saves the conversation, and moves the session under the archived fold in Sessions.
- On an external session or a preview, it’s Close tab, which only hides it.
Tabs and groups
With tabs on, anything you open from the context panel, including sessions, worktrees, files, and every other resource, opens as a tab. Tabs sit in groups that you arrange freely, like editor tabs in VS Code.
- Drag a tab to reorder it, onto another group to move it there, or to a group’s edge to split off a new group there. Drag the divider between groups to resize them.
- A single click opens a preview. A resource opened with one click shows in an italic preview tab that the next single click replaces. Double-click a row, or start editing in the tab, to keep it open. A session always opens as a tab you keep. Turn Preview tabs off in Settings → Tasks → Task page to have every click keep its tab.
- Cmd-click a row in the context panel (Ctrl-click on Windows and Linux), or pick Open beside in its menu, to open it in a new group beside the one you’re reading.
- Shift-click opens a range of rows, each as its own tab.
- Clicking the row of something already open just brings its tab forward. Close a tab from the tab itself.
To open a tab’s menu, right-click the tab, or press Shift+F10 or the Menu key on a focused tab. The menu starts with the tab’s own actions, such as Keep open on a preview, Pin tab, Close others, and Close all, followed by everything the item’s row menu offers. A pinned tab shrinks to its icon at the front of its group and has no close control; unpin it to close it.
A draft session’s tab shows (draft) after its name when the tab strip has room. With tabs off, right-click a draft tab for Discard draft. With tabs on, close a draft with Close tab in its menu. Closing a draft that has text in it asks you to confirm first, because your draft prompt and attachments are removed.
A session tab swaps its close control for the session’s status dot while the session has something unread or needs you, so you can see which conversation needs attention.
Closing a tab only hides it. You can close a tab in any of these ways:
- Click its × (Close tab).
- Middle-click the tab.
- Press Cmd/Ctrl+W, or Ctrl+F4 on Windows and Linux.
- Press Delete on a focused tab.
A closed session keeps running and stays in the context panel. To archive a session, use Archive on its row. Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+T reopens the last tab you closed.
When every tab is closed, the content area offers New session, so you can start something right away.
To bring in an agent conversation you started outside Kepler, start a new session, then click Open an external session under its composer. The card shows only while Kepler lists sessions started outside Kepler. Each conversation you open gets its own tab. Back to the new session returns to the composer.
The list shows the agent conversations Kepler found outside it, under Live now and Past sessions, with the folder each ran in and when it was last active. Show past sessions and Show sessions from every folder widen the list.
Keyboard
The task page has these keyboard shortcuts:
| Keys | What they do |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab | Switch between the task’s sessions, most recently used first |
| F6 / Shift+F6 | Move focus to the next or previous region of the page |
| Cmd/Ctrl+1, 2, 3 | Focus the Sessions, Changes, or Resources column (tabs off) |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+[ and Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+] | Previous and next tab. Also Ctrl+PageUp and Ctrl+PageDown on Windows and Linux |
| Alt+1 to Alt+9 | Jump to a tab in the focused group (tabs on) |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+[ and Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+] | Move the focused tab left or right. Also Ctrl+Shift+PageUp and Ctrl+Shift+PageDown on Windows and Linux |
| Cmd/Ctrl+W | Close the focused tab or panel. Also Ctrl+F4 on Windows and Linux |
| Delete | Close the focused tab, the way its × does |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+T | Reopen the last closed tab (tabs on) |
| Cmd/Ctrl+T | New session, which opens a draft tab |
| Cmd/Ctrl+B | Show or hide the context panel |
| Cmd/Ctrl+J | Show or hide the terminal drawer |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+J | Maximize the terminal drawer, opening it first if it’s hidden |
| Cmd/Ctrl+O / Cmd/Ctrl+P | Open File… / Go to File…. See Opening a file |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+O | Open Folder… |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P or F1 | Go to task. See Go to a task or file |
| Cmd/Ctrl+F | Find in the focused file or diff. See Finding text in a file |
| F2 | Rename the task, or the note whose pane or tab has focus |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Backspace | Delete the task, after you confirm |
| Cmd/Ctrl+C | Copy what the focused row names, such as a session’s link or a file’s path |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+W | Close the window |
| Tab to a divider, then the arrow keys | Move the divider between panes, columns, or tab groups. Hold Shift for bigger steps |
With tabs off, a tab’s menu in a column strip also holds Move left and Move right.
Starting a session
Every new session starts as a draft in its own tab, marked (draft) when the tab strip has room. In the draft’s prompt composer, you choose where the agent works and how it runs before anything starts.
To start a session, follow these steps:
- Click + on the Sessions group in the context panel, or press Cmd/Ctrl+T. A draft tab opens, and a Draft row appears in Sessions.
- Choose where the agent works from the place chip at the bottom of the composer. The chip names the place, then its branch, then whether the session gets a new worktree.
- Open Agent settings to choose the Agent, Start in, and the agent’s own options, such as Permission mode.
- Type your prompt.
- Press Start.
The place chip has 3 segments. The first segment opens a menu of places in these groups, with a Search places field when the list is long:
| Group | What it lists |
|---|---|
| Attached to this task | The task’s worktrees, by branch, and its folders, led by All worktrees and folders. That row runs the session in the task folder with access to every worktree and folder, and reads Task folder while nothing is attached |
| Repositories | The repositories the task has worktrees of |
| Add a repository or folder | A picker over all your repositories and folders. A folder you pick joins the task right away; a repository joins it when the session starts |
The second segment picks the branch the session works on. The third is a checkbox: tick it to start on a new branch in a new worktree of the session’s own, or leave it clear to work in the place as it is.
If the place is a worktree that’s gone from disk, Start recreates it, after Kepler asks you to confirm. On a task with no place to run, click Add worktree or folder first. On a task with a planned worktree, a new draft starts on the planned branch. On a task with more than 1 worktree or folder, a new draft can start on All worktrees and folders. To narrow the session to one place, pick it from the place chip.
Task context is a checkbox chip in the composer’s footer, beside the place chip. It’s on by default and gives the agent the task’s prompt and notes, and later changes to them reach the agent with your next message. Turn it off when you want the session to form its own view without them. See Starting a session without the task’s context.
Which agent a draft starts with is a setting. By default, each session starts on the agent you used last. New sessions start with, in Settings → Tasks → New tasks, sets the agent for your first session, and for every session once you untick Start each session on the agent you used last under it. See Settings.
If no agent is set up, the agent control reads Set up an agent, and Start opens a panel where you can install an agent or tell Kepler where yours is. See Agent Integrations. If the agent is signed out, sign in to it before you start.
Start a draft in a specific checkout. Right-click a worktree or folder row and pick New session here. A draft opens with that checkout already chosen as its place, ready for your prompt.
When a session cannot start. If the agent fails after launch, the task page shows {agent} was unable to start with the agent’s message. Press Retry to launch it again, or Open agent settings to fix the problem.
Start from an existing session. New session from this one, on a session’s row or tab menu, picks an agent and starts a session in the same working directory that can read the source conversation. New session from here, on a message in a conversation, does the same but cuts the source off at that message. The new session shows a Continues from divider naming its source; Open source session in its menu takes you back.
To run an Action instead of typing a prompt, open the chevron beside the session composer’s Send button and pick an Action. Kepler adds anything you typed to the Action’s prompt as a refinement. See Actions.
Opening a file
The task’s own files and folders open on the task page, in Kepler’s file viewer: as a tab with tabs on, or in the Resources column with tabs off. To see a worktree file alongside its changes instead, pick Open in Changes in its tab’s menu, which opens it in the Changes overlay on File view. Any other file opens in an overlay. See Files that open in an overlay.
You can open a file in these ways:
| How to open one | What you get |
|---|---|
| File › Open File… (Cmd/Ctrl+O) | A file picker for the machine the window is connected to |
| File › Open Folder… (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+O) | A folder picker. The folder opens with its file tree |
| File › Go to File… (Cmd/Ctrl+P) | The Go to palette on its Files tab. See Go to a task or file |
| View › Command Palette… (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P or F1) | The Go to palette on its Tasks tab |
| A row in the context panel’s Files group | That file |
| A file path an agent writes in the conversation | The file, at the line the agent named |
| A file path in a terminal | The file, at its line. See File paths are links |
All file links work the same way. A click, a Cmd/Ctrl+click, or a middle-click opens the file in Kepler. Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+click opens it in your default editor at its line.
A path that’s already one of the task’s files opens that file’s own tab rather than a second copy, however the path was spelled.
Go to a task or file
Go to File… and Command Palette… open the same Go to palette, on its Files tab or its Tasks tab. For its Todo and Commands tabs and how to switch tabs, see Go to a task or file.
On the task page, Files starts on this task’s files, shown as a pill in the search field. To search every task’s files, click the pill’s ×. You can also type a full path. A path that names a folder offers Open and opens the folder.
What the file viewer shows
The file viewer shows each kind of file in its own way:
- Code and text, with syntax highlighting, scrolled to the line you opened it at, with that line marked. Wrap lines turns soft wrapping on and off.
- Markdown, rendered, with a Preview / Source toggle. A Markdown file opened at a line, such as from a path an agent wrote, opens in Source so you see the line.
- Images and SVG, fitted to the pane, with Fit and 100%.
- Anything else gets a No preview for this file card with the options available in this window: Open in default app, Show in Finder (macOS), Show in Explorer (Windows) or Show in file manager (Linux), and Copy path.
An open file stays in sync with the file on disk. When the file changes, the viewer updates in place and says Updated just now, naming the session that changed it when Kepler knows. Show changes shows what changed since the file was first shown; Back to file returns. A deleted file keeps showing the last version Kepler read, and says so.
A very large file shows its start first, with Load the rest.
Review comments work in the file viewer too. Hover a line and click the gutter’s + to leave a comment, the same way you do in the Changes overlay, then click Send comments in the tab’s actions. From the keyboard, move to a line with ↑ and ↓, hold Shift to select a range, and press C to comment. To send comments on a file outside the task’s worktrees, open it from the conversation. See Review comments.
Open in on the viewer’s header opens the file in your pinned editor, or else the one you used last. Its chevron lists the rest, including your computer’s Default app, and any of them can be pinned with Set as default.
Finding text in a file
Every code view, the file viewer and the diffs in the Changes overlay alike, has its own find bar. Press Cmd/Ctrl+F in the view to open it at the top right. It counts matches as {current} of {total}, or No results, and offers the following:
| Control | Keys |
|---|---|
| Next and previous match | F3 and Shift+F3. Also Cmd+G and Cmd+Shift+G on macOS |
| Match case | Alt+C, or Cmd+Option+C on macOS |
| Match whole word | Alt+W, or Cmd+Option+W on macOS |
| Use regular expression | Alt+R, or Cmd+Option+R on macOS |
Escape closes the bar. In a diff, the search runs across every file in the stack but skips the unchanged lines that are folded away.
Files that open in an overlay
A file that is not one of the task’s files or folders opens in an overlay rather than a tab. So does any file opened away from the task page, such as from the Dashboard or a conversation link outside a task:
- A file or folder inside a worktree opens in the Changes overlay on File view. A changed file opens on Working changes. Any other file opens in the Files view, the worktree’s whole tree. A folder opens the Files view with its changed files selected.
- Any other file opens in the file overlay, beside a file tree rooted at the attached folder or worktree that holds it, or else at the file’s own folder.
In the file overlay:
- Show file tree and Hide file tree toggle the tree, and the tree’s edge resizes it. On a narrow window, widen the window to show the tree.
- Filter files narrows the tree. Right-click a tree row for the ways to open it and copy its path.
- Each folder in the breadcrumb lists its folders and files, and can open the folder in your file manager.
- Add to task, in More file actions, attaches the file to the task.
- Drag either edge of the overlay to widen it, or use Maximize.
The terminal drawer
Terminals open in a drawer below the content area. Drag its divider to resize it. The Terminal control at the right edge of the header shows and hides the drawer, and counts the terminals running in it.
To show the drawer or open a terminal, use one of these:
| How to open one | What you get |
|---|---|
| Cmd/Ctrl+J, or the header’s Terminal | Shows and hides the drawer |
| New terminal here, on a worktree or folder row | A shell in that checkout |
| Run command here, on a worktree row | The command you pick, running in that checkout, revealed without taking your focus |
| The strip’s + | A shell. With several checkouts it becomes New terminal in…, listing them by branch |
Every terminal also has a row in the context panel’s Terminals group. Click the row to open the drawer on that terminal. Click the row of the terminal already showing to hide the drawer. Drag the drawer’s tabs to reorder them.
Maximize terminal pane, or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+J, takes the whole height; Restore terminal pane brings it back.
On a phone, a terminal takes the whole column, with a row of the keys a phone keyboard lacks beneath it, and you select text with a long press. See Remote Access.
When a terminal reconnects
A terminal reattaches to its running shell rather than starting a new one:
- While it reconnects, the last screen stays readable. If it cannot reconnect, the shell is still running: click Retry to load its output again.
- What you type while it reconnects is sent once the terminal is back. If the program printed something in the meantime, Kepler drops your typing and tells you to type it again.
- Only 1 view can type in a terminal at a time. When another window or a Remote Access device is driving it, click Take control to type here.
Reading a tab
Each tab shows a single icon that tells you both what kind of terminal it is and how it ended, so a clean finish and a crash look different:
| Kind | What it is |
|---|---|
| Shell | A plain terminal you opened |
| Agent | A session running an agent in Terminal mode. See Agent Sessions |
| Command run | One of the repository’s commands |
When the program in a shell tab reports a status, the tab shows it: Running, Needs you, Done, or Failed. Hover the tab for the program’s message and progress. An agent tab keeps its own icon, because its session reports the status.
A shell tab is named after what runs in it, such as pnpm dev. Back at the prompt, the tab returns to its own label, such as Terminal 2. Command runs and agent tabs keep their names.
When a shell’s program needs you or finishes, Kepler sends a notification that names the terminal and its task, unless that terminal is on screen in the focused window. These notifications follow the same settings as agent sessions, in Settings → Notifications.
A finished command run shows a result bar rather than leaving you to read the scrollback: Exited with code {code}, Exited by signal {signal}, or Stopped, with Run again and Close beside it. A still-running one offers Stop.
File paths are links
File paths printed in a terminal are links, including relative paths, paths with a line suffix such as src/app.ts:42, and paths wrapped across lines. Cmd-click one (Ctrl-click on Windows and Linux) to open the file on the task page at its line, and Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+click to open it in your default editor.
Right-click a path for more: Open file, your default editor (opening at the line), Open in for the rest of your editors and your computer’s Default app, Save as…, and Copy path. Any of those targets can be your default, with Set as default.
Kepler task and session links in a terminal are links too. Cmd/Ctrl-click one to open it in Kepler, or right-click it for Open in Kepler and Copy link.
On a phone, long-press a path or link instead, then pick Open from the small menu over the selection, which also offers Copy, Paste, and Select all. See Remote Access.
Closing a busy terminal
Closing a terminal with something running in it asks you to confirm first, naming the job that would stop. Click Close terminal to go ahead. A terminal that is already closing offers Force close.
Shell tabs survive a Kepler update and come back after a restart. With Keep agents and terminals running across restarts and updates on, in Settings → General, command runs do too. A plain Quit ends them. When you quit Kepler with busy terminals or sessions, it asks first.
What each resource pane shows
Each kind of resource opens in its own pane:
| Resource | Details |
|---|---|
| Worktree, on disk | A strip of actions (the branch, the sync control, Open in, Run a command) over its changed files, which lead into the Changes overlay, plus a Comments view that lists the task’s review comments with how many are open and unread. See Review Changes |
| Worktree, missing | Its branch, base branch, and recorded path, with a way to recreate it. See When a worktree goes missing |
| Folder | The folder’s name and its Path |
| File | The file itself, in the file viewer, with its description, where it came from, and its size on the viewer’s toolbar. An uploaded copy says it’s a copy in the task folder, and has Rename in File actions |
| Pull request / Issue | Status, who it involves, the item’s description and its labels. An issue adds its comments |
| Link | Every plain link (one that is not a pull request or issue) shares one Links pane, scrolled to the link you picked |
| Note | The note itself, with Copy, Save as…, What changed, and Edit. The Prompt note edits the task’s prompt |
The worktree strip. The ⋮ beside the branch, and a right-click on the branch, both open the worktree’s full row menu. With more than 1 worktree, the branch name also switches between the task’s worktrees. Detach worktree… leaves the worktree on disk, and Delete worktree… removes it from disk.
Files. A description you edit saves as you type, and Done closes the field. Rename on an uploaded copy renames its file on disk. A linked file has no Rename.
Pull requests and issues. You can select and copy the description text. When Kepler cannot read a description or the provider, the pane says so and points you to the item on its provider.
A pull request’s People section shows its author, its Assignees, and each reviewer with their review state. An issue shows its Assignee.
An issue from GitHub, GitHub Enterprise, GitLab, GitLab Self-Hosted, Jira, or Jira Server also shows its latest comments under Comments · {count}. Show earlier comments pages back, and Refresh comments reads them again. Kepler shows the comments for you to read. It does not pass them to the agent.
Links. The Links pane lists every plain link on the task with its title and URL, an Open in browser button, and Link actions, scrolled to the link you clicked.
Notes. A note’s pane has Edit, Copy, Save as… and What changed, and you can rename the note in place. To rename, edit, or restore a note, see Notes are how you give standing instructions.
