The Command Palette: 228 Commands at Your Fingertips

Power users navigate with keyboards, not mice. Prismatic's command palette puts 228 platform commands behind a single shortcut: Cmd+K (or Ctrl+K on Linux/Windows). This post explains how we built it and why it matters for intelligence workflows.

The Problem

Prismatic has 30+ LiveView pages organized into 5 navigation sections: Investigate, Monitor, Decide, Learn, and System. Finding the right tool requires knowing where it lives in the hierarchy. For new users, this means clicking through menus. For power users, this is friction.

The command palette solves this by making every action discoverable through search.

Architecture

The command palette is an Alpine.js component that maintains a command registry:

Alpine.data('commandPalette', () => ({
open: false,
query: '',
commands: [],
selectedIndex: 0,


init() {
this.commands = window.__PRISMATIC_COMMANDS__ || [];


// Register global shortcut
document.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => {
if ((e.metaKey || e.ctrlKey) && e.key === 'k') {
e.preventDefault();
this.toggle();
}
});
},


get filteredCommands() {
if (!this.query) return this.commands.slice(0, 10);
return this.fuzzyMatch(this.query, this.commands);
},


fuzzyMatch(query, commands) {
const terms = query.toLowerCase().split(/\s+/);
return commands
.map(cmd => ({
...cmd,
score: this.matchScore(terms, cmd)
}))
.filter(cmd => cmd.score > 0)
.sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score)
.slice(0, 15);
}
}));

Command Categories

The 228 commands span six categories:

CategoryCountExamples

|----------|-------|---------|

Navigation45Go to Dashboard, Open OSINT Toolbox OSINT60Search ARES, Scan Domain, Check Sanctions Due Diligence35New Case, Run Pipeline, Export Report System40Health Check, View Logs, Clear Cache Development28Run Tests, Validate Doctrine, Format Code Intelligence20Investigate Entity, Expand Mesh, Score Risk

Commands are registered from multiple sources:

Route-based commands -- automatically generated from the Phoenix router

2. Mix task commands -- exposed from the 448 registered mix tasks

3. OSINT adapter commands -- one command per adapter for quick execution

4. Custom commands -- manually registered for complex workflows

Fuzzy Search

The search algorithm scores matches across multiple fields:

matchScore(terms, command) {
let score = 0;
const searchable = [
command.title,
command.category,
...command.keywords
].join(' ').toLowerCase();


for (const term of terms) {
if (searchable.includes(term)) {
score += term.length;
// Bonus for title matches
if (command.title.toLowerCase().includes(term)) {
score += term.length * 2;
}
}
}
return score;
}

Typing "ares" surfaces the ARES adapter command. Typing "dd case" surfaces due diligence case management. Typing "health" surfaces system health checks.

Keyboard Navigation

The palette supports full keyboard navigation:

Up/Down arrows -- move through results

Enter -- execute selected command

Escape -- close palette

Tab -- autocomplete from selected result

This means you can go from any page to any command without touching the mouse: Cmd+K, type a few characters, Enter.

Contextual Suggestions

When opened without a query, the palette shows contextual suggestions based on the current page:

On /hub/dd/cases -- shows DD-related commands first

On /hub/osint/tools -- shows OSINT execution commands

On /admin/ -- shows system administration commands

Context is determined by the current URL path and recent command history (stored in localStorage).

Integration with LiveView

When a command targets a LiveView page, navigation happens via live_navigate:

executeCommand(command) {
this.open = false;
this.query = '';


switch (command.action) {
case 'navigate':
window.liveSocket.pushEvent('navigate', {path: command.path});
break;
case 'execute':
window.liveSocket.pushEvent('execute_command', {
command: command.id,
params: command.params
});
break;
}
}

This preserves the LiveView connection and avoids full page reloads.

Impact on Workflows

Before the command palette, an analyst investigating a company would:

Navigate to OSINT section (click)

2. Find the ARES adapter (scroll, click)

3. Enter the query (type)

4. Navigate to DD section (click)

5. Create a new case (click)

6. Link the OSINT results (click)

With the command palette:

Cmd+K, "ares", Enter (3 keystrokes)

2. Enter the query

3. Cmd+K, "new case", Enter (3 keystrokes)

4. Link results (1 click)

The keyboard-driven workflow is faster and maintains focus.

Conclusion

The command palette is a small feature with outsized impact. By making 228 commands discoverable through fuzzy search, it eliminates the need to memorize navigation hierarchies and reduces the cognitive load of context-switching between tools.

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Try the command palette on any Prismatic page with Cmd+K or explore the [Developer Portal](/developers/) for the full command reference.