Navigation & Keyboard Shortcuts

S9S follows vim-style navigation patterns, making it intuitive for terminal power users. This guide covers all keyboard shortcuts and navigation methods.

🎮 Navigation Philosophy

S9S uses a modal interface inspired by vim:

Normal mode - Navigate and execute commands
Search mode - Filter and find items
Command mode - Enter advanced commands
Selection mode - Select multiple items

🔑 Global Shortcuts

These shortcuts work in all views:

Essential Keys

Key	Action	Description
`?`	Help	Show context-sensitive help
`q`	Quit	Exit S9S
`Q`	Force Quit	Exit immediately without confirmation
`:`	Command Mode	Enter command mode
`/`	Search	Enter search/filter mode
`Esc`	Cancel	Exit current mode/dialog
`Tab`	Next View	Cycle to next view
`Shift+Tab`	Previous View	Cycle to previous view

View Navigation

Key	Action	View
`1`	Switch View	Jobs
`2`	Switch View	Nodes
`3`	Switch View	Partitions
`4`	Switch View	Users
`5`	Switch View	Accounts
`6`	Switch View	QoS
`7`	Switch View	Reservations
`8`	Switch View	Dashboard
`9`	Switch View	Health

Movement

Key	Action	Description
`j` or `↓`	Down	Move cursor down
`k` or `↑`	Up	Move cursor up
`h` or `←`	Left	Move left/collapse
`l` or `→`	Right	Move right/expand
`g`	Top	Go to first item
`G`	Bottom	Go to last item
`Ctrl+f`	Page Down	Scroll down one page
`Ctrl+b`	Page Up	Scroll up one page
`Ctrl+d`	Half Page Down	Scroll down half page
`Ctrl+u`	Half Page Up	Scroll up half page

Selection

Key	Action	Description
`Space`	Toggle Selection	Select/deselect current item
`v`	Visual Mode	Enter visual selection mode
`V`	Select All	Select all visible items
`Ctrl+a`	Select All	Alternative select all
`Ctrl+Space`	Clear Selection	Deselect all items

📋 View-Specific Shortcuts

Jobs View

Key	Action	Description
`Enter`	Expand/Details	Show job details
`c`	Cancel	Cancel selected job(s)
`h`	Hold	Hold selected job(s)
`r`	Release	Release held job(s)
`d`	Delete	Delete job record
`o`	Output	View job output/logs
`O`	Full Output	View complete output in pager
`e`	Edit	Modify job parameters
`s`	Submit	Submit new job
`S`	Submit Template	Submit from template
`t`	Tail	Tail job output
`i`	Info	Detailed job information
`p`	Priority	Change job priority
`m`	Move	Move to different partition
`n`	Notify	Set up job notifications
`b`	Batch	Enter batch operations mode
`f`	Filter Preset	Apply saved filter
`F`	Save Filter	Save current filter
`x`	Export	Export job data
`R`	Requeue	Requeue failed job
`D`	Dependencies	View job dependencies
`T`	Timeline	View job timeline

Nodes View

Key	Action	Description
`Enter`	Details	Show node details
`s`	SSH	SSH to selected node
`S`	SSH (new window)	SSH in new terminal
`d`	Drain	Drain node
`D`	Drain (reason)	Drain with reason
`r`	Resume	Resume/undrain node
`R`	Reboot	Reboot node
`p`	Power	Power management
`i`	Info	Detailed node info
`m`	Maintenance	Set maintenance mode
`h`	History	Node history
`g`	GPU Info	Show GPU details
`l`	Load	Show node load
`t`	Temperature	Show temperatures
`x`	Export	Export node data

Partitions View

Key	Action	Description
`Enter`	Details	Show partition info
`j`	Jobs	Show jobs in partition
`n`	Nodes	Show nodes in partition
`e`	Edit	Edit partition config
`s`	State	Change partition state
`l`	Limits	View/edit limits
`q`	QoS	Associated QoS
`a`	Accounts	Allowed accounts

Dashboard View

Key	Action	Description
`r`	Refresh	Force refresh
`a`	Auto-refresh	Toggle auto-refresh
`+`	Increase Rate	Faster refresh
`-`	Decrease Rate	Slower refresh
`c`	Customize	Customize dashboard
`w`	Add Widget	Add new widget
`x`	Remove Widget	Remove widget
`m`	Move Widget	Rearrange widgets

🔍 Search Mode

Enter search mode with

Basic Search


/keyword           # Simple text search
/RUNNING          # Find all running items
/gpu              # Find GPU-related items

Advanced Search Syntax


# Field-specific search
/user:alice       # Items by user alice
/state:PENDING    # Pending items
/name:analysis    # Items with 'analysis' in name

# Operators
/time:>1h         # Running time > 1 hour
/nodes:<=4        # Using <= 4 nodes
/priority:>=1000  # Priority >= 1000

# Compound searches
/user:bob state:RUNNING    # Bob's running items
/partition:gpu nodes:>2    # GPU partition, >2 nodes

# Regex search
/name:~"test.*2023"        # Regex pattern
/output:~"error|fail"      # Find errors

# Time ranges
/time:1h-2h               # Between 1-2 hours
/submit:<1d               # Submitted < 1 day ago

Search Navigation

Key	Action	Description
`Enter`	Apply	Apply search filter
`Esc`	Cancel	Cancel search
`Ctrl+c`	Clear	Clear search box
`Tab`	Autocomplete	Complete search term
`↑/↓`	History	Browse search history
`Ctrl+r`	Regex Mode	Toggle regex mode
`Ctrl+i`	Case Mode	Toggle case sensitivity

💬 Command Mode

Enter command mode with

Common Commands


:help [topic]          # Show help
:quit or :q           # Quit S9S
:write or :w          # Save current state
:view <name>          # Switch to view
:refresh or :r        # Force refresh
:clear                # Clear filters
:export <format>      # Export data
:set <option> <value> # Set option
:source <file>        # Load commands from file
:!<shell-command>     # Execute shell command

View Management


:split                # Split view horizontally
:vsplit               # Split view vertically
:close                # Close current pane
:only                 # Close all other panes
:resize +10           # Increase pane size
:resize -10           # Decrease pane size

Settings Commands


:set refresh 5s       # Set refresh interval
:set theme dark       # Change theme
:set confirm off      # Disable confirmations
:set columns <list>   # Set visible columns
:show settings        # Display all settings

⚡ Advanced Navigation

Multi-Pane Navigation

Key	Action	Description
`Ctrl+w h`	Left Pane	Move to left pane
`Ctrl+w j`	Down Pane	Move to pane below
`Ctrl+w k`	Up Pane	Move to pane above
`Ctrl+w l`	Right Pane	Move to right pane
`Ctrl+w w`	Next Pane	Cycle through panes
`Ctrl+w s`	Split Horizontal	Create horizontal split
`Ctrl+w v`	Split Vertical	Create vertical split
`Ctrl+w c`	Close Pane	Close current pane
`Ctrl+w o`	Only Pane	Close other panes

Bookmarks

Key	Action	Description
`m<letter>`	Set Mark	Set bookmark
`'<letter>`	Go to Mark	Jump to bookmark
`:marks`	List Marks	Show all bookmarks
`:delmarks <letter>`	Delete Mark	Remove bookmark

Macros

Key	Action	Description
`q<letter>`	Record Macro	Start recording
`q`	Stop Recording	End recording
`@<letter>`	Play Macro	Execute macro
`@@`	Repeat Macro	Repeat last macro
`:reg`	List Macros	Show all macros

🎯 Tips & Tricks

Efficiency Tips

Use number prefixes:
```
5j
```
moves down 5 lines
Combine movements:
```
gg
```
→ top,
```
G
```
→ bottom
Quick filters:
```
/
```
+ partial text +
```
Tab
```
for autocomplete
Repeat commands:
```
.
```
repeats last action
Quick escape:
```
Ctrl+[
```
works like
```
Esc
```

Power User Workflows


# Cancel all failed jobs
/state:FAILED    # Filter failed jobs
V                # Select all visible
c                # Cancel selected
y                # Confirm

# SSH to GPU node
2                # Switch to nodes view
/gpu             # Filter GPU nodes
s                # SSH to selected

# Export running jobs
/state:RUNNING   # Filter running
:export csv      # Export to CSV

Custom Key Bindings

Create custom bindings in

~/.s9s/keybindings.yaml


keybindings:
  global:
    "ctrl+j": "view jobs"
    "ctrl+n": "view nodes"
    "ctrl+/": "search"
  
  jobs:
    "K": "cancel --force"
    "H": "hold --reason='Manual hold'"
    "X": "export csv --file=jobs.csv"

🚀 Next Steps

Practice navigation in mock mode:
```
s9s --mock
```
Create your own keybindings
Learn advanced filtering in our Filtering Guide
Master batch operations in our Batch Operations Guide