Commander
Commander is a command palette (like VS Code's Ctrl+Shift+P) that gives you instant access to everything Headstart can do — from browser actions to integration search, developer tools to tab management.
Opening Commander
Commander can be opened in two ways:
Keyboard Shortcut
Press Cmd+Shift+A (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+A (Windows/Linux) from any webpage.
Toolbar Icon
Click the Headstart extension icon in your browser toolbar. It will open Commander on the current page.
Commander opens as a centered overlay on any webpage with a dark backdrop. Press Esc to close it.
Bangs (DuckDuckGo-Style Shortcuts)
Commander supports DuckDuckGo-style bangs — type ! followed by a shortcut to search directly on a specific site.
!g your search → searches Google
!w your search → searches Wikipedia
!gh your search → searches GitHub
!yt your search → searches YouTube
As you type a bang shortcut, Commander shows matching bangs in real-time. Press Enter to search. The full DuckDuckGo bangs database is bundled with the extension, so hundreds of sites are supported.
Instant Navigation
Type > in Commander to activate instant jump mode. This extracts all navigation links from the current page and lets you jump to any of them instantly — no scrolling or clicking needed.
You can also use URL shortcuts: type notion.new, docs.new, sheets.new, or figma.new to create new documents directly. There are 30+ .new domain shortcuts available.
Searching Integrations
Type @ in Commander to filter results to integration search only. If you have connected services, Commander will search across all of them simultaneously:
- @github — Search issues, PRs, and repositories
- @jira — Search issues via JQL
- @notion — Search pages and databases
- @linear — Search issues
- @figma — Search pinned files
Results are categorized and you can open any result directly in a new tab with Enter. Each integration also has its own landing page inside Commander with categorized commands.
Managing the Browser
Commander includes 25 browser actions that let you control your browser without reaching for the mouse:
Tab Management
- Open a new tab
- Duplicate the current tab
- Close the current tab or window
- Mute or pin tabs
Navigation
- Go back / forward in history
- Scroll to top or bottom of page
- Reload the page
- Toggle fullscreen
Browser Tools
- Open history, downloads, extensions
- Open settings or incognito mode
- Clear browsing data
- Manage extensions
Tabs Page
- List all open tabs
- Switch to any tab instantly
- View recently closed tabs
- Search by tab title or URL
Browsing History
The History page inside Commander lets you search your browsing history from the last 30 days. Just type a query and Commander will find matching pages from your Chrome history. This is especially useful when you remember visiting a page but can't find it in your bookmarks.
Developer Tools
Commander has a dedicated Tools page with 40+ developer utilities organized by category:
Crypto & Security
Token generator, hash text, bcrypt, UUID/ULID generator, encryption/decryption, BIP39, HMAC, RSA keys, password strength analyzer
Converters
Date/time converters, base converter, roman numerals, Base64, color converter, case converter, NATO alphabet, binary converter, unicode converter
Web Utilities
URL encoder/decoder, HTML entities, URL parser, device info, basic auth generator, OG meta checker, OTP generator, MIME types, JWT parser, keycode info, slugify, HTML editor, user-agent parser, HTTP status codes, JSON diff, safelink decoder
Development
QR code generator, WiFi QR, SVG placeholder, camera recorder, Git cheatsheet, random port generator, crontab generator, JSON prettify/minify, JSON-to-CSV, SQL prettify, chmod calculator
Quick Notes
Commander includes a note-taking system. You can quickly create a note from the commander, search through existing notes, and manage your notes list — all without leaving your current page. Notes are stored locally and can be included in cloud backups.
Commander Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Esc | Close commander / Go back |
| ? | Open help page |
| > | Open instant jump mode |
| ! | Trigger bang search |
| @ | Filter to integration search |
| Cmd/Ctrl+K | Open context menu on selected item |
| Cmd/Ctrl+Enter | Confirm current action |
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