The Non-Activating HUD
Summoning a switcher from another desktop Space should never tear you away from your research or drafting window. Prexy uses a specialized non-activating panel that accepts keystrokes without activating the parent app.
🧭 The Problem with Standard macOS Panels
In standard macOS apps, activating the app brings every window forward. If Prexy's board was open on Space 3 and you were typing an article in Space 1, pressing a global hotkey would drag macOS across your screens to Space 3. Prexy's HUD panel is explicitly flagged as .nonactivatingPanel: it floats above your work, receives search input, and leaves your workspace untouched.
↓ The One-Key Reveal Ladder
At rest, the field shows "N in progress ↓". Pressing ↓ immediately reveals your in-progress stories and selects the first row in one single fluid keystroke. Pressing ↑ at the top closes the list, while Escape provides a graceful three-stage retreat: clear search query → collapse list → dismiss.
📏 Height Reservation (No Jumping)
When arrowing through stories, the highlighted row smoothly grows a second line displaying its beat and last modified timestamp. Crucially, the HUD pre-reserves space for one grown row at all times. The panel window never resizes or jumps under your cursor while walking the list.
➕ Make a Story Without Leaving the Panel
Type + at the start of the field and the panel switches from finding to naming. Press Return and the story exists with your default beat, or press Tab to choose a different beat first. ⌥⌘N opens the panel ready to name one. Both shortcuts can be changed in Settings, which says why if another app already holds the one you pick.
⚡ Direct Space Pulling
When you select a story and press Return, Prexy uses showDashboardWindow(pullingToActiveSpace: true). Instead of dragging you to another Space, it brings the board directly to the Space you are working on.
The panel is part of Prexy for Mac, which is free for 14 days and then a one-time $9.99. Finding and opening stories keeps working after a trial ends; making new ones needs the purchase. Pricing