prefix+c — Add an app inside a region (split)

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prefix+c splits the selected region in two so you can add an app next to the original. The original app keeps one half; the new app takes the other.

Default chord: c · Config key: split_region · Change in Settings → Hotkeys → Region operations

Trigger flow

1. press prefix+q N      ← select region N (optional; see fallback below)
2. press prefix+c        ← the app picker popover appears
3. type an app keyword or pick a number
4. press Enter / digit / Shift+digit / Esc

One-shot: prefix+q → c → digit selects that region and runs this action immediately (see prefix+q).

What if no region is selected

prefix+c does not fall back to region 0 when there is no selected_region; it uses the “default split target”:

  • Pick the “best fit” leaf among all visible leaves of the current layout: prefer the largest leaf on the default display.
  • Default display = the first display in the profile when “Treat the first display as the default” is ticked; otherwise the OS primary display.

So in single-display, single-app scenarios, just press prefix+c to add an app on top of the primary display’s layout — no need to select a region first.

App picker popover

After it appears, the popover anchors above the target region (if the region is too low, it flips to above). Each row shows the app icon + name + the number of windows currently open.

Selection methods

Input Action
Letters a–z Append to the search box (live filter)
Backspace Delete the last character in the search box
Digits 0–9 Pick item 0 / 1 / … / 9 in the visible list
Shift + digit Pick item N, force-launch a new window (even if the app is already running)
Enter Pick the first item in the visible list
Shift + Enter Pick the first item, force-launch a new window
Esc Cancel; close the popover
Other keys Silently absorbed (no cancel)

Digits go up to 9, so only the first 10 visible items can be picked by digit. From the 11th onward you need to keep typing letters to filter, then use 0–9.

Default behavior: reuse vs. launch new

  • Digit / Enter (without Shift): prefer reusing an already-running window (pick the most recent by MRU); only launch if the app isn’t running.
  • Shift + digit / Shift + Enter: force-launch a new window. Good for Chrome / terminals where “I just want a new one” is the intent.

Rejection conditions

Under any of the following, prefix+c does not show the popover and is silently refused (with a silent toast if appropriate):

Situation Toast text (when silent toast is enabled)
No layout currently available split_no_layout
Selected region is not a leaf (it has already been split into an internal node) split_not_leaf
Region is too small (after split, neither side could fit the minimum window size) split_too_small
No registered apps in the config split_no_apps
Pressed Enter when the search filter has no matches split_no_match

Timing parameters

Parameter Default Settings location
Popover timeout 10000 ms Built-in picker_timeout_ms, reset on every key press

Every key press (digit, letter, Backspace, Space) resets the 10-second timeout. 10 seconds idle without any key press → auto-close.

After the popover closes

  • Picked a digit / pressed Enter → split executes immediately: the original region is split in half along its longer dimension (a wide region splits into left + right halves; a tall region splits into top + bottom halves); the original app stays, the new app moves into the new half.
  • Cancel / timeout → no region is modified.
  • After a successful split, selected_region is unchanged (still points at the original region’s number). The new region’s number is allocated by the engine and shows up in the next prefix+q OSD.

Undoing a split

Split is a real layout change (live state) and does not write back to TOML. To undo:

  • prefix+r (restore): re-applies the current layout per TOML; every split is discarded.
  • Switching to another binding and back: the live state is reset by the binding’s variant (splits go too).

If you want the post-split shape to be a permanent layout, edit that binding’s variant on the Layouts page and add the new app as a new region.