In this series, I’ll share daily tips and tricks to help you succeed and start accelerating your Amazon Q Developer journey. Every day I share a new tip, categorized according to several topics and themes. If you have your own tips or experience with the tips I share, please use the comments feature or feel free to contact me directly. View previous tips here.
Okay, today’s tip is here…
Tip 22 – Amazon Q Developer: Amazon Q Keyboard Shortcuts
You can use keyboard shortcuts in Amazon Q Developer to improve the developer experience, and it’s good to know you can access every feature this way.
keyboard shortcuts
Here are the ones I use most:
If you are using Windows, replace COMMAND + OPTION with CTRL + ALT
- Order + Options + I – Using this feature in VSCode will move the current cursor focus to the Amazon Q Developer chat window. I use this a lot, especially since I have the Amazon Q Chat interface on the right. This panel is usually closed when you start VSCode, so this shortcut will restore it (and is easier than clicking the Amazon Q status column at the bottom of VSCode).
The following are keyboard shortcuts for VSCode menu integration. I use these a lot – I select a block of code that interests me, then right-click, etc. I just use these shortcuts to save energy.
- Order + Options + Second – explain
- Order + Options + F – make fixed
- Order + Options + one – optimization
- Order + Options + U – Refactoring
- Order + Options + ask – Send to tips
- Order + Options + time – generate tests
These shortcut keys are essential when working with files:
- Order + Options + I – Built-in tips/chat
- Order + Options + C – If you have turned off Amazon Q auto-suggestions, call Q
hint! Not related to Amazon Q Developer, but after a lot of searching I found that one of the best keyboard shortcuts I use is how to switch between multiple executions of VSCode. If you have multiple instances of VSCode, switching between them (using Windows > VSCode Instances) can be tedious. use Order and ` My Mac keyboard allows me to quickly switch between instances, much like COMMAND + TAB allows you to switch between applications.
View each Amazon Q Developer shortcut
To see the full list of keyboard shortcuts, press SHIFT + COMMAND and P in VSCode, which will open the VSCode command panel. Type “Keyboard” and you should see “Keyboard Shortcuts” appear.
Select that option and then type “Amazon Q” from search, and you should now see all the available keyboard shortcuts. It’s useful to know this because this article will age and become outdated as new features are added, so it’s a good idea to know how to access this page to see the complete latest version based on the version of the Amazon Q Developer plugin you’re using.
If you prefer this text version, please type “keyboard” from the search bar in the VSCode command panel, then select “Turn on default keyboard shortcuts JSON” from the list that appears. You will now see a JSON file that you can edit manually. .
Change or update shortcuts
I discovered that because I had multiple extensions/plugins installed in VSCode, they might conflict with the default Amazon Q Developer plug-in shortcuts. So it’s useful to know how to change this – it’s easy.
In the Keyboard Shortcuts screen (see previous section), if you move your mouse pointer to the left of the Command bar, you’ll see it change into a pencil. Clicking this button will pop up a dialog box asking you to enter the required key changes. They appear when you press the key combination.
If you encounter difficulties, you can press ESC to return.
As you type in key combinations, it’s smart enough to tell you if the option you’ve selected conflicts with other options (and provide you with helpful links).
Try Amazon Q Developer now and claim your free Builder ID
That’s today’s tip. Let me know how you use this technique and if you have suggestions of your own, drop me a line or reply. I’d love to introduce them here.
You can try Amazon Q Developer for free today, By registering Builder ID. You can also view my other posts on Community.aws because I’ve been sharing a lot of tips and use cases on how to use Amazon Q Developer. You can also stay up to date by checking out all the new features and improvements for Amazon Q Developer Change log.
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