Find anything with search

Last updated: October 29, 2026

Jump to a tool, project, file, workflow or session from anywhere in Layer, with ⌘K or the sidebar's search.

Steps

  1. Click Search (the magnifier at the top of the sidebar), or press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows). The panel opens on your workspace at a glance: Tools to start something, then your projects, files, reference sets, workflows, base models and sessions.

  2. Type a few letters of what you're after. The panel narrows to one list of matches, tools first, and shows the highlighted result on the right.

  3. Click a result, or press Enter on the highlighted one, to go straight to it.

  4. To see more than a column shows, open search again and click All beside the column's heading. It opens that column's full page, such as Workflows.

Result

You land on what you picked: a project, file, reference set, workflow, base model or session opens on its own page. A tool opens beside your board when you are in a session, and in a new session otherwise. A template starts a new session from it. Work you start this way goes into the project you are in.

What the panel shows

Tools

The tools from The basics, generators first, then edits. The column lists only tools your AI controls let you run. Type a tool's name to find any other tool.

Your work

Projects, files, reference sets, workflows, base models and sessions from your workspace, a few of each. With a project chosen in the project switcher, files, reference sets, workflows and sessions come from that project; projects and base models come from the whole workspace.

This page's actions

On a page with actions of its own, such as a session or the asset library, those actions lead the panel, so you can run one without reaching for a menu.

Production tips

  • Keep your hands on the keyboard. Press ⌘K, type, then use the arrow keys and Enter. Typing turns the panel into a single list, so the arrow keys move down it in order.

  • Templates are a search away. Templates don't have a column of their own. Type a template's name to find it, and pick it to start a session from it.

  • Search by what a tool does. A tool answers to its name and to what it works on, so "upscale video" finds the video upscaler and "background removal" finds the tool that removes an image's background.

  • The row along the bottom. New Session, Home, Inbox, Sessions and Projects stay in the panel whatever you type, with their keyboard shortcuts beside them.

If something goes wrong

  • Something you expect is missing. Check the project switcher at the top of the sidebar. With a project chosen, search covers only that project's files, reference sets, workflows and sessions. Switch to all projects, or to the project that holds it.

  • A tool you use is not under Tools. The column lists only The basics' tools that your AI controls allow. Type the tool's name instead. If it doesn't appear at all, its models are turned off for your workspace or project; ask an admin, or see Choose which models your team can use.

  • The panel says search is unavailable. Wait a moment and type again. The page's actions and the row along the bottom keep working in the meantime.

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