Discover Commands and Bindings

This chapter searches the interactive command catalog, distinguishes command identity from availability and bindings, explains one effective key sequence, and inspects active resolution order.

Before You Begin

If you enter this chapter directly, first complete Prepare the User Guide Exercises.

Complete Organize Personal Configuration. Keep the isolated tutorial init.rkt and settings/interface.rkt from that chapter.

Commands have stable semantic identities. A key sequence is one configurable route to a command, not the command itself.

Search the Command Catalog

Press M-x. The contextual candidate surface shows registered interactive commands for the captured editor state. Each row includes the semantic name, active binding or unbound, provider, availability, and description.

Type line start. Filtering narrows the catalog without modifying the source. Use C-n, C-p, Down, or Up to move and press RET on cursor-line-start. The selected command executes directly through ordinary admission; Odra does not replay the binding printed in the row.

Open M-x, search for copy-region, and observe its copied availability. It is unavailable without an active region and available after C-SPC plus movement. Press C-g to leave the navigator unchanged.

Find a Command's Bindings

Run M-x where-is. Enter save-buffer. The result lists every active effective sequence for that semantic command. Use Up and Down to inspect rows and q or C-g to return.

Run M-x describe-key, then press C-x C-s at the capture prompt. The result shows the effective command, map, precedence, operation, profile state, availability, and provenance for the complete normalized sequence.

Use the remaining inspection commands as needed:

Command	What it answers
`describe-bindings`	Which bindings are active, in resolution order?
`describe-keymap`	What does one positive map identity contribute?
`describe-keymap-state`	Which registry, profile, state, maps, pending input, and command-entry surfaces are active?
`describe-keymap-conflicts`	Why was the latest profile candidate rejected?

The familiar help prefix provides direct entry points: C-h ? lists help commands, C-h a searches commands and descriptions, C-h f describes one interactive command, C-h v describes configuration owners, C-h m describes active interaction state, C-h s describes structural syntax, C-h b and C-h k inspect bindings, C-h i opens the User Guide index, and C-h t opens the editing tutorial.

The results are copied immutable observations. They distinguish effective, shadowed, masked, inactive, and rejected definitions without lending resolver state to the UI.

Recover from Discovery Problems

Use describe-key for one surprising sequence before changing a profile.
Use where-is when the command is known but its effective route is not.
Use describe-keymap-state to separate profile, interaction state, pending prefix, and command-catalog generations.
Reopen M-x after a profile generation changes; an old catalog row is never redirected by visible name.

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