Cmd-K: treat an unmatched phrase as “New chat”

What variant of Codex are you using?

Unified ChatGPT/Codex desktop app

What feature would you like to see?

When text entered in the global Cmd-K menu does not immediately match a command or chat title, show a first-class row:

New chat: “typed phrase”

That row should be selected by default. Pressing Enter should:

1. close the command menu;
2. create/open a new chat in the current host/project context; and
3. prefill the new chat composer with the typed phrase (do not auto-send it).

“Immediately match” should mean the synchronous command/title metadata results already available in memory. A later asynchronous content-search result should not steal selection after the user has committed to New chat.

This makes Cmd-K useful as both navigation and quick creation, and gives an instant path when history content search is slow.

Additional information

Current build inspected: 26.803.61601 (6396), macOS.

Today, unmatched input ends in a disabled “No matches” state. There is a “Create chat” affordance only when history is empty, not for an ordinary unmatched query.

Related performance issue: #20864. Cmd-K enables rollout content search at character 3, so making New chat depend only on immediate command/title matches also gives users a responsive escape hatch while indexed/cancellable content search is implemented.

cc @thsottiaux

Start by locating the Cmd-K command menu and the existing immediate command/title matching path, including the disabled “No matches” and “Create chat” states. Trace how the current host/project context and chat composer are opened; done means unmatched input offers a selected New chat row, Enter opens the chat with the phrase prefilled, and later search results do not change the committed selection.