3. SnippetsLab Assistant
SnippetsLab Assistant is a handy utility that lives in the menubar. It allows you to browse existing and create new snippets without having the main window clustering your desktop space. Those that prefer the keyboard over mouse may also find the extensive list of keyboard access features a valuable boost in productivity.
To activate the assistant, click the 
button from the menubar. You can also specify a custom keyboard shortcut in Assistant preferences. To dismiss it, simply click outside of the panel, or press the Esc key.
The assistant is enabled by default, but can be disabled in Preferences… > Assistant.
3.1. Browse
Click on the 
Browse button on the very top to activate browse mode.
Most common list-navigation keyboard shortcuts also work here, below is a quick recap:
Action |
Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
Go to the previous or next item |
▲ or ▼ |
Go to the previous or next page |
Option-▲ or Option-▼ |
Jump to the top of bottom |
Command-▲ or Command-▼ |
Scroll up or down without changing selection |
Fn-▲ or Fn-▼ |
3.1.1. Default Snippets
By default, when not searching, the assistant will display all recently modified snippets. You can customize the default list in Preferences > Assistant > Default Snippets, when the option Use custom search criteria is chosen. This can be especially useful when you have a subset of snippets that you access often from the menubar, for example–those that you reuse the most.
3.1.2. Search
You can start typing immediately after activating the assistant window. All of the search tools in the main window are also available here, including search scope, filters, and other options. For more information, see Searching.
By default, the search session will persist when you close and reopen the assistant window. If you would like the search session to be cleared automatically every time, you can enable the Automatically clear search field when open option in Assistant Preferences.
3.1.3. Snippet Actions
You can perform the following actions with any search result in the assistant window:
Action |
How-To Perform |
|---|---|
Copy to clipboard |
Click or press return |
Open in the main window |
Option-click or press option-return |
Paste directly to active app |
(unassigned by default) |
Quick look |
Double-click or press → (To dismiss quick look, press ← or esc) |
The action that is performed when you click on a snippet or press the return key is called a primary action, and the action performed via option-click or option-return is called a secondary action. SnippetsLab allows you to customize and reassign the primary and secondary actions in Preferences > Assistant to fit your workflow.
Important
The action “Paste directly to the active app” requires accessibility permission because it uses Apple Events to simulate the paste operation. You will be prompted to grant access the first time this action is chosen. You can also manually grant or revoke access at any time in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility.
From SnippetsLab 1.6 and OS X 10.11, you can also swipe left on a snippet to reveal the primary and secondary options:
3.1.4. Quick Look
Starting from SnippetsLab 2.0, you can detach a quick look preview by dragging the popover to its own window. A detached quick look popover will always show above other windows, and as of v2.0.1, above fullscreen windows as well. It can also be freely resized by dragging its window edge.
3.2. Create
Click on the 
Create button on the very top to activate create mode.