[oddurs]

Problem

Spotlight on macOS 26 narrows a search to one kind with ⌘1–⌘4, lists apps when nothing is typed (it replaced Launchpad), and runs actions. Common Command searched everything at once and could only open things.

Approach

• Scopes. Scope (all, apps, files, actions) filters candidates and files in Results.compose. A scoped search skips calculations, links, and the web, and shows up to 40 results. With nothing typed, Results.browse lists the scope: apps and panes A–Z (topics left out), recent files (last 30 days by kMDItemLastUsedDate, newest first), shortcuts A–Z, then running apps with each app's Quit and Hide together.
• Keys and buttons. ⌘1/⌘2/⌘3 toggle Apps/Files/Actions; three buttons at the end of the field do the same, the active one filled with the accent colour, and the field's leading symbol and placeholder follow. ⌫ in an empty field or ⎋ leaves the scope; ⎋ again closes.
• Actions. shortcuts list (about 50 ms, run with the app scan) gives the user's shortcuts; choosing one runs shortcuts run <name> off the main thread and reports a non-zero exit. Running regular apps get Quit and Hide through NSRunningApplication. Actions weigh -6, and Quit/Hide match by word starts, so "quit sa" can't mean the "sa" in Quit Messages.
• A scope searches its kind even when Settings leaves it out of everything else. Settings gains a "Shortcuts and app actions" switch.

Changed behaviour

⌘1–⌘9 used to open the nth result, and holding ⌘ showed the numbers. That conflicts with Spotlight's scope keys, so it's gone. Arrow keys, hover, and click remain.

Look at sceptically

• shortcuts run runs the shortcut headless; one that asks for input shows its own prompt, and one that runs long keeps a background process until it ends.
• NSRunningApplication.terminate() asks politely; an app with unsaved work shows its own dialog. Force Quit is deliberately not offered.
• Recent files depend on kMDItemLastUsedDate, which some apps don't update.
• Clipboard history (Spotlight's ⌘4) is left out on purpose: reading the pasteboard in the background runs into macOS's pasteboard privacy prompts, and it would store everything you copy.
• Scope switching and the chips were reviewed in offscreen renders only; I didn't drive the live panel.

Checklist

• scripts/task check passes locally
• Behaviour tests for scopes, browsing order, and action matching
• UI reviewed with offscreen renders in light and dark