docs: document the fzf Alt-C directory-search handoff - #816

What this feature does

When your shell has fzf installed, pressing ⌥C (macOS) or Alt+C (Windows/Linux) at an idle prompt opens fzf's directory-search widget and changes directory to your selection. Warp previously handed off only Ctrl+R and Ctrl+T.

Content design plan (short form)

• Reader and job: An fzf user who wants their usual fzf keybindings to keep working inside Warp, and who needs to know which keys Warp intercepts and which it passes through.
• Gap today: command-search.mdx enumerates the handoff explicitly — "The same handoff applies to Ctrl+T" — so a reader takes that list as complete. Omitting ⌥C reads as "Warp does not hand off Alt-C," which is now wrong. The page also never distinguished fzf from atuin, though they get different key sets.
• Change: A ### Handing off to fzf subsection naming both extra keys, the fzf-only scope, the editable External Directory Search action, and the two cases where no handoff happens. Excludes fzf's own configuration (FZF_ALT_C_COMMAND, FZF_ALT_C_OPTS) — that is fzf's documentation, not ours.

Gate verdict

Gate 1, update an existing page. The knob is a real editable keybinding rather than a shell detail: workspace:trigger_external_alt_c_directory_search, display name External Directory Search, default alt-c (app/src/terminal/input.rs:2254-2256), context-gated by EXTERNAL_ALT_C_BINDING_CONTEXT (input.rs:446).

Gate 0 clears: shell_widget_handoff is a default cargo feature, and the change shipped in stable v0.2026.09.30.08.29.stable_01.

Behavior verified at source rather than from the changelog bullet:

• The handoff is fzf-only. external_alt_c_binding_eligible requires FZF_PLUGIN_TAG on the session's shell (app/src/terminal/view.rs:9672-9683), so atuin keeps the Ctrl+R handoff and nothing else.
• It refuses while a command is long-running or the alternate screen is active, which is why ⌥C still types ç in Vim on a macOS layout.
• Shell helpers warp_run_external_alt_c_widget are present in all three integrations (zsh_body.sh:762, fish.sh:618, bash_body.sh:1004).

The PR was marked CHANGELOG-BUG-FIX upstream but surfaced under "Improvements" in the release; either way it adds a key the page's own list did not cover.

Changes

• terminal/entry/command-search.mdx — new ### Handing off to fzf subsection; the Ctrl+T clause moved out of the paragraph above it into that list.

Reviewer

suggest_reviewers.py resolved exactly one owning engineer for the shell bootstrap files behind this change, so a single review request went to them. The remaining paths resolve only to @warpdotdev/oss-maintainers via the root rule, and teams are never requested.

Deferred findings from this run

Listed in full on the ChatGPT subscription PR (#815) and the bookkeeping PR (#768). Nothing from this release was dropped without a recorded verdict.

Unverified claims

None. Every claim on the changed lines traces to a cited line in the public warpdotdev/warp checkout at 38b2c55e4. No {/* VERIFY */} markers are present.

Documentation risk

Risk: engineering-review-required
Rationale: Adds a keybinding claim, a named keybinding action, and platform-specific behavior for a shell integration.
Source files consulted: warp/app/src/terminal/input.rs@38b2c55e4, warp/app/src/terminal/view.rs@38b2c55e4, warp/app/src/workspace/view.rs@38b2c55e4, warp/app/assets/bundled/bootstrap/zsh_body.sh@38b2c55e4, warp/app/assets/bundled/bootstrap/fish.sh@38b2c55e4, warp/app/assets/bundled/bootstrap/bash_body.sh@38b2c55e4
Requested engineering reviewers: zachbai
Engineering review status: pending
Docs override: none

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