Shortcuts, placeholders & URL overrides

Automate repetitive actions and tailor how items match and fill across sites.

These three tools let power users shape how items behave instead of accepting the defaults. Each targets a different friction point in everyday use.

  • Shortcuts trigger your most common actions in a single step, so repetitive tasks stop interrupting your flow.
  • Placeholders are dynamic tokens that get substituted at the moment you use an item, expanding into the right value when you fill a form or copy a field.
  • URL overrides customize how an item’s URLs are matched and launched, so the correct item is suggested on the correct site rather than a near-miss.
An item's URIs built with a placeholder token that expands to the username when the item is launched.
An item's URIs built with a placeholder token that expands to the username when the item is launched.

Together they reward a little upfront configuration with faster, more accurate matching and filling. Set them once on the items that matter, and the behavior follows you everywhere.

Shortcuts

Common actions are a keystroke away (⌘ on macOS, Ctrl elsewhere):

Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + Space    Open Quick search
Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + L        Lock the vault
Ctrl/⌘ + N                Create a new item
Ctrl/⌘ + C                Copy username / primary field
Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + C        Copy password
Ctrl/⌘ + Alt + C          Copy one-time password

See the full shortcut reference for the complete list.

Placeholders

Placeholders follow the KeePass spec and expand inside URL fields and URL override commands, resolving to the item’s data the moment you use it:

https://example.com?user={username}   →   https://example.com?user=joe

Beyond the core fields, you can reach custom fields, parts of the URL, and the current time:

{username}     the item's username
{s:license}    a custom field named "license"
{url:host}     the host part of the item's URL
{dt_simple}    a sortable timestamp, e.g. 20240101170534

Every placeholder, including text transformations and date components, is listed in the placeholder reference.

URL overrides

A URL override rewrites a link using a regex and a command (which can contain placeholders). For example, give every insecure link a button that opens it over HTTPS:

Regex:    ^http://.*
Command:  https://{url:rmvscm}
The URL overrides screen — an HTTPS-ify rule and an SSH hostname launcher.
The URL overrides screen — an HTTPS-ify rule and an SSH hostname launcher.
The SSH hostname override applied to an item's ssh:// URL.
The SSH hostname override applied to an item's ssh:// URL.

More examples, including launching local programs, are in the URL override guide.