Guide 14.3
Intermediate, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on .
In short
Every trading action in Scalpel has a key: Shift+1 to 4 to buy, Ctrl+Z, X, C, A and S to sell, B for breakeven, Shift+T to trail, Ctrl+Q to cancel and Esc to flatten everything. Move between desks with the arrow keys and Tab, and let the voice confirm each action. The only mouse moment is putting the cursor in a symbol box: once you pick a symbol, the cursor leaves the box and the keys trade straight away.
A scalp is decided in a second or two, and the mouse is slow: you have to look at the button to hit it. Scalpel is keyboard-first so your eyes can stay on Level 2 and the tape. Each key acts on the focused desk (the one with the accent outline), and each one is confirmed out loud, so you rarely need to look away (guide 10.1).
Before you start
| Action | Default key | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buy preset 1 to 4 | Shift+1 to Shift+4 | A marketable limit at the ask plus your offset |
| Sell full (bid) | Ctrl+Z | The whole position, at the bid less your sell offset |
| Sell half (bid) | Ctrl+X | |
| Sell quarter (bid) | Ctrl+C | |
| Sell half (ask) | Ctrl+A | Into strength, at the ask |
| Sell half (mid) | Ctrl+S | Between the bid and the ask |
| Stop to breakeven | B | Works with the market closed |
| Toggle trailing stop | Shift+T | Works with the market closed |
| Cancel all orders | Ctrl+Q (Shift+Q on a Mac) | On the focused desk. Works with the market closed |
| Cheatsheet | ? (Shift+/) | Shows every key |
| Flatten everything | Esc | Every position on every desk. Works with the market closed. Fixed, not rebindable |
| Next or previous desk | Right or Tab, Left | Only when you are not typing |
| Settings | Ctrl+, | |
| Zoom the cockpit | Ctrl+=, Ctrl+-, Ctrl+0 | 70% to 125% |
On a Mac, Ctrl is Cmd throughout, except Cancel all orders, which is Shift+Q because Cmd+Q quits a Mac app. Press ? any time to see the live keymap, with each buy key showing its preset's size.
Click the symbol box in the desk's header (or the empty desk), type the ticker, use Up and Down to pick from the list and press Enter. The symbol loads and the cursor leaves the box, so your keys trade straight away. While you are still typing in a symbol box, letter and number keys type text and never place orders.
A faster route skips typing entirely: click a scanner row, or a scanner toast, and the symbol loads on a free desk (guide 2.1).
Press Right or Tab for the next desk and Left for the previous one. The accent outline shows which desk your keys act on.
Press Shift+2 (or whichever preset fits). You hear a blip as it is sent and "Filled, level two" when it fills. The stop and take-profit arm themselves.
Up a little? B moves the stop to your entry ("Breakeven"); it never lowers a stop that trailing has already lifted above your entry. Running? Shift+T starts the trail ("Trailing"). Into a spike, Ctrl+A sells half at the ask; on a stall, Ctrl+X sells half at the bid (guide 4.5).
Ctrl+Z sells the rest ("Out, full"), cancelling any buy still working on that stock first. If a resting sell is still working, the new sell replaces it, so you never need to cancel before you sell. Ctrl+Q cancels anything left over ("Cancelled"). In an emergency, Esc flattens every desk at once ("Flattened").
Open Settings > Hotkeys, click the action you want to change, and press the new key or chord. The row reads Press a key while it waits. Click Apply. Esc and Enter are fixed and cannot be rebound (guide 4.3).
Good rebinds keep the hand still: buys on one side of the keyboard, sells on the other, and nothing dangerous next to something you press all day.