# Could we have a shortcut for \`\] activate\`?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/could-we-have-a-shortcut-for-activate/137616>\
**Category:** Internals & Design\
**Tags:** package-manager\
**Created:** [June 14, 2026, 11:12am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/could-we-have-a-shortcut-for-activate/137616 "2026-06-14T11:12:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![juliohm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juliohm/32/215266_2.png) [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 11:12am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/could-we-have-a-shortcut-for-activate/137616/1 "2026-06-14T11:12:21Z")

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This is the most typed command besides `status`, `add` and `update`. We already have shortcuts for `status` (`st`) and `update` (`up`), could we also have one for `activate` (`at`) ?

```julia
] at folder
] st
] up

```

I know we can type `ac`, press `TAB` and then `SPACE`, but it doesn’t hurt to ask for a shortcut.

What are people’s opinions on this?

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**Author:** ![aryavorskiy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/aryavorskiy/32/43466_2.png) [@aryavorskiy](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/aryavorskiy)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 11:20am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/could-we-have-a-shortcut-for-activate/137616/2 "2026-06-14T11:20:20Z")

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Love the idea, but needs a small correction imho.  
**St** atus abbreviates to `st`.  
**Up** date abbreviates to `up`.  
Why should **Ac** tivate abbreviate to something else than `ac`?

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**Author:** ![juliohm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juliohm/32/215266_2.png) [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 12:01pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/could-we-have-a-shortcut-for-activate/137616/3 "2026-06-14T12:01:06Z")

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It was just a suggestion. I find `at` appealing because it reminds us that we are “at” a given folder or environment, but any shortcut should be fine.

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**Author:** ![Oscar\_Smith](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/oscar_smith/32/25343_2.png) [@Oscar\_Smith](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Oscar_Smith)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/could-we-have-a-shortcut-for-activate/137616/4 "2026-06-14T13:59:38Z")

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I have an alias of `j` to `julia --project=.`

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**Author:** ![juliohm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juliohm/32/215266_2.png) [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/could-we-have-a-shortcut-for-activate/137616/5 "2026-06-14T14:41:30Z")

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I usually (re)launch Julia in VSCode with `Alt`+`J` + `Alt` + `R`. It activates the environment of the current folder. However, sometimes I develop multiple packages in the same VSCode workspace, and in this case I need to manually `activate` folders.

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**Author:** ![Eben60](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/eben60/32/13475_2.png) [@Eben60](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Eben60)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/could-we-have-a-shortcut-for-activate/137616/6 "2026-06-14T15:49:59Z")

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> [@juliohm](#):
>
> I find `at` appealing because it reminds us that we are “at”

It’s appealing, but not compatible with autocomplete in REPL

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**Author:** ![tecosaur](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tecosaur/32/23206_2.png) [@tecosaur](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tecosaur)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 4:09am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/could-we-have-a-shortcut-for-activate/137616/7 "2026-06-15T04:09:49Z")

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While very much biased, I’m rather partial to the approach I took in the DataToolkit.jl REPL mode: any string that is a unique prefix or subsequence of a command invokes the command, with a helpful message when there are multiple matches.

![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/e/2/e21abd2b770e25f7bac5ab20cca257042effbbac.png)

(in the above image/example, `stk` would pick `stack`, and `sr` would pick `store` for instance).

I see I need to fix an compat issue with 1.13, but I think this should also be compatible with autocomplete.