---
title: "The whale on your screen"
description: "Keep your whale in view over your other apps, see what it's doing, and ask it something from anywhere with ⌥Space or Ctrl+Alt+Space."
works_on: [desktop]
---

# The whale on your screen

Keep your whale in view over your other apps, see what it's doing, and ask it
something without switching windows.

**Works on:** the desktop app. On Linux, staying above other windows depends
on your window manager. The phone and the web: not available yet.

![The whale floating over the desktop while it works, with its buttons showing](images/whale-on-screen-running.png)

## Show the whale on your desktop

Right-click the whale at the top of the sidebar (or focus it and press
Shift+F10) and choose **Show on desktop** (D). It's also in the command
palette (⌘K, or Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux).

The whale floats above your other windows with its name and one line saying
what it's doing. It's the same whale and the same line as in the sidebar.

## Read what it's doing

The line starts with the state:

| State | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Needs you | It's waiting for you, for example to approve a command. Its lantern is lit. |
| Blocked | Something stopped the work. The line says what. |
| Ready | It finished something you haven't seen yet. |
| Running | It's working. The line says on what. |
| Resting | Nothing is happening. |

When several conversations have something going on, the whale shows the most
important one, in the order above.

## Ask Whale from anywhere

Press **⌥Space** on a Mac, or **Ctrl+Alt+Space** on Windows and Linux, from
any app. You can also select the pencil beside the whale, or choose **Ask
Whale** from the whale's menu. (It uses your whale's name.)

Type your question and press Enter. It goes to your conversation with your
whale in the main window, where the answer appears. If it can't be sent,
it says "Not sent. Your message is still here." and your words stay in the
field. Press Esc to close the field.

The shortcut works even while the whale is hidden: it shows for your
question, then hides again.

## See what's going on

Select the bell beside the whale. **Activity** lists the conversations that
need you, are blocked, have finished or are running. Select one to open it in
the main window. With nothing going on it says "All quiet".

## Move it

Drag the whale anywhere on your screen. Or focus it with Tab and use the
arrow keys; hold Shift to move it further. It stays where you put it, also
after Codewhale restarts.

## Open your conversation

Select the whale to open your conversation with it in the main window.

## Hide it

Select **×** beside the whale, or choose **Hide from desktop** (D) from the
sidebar whale's menu or the palette.

## Reduced motion

When your system asks for reduced motion, the whale holds a still pose for
each state, and the line still changes.

## Related

- [Your whale](your-whale.md)
- [Keyboard shortcuts](shortcuts.md)
- [Accessibility](accessibility.md)

Previous: [Your whale](your-whale.md) · Next: [Plugins](plugins.md)