Focus search pane on Ctrl+Shift+F / Ctrl+E

DockWorkspace gains ShowToolPane(string contentId) — walks the
layout's IDockable graph, matches on Id, calls SetActiveDockable +
SetFocusedDockable. ShowSearchCommand wraps it with the search
pane's content id; bound to two MainWindow.KeyBindings entries
(Ctrl+Shift+F mirrors the WPF default, Ctrl+E mirrors VS's "search
box" gesture).

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-7:Claude Code

ILSpy.Tests/Search/ShowSearchCommandTests.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 AlphaSierraPapa for the SharpDevelop Team
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this
+// software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software
+// without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
+// publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons
+// to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or
+// substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
+// INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+// PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE
+// FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
+// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
+// DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+using Avalonia.Headless.NUnit;
+
+using AwesomeAssertions;
+
+using ILSpy.AppEnv;
+using ILSpy.Docking;
+using ILSpy.Search;
+using ILSpy.ViewModels;
+using ILSpy.Views;
+
+using NUnit.Framework;
+
+namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Tests.Search;
+
+[TestFixture]
+public class ShowSearchCommandTests
+{
+	[AvaloniaTest]
+	public async Task ShowSearchCommand_Activates_The_Search_Pane()
+	{
+		// Ctrl+Shift+F / Ctrl+E in the live app are wired to this command via
+		// MainWindow.KeyBindings. Here we drive the command directly and verify the
+		// activation reaches the SearchPaneModel.
+
+		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
+		window.Show();
+		var vm = (MainWindowViewModel)window.DataContext!;
+		await vm.AssemblyTreeModel.WaitForAssembliesAsync(minimumCount: 1);
+
+		var dockWorkspace = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DockWorkspace>();
+		var search = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<SearchPaneModel>();
+
+		dockWorkspace.ShowSearchCommand.CanExecute(null).Should().BeTrue();
+		dockWorkspace.ShowSearchCommand.Execute(null);
+
+		// The dock factory's ActiveDockable should now be the search pane. We can't
+		// assert against the factory's deep state easily (IDockable identity), so check
+		// the pane's IsActive flag, which Dock.Avalonia flips during SetActiveDockable.
+		search.IsActive.Should().BeTrue(
+			"ShowSearchCommand must bring the search pane to the active tab in its dock group");
+	}
+}

ILSpy/Docking/DockWorkspace.cs

@@ -71,6 +71,12 @@ namespace ILSpy.Docking
 		public IRelayCommand NavigateForwardCommand { get; }
 		public IRelayCommand<NavigationEntry> NavigateToHistoryCommand { get; }
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Brings the search tool pane to focus. Wired to Ctrl+Shift+F and Ctrl+E on the
+		/// main window. Idempotent — re-firing on an already-active pane is a no-op.
+		/// </summary>
+		public IRelayCommand ShowSearchCommand { get; }
+
 		// Read-only history snapshots for the Back/Forward split-button dropdowns; oldest-first.
 		// The UI reverses these for newest-first display.
 		public IReadOnlyList<NavigationEntry> BackHistory => history.BackEntries;
@@ -93,6 +99,8 @@ namespace ILSpy.Docking
 			NavigateForwardCommand = new RelayCommand(NavigateForward, () => history.CanNavigateForward);
 			NavigateToHistoryCommand = new RelayCommand<NavigationEntry>(NavigateToHistory,
 				entry => entry != null && (history.BackEntries.Contains(entry) || history.ForwardEntries.Contains(entry)));
+			ShowSearchCommand = new RelayCommand(
+				() => ShowToolPane(ILSpy.Search.SearchPaneModel.PaneContentId));
 			using (ILSpy.AppEnv.StartupLog.Phase("ILSpyDockFactory ctor + CreateLayout"))
 			{
 				factory = new ILSpyDockFactory(toolPaneRegistry);
@@ -555,6 +563,41 @@ namespace ILSpy.Docking
 		/// so <see cref="OnActiveDockableChanged"/> can pick it up and pull the tree's
 		/// selection across — setting it after-the-fact misses the activation event.
 		/// </param>
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Brings the tool pane with the given <paramref name="contentId"/> to focus. Walks
+		/// every <see cref="IDockable"/> in the layout via <see cref="GetAllDockables"/> and
+		/// matches on <see cref="IDockable.Id"/>. Silently no-ops when the pane isn't in the
+		/// layout — e.g. it was closed via its X button and hasn't been re-added.
+		/// </summary>
+		public void ShowToolPane(string contentId)
+		{
+			foreach (var dockable in GetAllDockables(Layout))
+			{
+				if (dockable is ToolPaneModel toolPane && toolPane.Id == contentId)
+				{
+					factory.SetActiveDockable(toolPane);
+					if (toolPane.Owner is IDock owner)
+						factory.SetFocusedDockable(owner, toolPane);
+					return;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		static System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<IDockable> GetAllDockables(IDockable? root)
+		{
+			if (root == null)
+				yield break;
+			yield return root;
+			if (root is IDock dock && dock.VisibleDockables != null)
+			{
+				foreach (var child in dock.VisibleDockables)
+				{
+					foreach (var descendant in GetAllDockables(child))
+						yield return descendant;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
 		public ContentTabPage OpenNewTab(object content, SharpTreeNode? sourceNode = null)
 		{
 			var tab = new ContentTabPage { Content = content, SourceNode = sourceNode };

ILSpy/Views/MainWindow.axaml

@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@
 		     Avalonia 12 yet, so we wire keyboard only for now. -->
 		<KeyBinding Gesture="Alt+Left" Command="{Binding DockWorkspace.NavigateBackCommand}" />
 		<KeyBinding Gesture="Alt+Right" Command="{Binding DockWorkspace.NavigateForwardCommand}" />
+		<!-- Search pane shortcuts. Ctrl+Shift+F is the WPF default; Ctrl+E mirrors the
+		     "search box" gesture VS uses. Both bring the bottom search pane to focus. -->
+		<KeyBinding Gesture="Ctrl+Shift+F" Command="{Binding DockWorkspace.ShowSearchCommand}" />
+		<KeyBinding Gesture="Ctrl+E" Command="{Binding DockWorkspace.ShowSearchCommand}" />
 	</Window.KeyBindings>
 
 	<DockPanel>