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Keyboard Shortcuts

Terminal shortcuts for efficient navigation and control.

Essential Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Enter Send message
Ctrl+C Cancel current operation
Ctrl+D Exit (on empty line)
Ctrl+L Clear screen
Up Previous history item
Down Next history item

Input Navigation

Shortcut Action
Left / Right Move cursor
Alt+Left Move word left
Alt+Right Move word right
Home / Ctrl+A Go to line start
End / Ctrl+E Go to line end

Text Editing

Shortcut Action
Backspace Delete character before cursor
Delete Delete character after cursor
Ctrl+U Delete line before cursor
Ctrl+K Delete line after cursor
Ctrl+W Delete word before cursor

Multi-line Input

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+J (Linux) Insert newline
Ctrl+Enter (Windows) Insert newline
Shift+Enter Insert newline (some terminals)

Session Control

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+C Cancel request / Close dialog
Esc Cancel operation / Clear input
Shift+Tab Cycle approval modes

External Editor

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+X Open input in external editor
Meta+Enter Open input in external editor

Configure your preferred editor:

{
  "editor": "code --wait"
}

Vim Mode

Enable vim mode in settings:

{
  "vim": true
}

Or toggle with /settings.

Normal Mode

Key Action
h Move left
j Move down
k Move up
l Move right
w Next word
b Previous word
0 Line start
$ Line end
gg First line
G Last line

Editing (Normal Mode)

Key Action
i Insert mode (before cursor)
a Insert mode (after cursor)
I Insert at line start
A Insert at line end
o New line below
O New line above
x Delete character
dd Delete line
yy Yank (copy) line
p Paste
u Undo
Ctrl+R Redo

Visual Mode

Key Action
v Enter visual mode
V Visual line mode
y Yank selection
d Delete selection

Commands (Normal Mode)

Key Action
:w Save (send message)
:q Quit
/ Search
n Next search result
N Previous search result

Terminal-Specific Notes

macOS Terminal

  • Use Option instead of Alt for word navigation
  • Cmd+K clears terminal (not just screen)

Windows Terminal

  • Ctrl+Shift+C / Ctrl+Shift+V for copy/paste
  • Some shortcuts may conflict with terminal settings

Linux

  • Behavior varies by terminal emulator
  • Most shortcuts work as documented

Customization

Shortcuts cannot be customized directly, but you can:

  1. Enable vim mode for vim-style navigation
  2. Use external editor for complex input
  3. Configure terminal shortcuts separately

Next Steps