Keys & input¶

The CLI is keyboard-first. Once you know a handful of shortcuts, you rarely touch the mouse — send, steer, search, scroll, and switch panels without leaving the prompt.

This page lists every real key binding and every input trigger, exactly as the app wires them.

The one you need first¶

Text Only

Enter      send the prompt
Ctrl+J     toggle multiline input
↑ / ↓      walk your input history (when the prompt is empty)
Esc        interrupt the agent / cancel

That's enough to hold a full conversation. Everything below adds one capability at a time.

All keyboard shortcuts¶

Key	What it does
`Enter`	Send the message
`Ctrl+J`	Toggle multiline input (and send, while in multiline)
`↑` / `↓`	Step through input history — only on an empty prompt
`Ctrl+P`	Open the input-history picker (fuzzy-pick a past prompt)
`Ctrl+R`	Search messages in the conversation
`Ctrl+K`	Toggle the todos panel
`Ctrl+L`	Clear the screen
`Ctrl+V`	Paste an image from the clipboard
`Ctrl+Shift+C`	Copy the current mouse-drag selection
`Ctrl+C`	Interrupt the running agent — or exit if idle
`Esc`	Interrupt the agent / cancel a fork / clear attachments / refocus the prompt
`Ctrl+D`	Quit
`PgUp` / `PgDn`	Scroll the message view
`F1`	Open help
`F2`	Open settings
`F5`	Show context-window usage

Why Ctrl+Shift+C for copy?

Ctrl+C is reserved for interrupting the agent, so the usual copy action moves to Ctrl+Shift+C. Drag to select text, then Ctrl+Shift+C.

Esc does the right thing

Esc is context-aware. If the agent is running, it interrupts. If a fork is active, it aborts the branch. If you have pending image attachments, it clears them. Otherwise it just puts focus back on the prompt.

Input triggers¶

Some characters do something special when you type them at the prompt. They never reach the model as text — they open a picker or change how the line is handled.

Type this	What happens
`/` (first character)	Open the command picker
`@` (at a word boundary)	Open the file picker — inserts an `@path` reference
`!` (first character)	Run the rest of the line as a shell command (e.g. `!make test`)
`>>` (prefix)	Steer the running agent, or queue a follow-up while it's busy

@path references are expanded into file contents when you submit, so @README.md summarize this sends the model the file plus your instruction. Paths with spaces are quoted automatically.

>> while the agent is working

Type >>do X instead mid-run to steer the current turn. Plain text typed during a run is queued as a follow-up and sent on the next turn. A bare ! shell command always runs immediately, busy or not.

Multiline input¶

For anything longer than a line — a code block, a multi-paragraph spec — press Ctrl+J to switch the prompt into a multiline editor.

Text Only

Ctrl+J     send (submit the multiline buffer)
Esc        cancel multiline, back to single line
Enter      insert a newline

You don't have to toggle it yourself for pastes. When you paste text that contains newlines into the single-line prompt, the CLI automatically switches to multiline and preserves the structure — your code block stays intact.

Check it

Copy a few lines of code and paste them at the prompt. The input grows into a multiline box with your text laid out exactly as copied — no mangled single line.

Drag and drop files¶

Drag a file from your file manager onto the terminal and the CLI attaches it for you:

Images (.png, .jpg, and friends) attach as an image chip on the next prompt — the same path Ctrl+V takes for clipboard screenshots.
Any other file drops in as an @path reference, so its contents are expanded into the prompt when you send.

Either way you get a visible chip or reference, so you always know what's going along with your message. Press Esc on an empty prompt to clear pending attachments.

Screenshots, fast

On macOS, copy a screenshot to the clipboard and press Ctrl+V — no file needed. Elsewhere, install Pillow for clipboard image support, or just drag the image file in.

The hint bar¶

You're never flying blind. The line under the prompt shows the most useful keys for the current state — ↑ history, / commands, @ files, Ctrl+J multiline, Ctrl+K todos when idle, and steering hints while the agent runs. Press F1 any time for the full reference.

Recap¶

Send and edit: Enter sends, Ctrl+J toggles multiline, ↑/↓ walk history on an empty prompt.
Find and navigate: Ctrl+P history picker, Ctrl+R message search, PgUp/PgDn scroll.
Panels and screens: Ctrl+K todos, Ctrl+L clear, F1 help, F2 settings, F5 context.
Control the agent: Ctrl+C/Esc interrupt, >> steers, ! runs shell, Ctrl+D quits.
Attach content: Ctrl+V pastes images, drag-and-drop attaches files, multiline pastes are preserved automatically.

Next, make the CLI your own.

Settings & themes →