Interactive Mode & Keyboard Shortcuts

In-Session Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Esc	Stop current response / clear input line
Esc + Esc	Rewind to previous state (undo last change)
Shift+Tab	Cycle permission modes (default → acceptEdits → plan → auto)
Ctrl+C	Interrupt Claude or clear the current input
Ctrl+D	Exit the session
Ctrl+V	Paste an image from clipboard
Ctrl+E	Open current prompt in external editor ($EDITOR)
Ctrl+O	Toggle transcript / output viewer
Ctrl+R	Reverse-search command history
Up / Down	Navigate command history
Tab	Complete commands and file paths
Ctrl+T	Toggle the task list
/	Open the commands menu
!	Shell mode prefix — runs command directly (e.g., !git status)
@	Mention a file to pull it into context (e.g., @src/app.ts)
#	Add a quick note to memory

Esc Esc with empty input opens the rewind menu (08-sessions-and-checkpointing.md); with text in the input it clears the text instead.

Multiline Input

By default, Enter submits. To type a newline:

• Shift+Enter — newline
• Ctrl+Enter — submit (alternative)
• Or run /terminal-setup to install keybindings for your shell

Vim Mode

Enable with /vim or "editorMode": "vim" in settings.json.

Mode	Key	Action
Normal	i	Enter insert mode
Normal	Esc	Back to normal mode
Normal	j/k	Navigate history
Insert	Esc	Normal mode

Customize Keybindings

Edit ~/.claude/keybindings.json:

[
  {
    "key": "ctrl+y",
    "command": "submit"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+n",
    "command": "history.next"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+p",
    "command": "history.prev"
  }
]

Or run /keybindings-help for an interactive setup guide.

Available Command Names for Keybindings

Command	Default key	Action
submit	Enter	Submit prompt
newline	Shift+Enter	Insert newline
history.prev	Up	Previous history item
history.next	Down	Next history item
clear	—	Clear input
interrupt	Ctrl+C	Interrupt Claude
exit	Ctrl+D	Exit session

IDE Shortcuts

VS Code:

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+/ (macOS) / Ctrl+/ (Win/Linux)	Open Claude input
Cmd+Shift+P → “Claude Code”	Open in new tab

JetBrains:

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+/ (macOS) / Alt+/ (Win/Linux)	Open Claude input

🧠 Quick Recall

• Trick: “Esc stops. Esc-Esc time-travels. Shift+Tab shifts trust.”

👨‍🏫 Teach It

• Show: cycle permission modes live with Shift+Tab and narrate each.
• They’ll trip on: Esc-Esc needs an empty input — with text it just clears the text.

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Learning path: ⬅ 04-slash-commands.md · Index · ➡ 06-how-claude-code-works.md