Customize keyboard shortcuts - Claude Code Docs

Claude Code supports customizable keyboard shortcuts. Run /keybindings to create or open your configuration file at ~/.claude/keybindings.json.

Configuration file

The keybindings configuration file is an object with a bindings array. Each block specifies a context and a map of keystrokes to actions.

Changes to the keybindings file are automatically detected and applied without restarting Claude Code.

Field	Description
`$schema`	Optional JSON Schema URL for editor autocompletion
`$docs`	Optional documentation URL
`bindings`	Array of binding blocks by context

This example binds Ctrl+E to open an external editor in the chat context, and unbinds Ctrl+S:

{
  "$schema": "https://www.schemastore.org/claude-code-keybindings.json",
  "$docs": "https://code.claude.com/docs/en/keybindings",
  "bindings": [
    {
      "context": "Chat",
      "bindings": {
        "ctrl+e": "chat:externalEditor",
        "ctrl+s": null
      }
    }
  ]
}

Contexts

Each binding block specifies a context where the bindings apply:

Context	Description
`Global`	Applies everywhere in the app
`Chat`	Main chat input area
`Autocomplete`	Autocomplete menu is open
`Settings`	Settings menu
`Confirmation`	Permission and confirmation dialogs
`Tabs`	Tab navigation components
`Help`	Help menu is visible
`Transcript`	Transcript viewer
`HistorySearch`	History search mode (Ctrl+R)
`Task`	A task is running in the foreground
`ThemePicker`	Theme picker dialog
`Attachments`	Image attachment navigation in select dialogs
`Footer`	Footer indicator navigation (tasks, teams, diff, artifacts)
`MessageSelector`	Rewind and summarize dialog message selection
`DiffDialog`	Diff viewer navigation
`DiffPanel`	The diff panel is open
`ModelPicker`	Model picker effort level
`EffortSlider`	Effort slider opened by `/effort`
`Select`	Generic select/list components
`Plugin`	Plugin dialog (browse, discover, manage)
`Pane`	A pane drawn by a mod has keyboard focus
`PaneField`	An input field or select in a mod’s pane has keyboard focus
`Agents`	Agent view (`claude agents`)
`Scroll`	Conversation scrolling and text selection in fullscreen mode

Before v2.1.205, a Doctor context and a doctor:fix action existed for the /doctor diagnostics screen.

Available actions

Actions follow a namespace:action format, such as chat:submit to send a message or app:toggleTodos to show the task list. Each context has specific actions available.

App actions

Actions available in the Global context:

Action	Default	Description
`app:interrupt`	Ctrl+C	Cancel current operation
`app:exit`	Ctrl+D	Exit Claude Code. Press twice within 800ms to confirm
`app:redraw`	(unbound)	Force terminal redraw
`app:toggleTodos`	Ctrl+T	Toggle visibility of Claude’s to-do checklist. This is not the `/tasks` background-task view
`app:toggleTranscript`	Ctrl+O	Toggle verbose transcript

History actions

Actions for navigating command history:

Action	Default	Description
`history:search`	Ctrl+R	Open history search
`history:previous`	Up	Previous history item
`history:next`	Down	Next history item

Chat actions

Actions available in the Chat context:

Action	Default	Description
`chat:cancel`	Escape	Cancel current input
`chat:clearInput`	Ctrl+L	Force a full screen redraw, preserving input and conversation
`chat:clearScreen`	Cmd+K	Same as `chat:clearInput`. See Clear the conversation for how Cmd+K behaves on iTerm2 and Terminal.app
`chat:killAgents`	Ctrl+X Ctrl+K	Stop all running background subagents in this session and turn off artifact auto-replies for the rest of it
`chat:cycleMode`	Shift+Tab*	Cycle permission modes
`chat:modelPicker`	Meta+P	Open model picker
`chat:fastMode`	Meta+O	Toggle fast mode
`chat:thinkingToggle`	Meta+T	Toggle extended thinking
`chat:submit`	Enter	Submit message
`chat:queueSubmit`	Ctrl+X Enter	Submit the message, marked to wait its turn: while Claude is working, Claude Code queues it and never interrupts the turn. Unlike `chat:submit`, it submits the draft even while an autocomplete suggestion is highlighted. Requires v2.1.247 or later
`chat:sendNow`	Ctrl+Enter, Ctrl+X Ctrl+S	Send your queued messages, and your draft with them, right away. When Claude Code sends what you queued covers what happens to the turn Claude is working on. When nothing is running, the key submits the draft, and in shell mode it only queues the command. Terminals that don’t report extended keys deliver `Ctrl+Enter` as plain `Enter`, so `Ctrl+X Ctrl+S` is the binding that works in any terminal. Requires v2.1.275 or later
`chat:newline`	Ctrl+J	Insert a newline without submitting
`chat:undo`	Ctrl+_, Ctrl+Shift+-	Undo last action
`chat:externalEditor`	Ctrl+G, Ctrl+X Ctrl+E	Open in external editor. The agent view dispatch input follows this action’s single-keystroke bindings too
`chat:stash`	Ctrl+S	Stash current prompt
`chat:imagePaste`	Ctrl+V (Alt+V on Windows and WSL)	Paste image from clipboard. On WSL, both shortcuts are bound by default

*On Windows without VT mode (Node <24.2.0/<22.17.0, Bun <1.2.23), defaults to Meta+M.

Autocomplete actions

Actions available in the Autocomplete context:

Action	Default	Description
`autocomplete:accept`	Tab	Accept suggestion
`autocomplete:dismiss`	Escape	Dismiss menu
`autocomplete:previous`	Up	Previous suggestion
`autocomplete:next`	Down	Next suggestion

Confirmation actions

Actions available in the Confirmation context:

Action	Default	Description
`confirm:yes`	Enter	Confirm action
`confirm:no`	Escape	Decline action
`confirm:previous`	Up	Previous option
`confirm:next`	Down	Next option
`confirm:nextField`	Tab	Next field
`confirm:previousField`	(unbound)	Previous field
`confirm:toggle`	Space	Toggle selection
`confirm:cycleMode`	Shift+Tab*	Cycle permission modes. On a file permission prompt, closes an open comment field; with no field open, selects the option that allows the action for the rest of the session, when the prompt offers that option

*On Windows without VT mode (Node <24.2.0/<22.17.0, Bun <1.2.23), defaults to Meta+M. Before v2.1.257, a confirm:toggleExplanation action, bound to Ctrl+E by default, showed a model-generated explanation of the command on Bash and PowerShell permission prompts. Dialogs use confirm:yes and confirm:no to accept and cancel even when they don’t ask a yes-or-no question. If you bind a bare letter such as y or n in this context, the letter also acts on dialogs that never show it as a key. A dialog that shows y and n as its keys reads those letters itself and needs no binding. In most dialogs, pressing Ctrl+C or Ctrl+D twice closes the dialog instead of exiting Claude Code. The hint after the first press says whether the second press closes the dialog or exits. Both keys are reserved and can’t be rebound. This example binds y to confirm:yes and n to confirm:no:

{
  "bindings": [
    {
      "context": "Confirmation",
      "bindings": {
        "y": "confirm:yes",
        "n": "confirm:no"
      }
    }
  ]
}

With these bindings, y and n still type as letters while a text field has focus. Before v2.1.280, y was also bound to confirm:yes and n to confirm:no by default. If you created your keybindings.json with /keybindings before v2.1.280, the file lists both bindings and they stay in effect until you delete those two lines.

Permission actions

Actions available in the Confirmation context for permission dialogs:

Action	Default	Description
`permission:toggleDebug`	(unbound)	Toggle permission debug info. The previous default of Ctrl+D was removed in v2.1.146 because it shadowed `app:exit`

Transcript actions

Actions available in the Transcript context:

Action	Default	Description
`transcript:toggleShowAll`	Ctrl+E	Toggle show all content
`transcript:exit`	q, Ctrl+C, Escape	Exit transcript view

transcript:toggleShowAll applies in the classic renderer only; in fullscreen rendering, the transcript viewer doesn’t offer a show-all toggle.

History search actions

Actions available in the HistorySearch context:

Action	Default	Description
`historySearch:next`	Ctrl+R	Next match
`historySearch:accept`	Escape, Tab	Accept selection
`historySearch:cancel`	Ctrl+C	Cancel search
`historySearch:execute`	Enter	Execute selected command
`historySearch:cycleScope`	Ctrl+S	Cycle scope: session, project, everywhere

The historySearch:next, historySearch:accept, historySearch:cancel, and historySearch:execute defaults apply to the inline history search in the classic renderer, which always searches prompts from all projects. historySearch:cycleScope takes effect only in fullscreen rendering, where Ctrl+R opens a search dialog instead and Ctrl+S cycles its scope. The dialog’s other keys are fixed and can’t be rebound: Enter or Tab places the highlighted match in the prompt input and Esc cancels.

Task actions

Actions available in the Task context:

Action	Default	Description
`task:background`	Ctrl+B, Ctrl+X Ctrl+B	Background current task. The Ctrl+X Ctrl+B chord avoids the tmux prefix conflict

Theme actions

Actions available in the ThemePicker context:

Action	Default	Description
`theme:toggleSyntaxHighlighting`	Ctrl+T	Toggle syntax highlighting

Help actions

Actions available in the Help context:

Action	Default	Description
`help:dismiss`	Escape	Close help menu

Tabs actions

Actions available in the Tabs context:

Action	Default	Description
`tabs:next`	Tab, Right	Next tab
`tabs:previous`	Shift+Tab, Left	Previous tab

In a tabbed dialog, tabs:next and tabs:previous switch tabs while the tab row has focus. In some dialogs, such as /help and /sandbox, the tab-switching keys also work from inside the tab’s content. Up and Down move focus between the tab row and the tab’s content, and a list in the content responds to keys only while it has focus.

Attachments actions

Actions available in the Attachments context:

Action	Default	Description
`attachments:next`	Right	Next attachment
`attachments:previous`	Left	Previous attachment
`attachments:remove`	Backspace, Delete	Remove selected attachment
`attachments:exit`	Down, Escape	Exit attachment navigation

Actions available in the Footer context:

Action	Default	Description
`footer:next`	Right	Next footer item
`footer:previous`	Left	Previous footer item
`footer:up`	Up	Navigate up in footer (deselects at top)
`footer:down`	Down	Navigate down in footer
`footer:openSelected`	Enter	Open selected footer item
`footer:clearSelection`	Escape	Clear footer selection
`footer:dismiss`	(unbound)	Binding a key to this action has no effect, and a `keybindings.json` that names it remains valid. Before v2.1.281, Backspace and Delete were bound to it and dismissed the selected artifact link from the footer.

While a footer item is selected, such as a row in the agent panel below the prompt, Enter opens it even when you rebind Enter in the Chat context to chat:queueSubmit or chat:newline. Chat bindings on keys the Footer context doesn’t bind, such as Shift+Tab for chat:cycleMode, keep working while an item is selected.

Message selector actions

In the message list of the rewind menu, you move through messages and pick one with the Select actions and their default keys. Your Select bindings for those actions apply there too. The MessageSelector context has no actions or default bindings of its own. Use it to change a key for this list alone, by binding a Select action such as select:accept in a MessageSelector block. This example binds o to pick the highlighted message in the rewind menu, without changing any other list:

{
  "bindings": [
    {
      "context": "MessageSelector",
      "bindings": {
        "o": "select:accept"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Before v2.1.283, this list ignored Select bindings and had its own actions: messageSelector:up, messageSelector:down, messageSelector:top, messageSelector:bottom, and messageSelector:select. If your keybindings.json binds one of those names, the binding keeps working in this list as the Select action that does the same thing. Home and End jump to either end of the list; before v2.1.283, keys such as Shift+K and Shift+J did that by default.

Diff actions

These actions reach only Claude Code’s earlier diff viewer, which /diff opens outside fullscreen rendering after you disable the cc-plugin-diff mod in /plugin. While that mod is enabled, /diff opens the diff dialog instead. A keybindings.json that names these actions loads without errors either way. Actions available in the DiffDialog context:

Action	Default	Description
`diff:dismiss`	Escape	Close diff viewer; from the detail view, returns to the file list instead
`diff:previousSource`	Left	Previous diff source
`diff:nextSource`	Right	Next diff source
`diff:previousFile`	Up, K	Previous file in the file list; scroll up one line in the detail view
`diff:nextFile`	Down, J	Next file in the file list; scroll down one line in the detail view
`diff:back`	(unbound)	Go back in diff viewer. Escape performs the back action via `diff:dismiss`. The previous default of Left in the detail view was removed in v2.1.203

The file list also responds to the Select actions, through their default keys and your Select bindings. select:previous and select:next move to the previous and next file, and Enter opens the selected file’s diff through select:accept. To change one of those keys for the file list alone, bind the Select action in a DiffDialog block. Before v2.1.283, the file list ignored Select bindings, and Enter opened the selected file’s diff through a separate diff:viewDetails action. If your keybindings.json binds diff:viewDetails, the binding keeps working in the file list as select:accept. The diff detail view also binds pager-style keys to the standard scroll actions. These bindings are part of the DiffDialog context and apply only in the detail view; the Scroll context defaults listed under Scroll actions are unchanged.

Action	Default	Description
`scroll:pageUp`	PageUp	Scroll up half a viewport
`scroll:pageDown`	PageDown	Scroll down half a viewport
`scroll:fullPageUp`	Shift+Space, B	Scroll up a full viewport
`scroll:fullPageDown`	Space	Scroll down a full viewport
`scroll:top`	G, Home	Jump to the top
`scroll:bottom`	Shift+G, End	Jump to the bottom

Diff panel actions

Actions for the diff panel that /diff opens in fullscreen rendering. app:cycleDiffBase is in the DiffPanel context, which is active while the panel is open; the others are Global. The built-in cc-plugin-diff mod draws this panel and handles app:cycleDiffBase, app:diffFileListUp, and app:diffFileListDown. app:toggleReplTab, app:toggleDiffNoiseFilter, and app:toggleDiffPreSession reach only Claude Code’s earlier panel, which /diff opens after you disable cc-plugin-diff in /plugin.

Action	Default	Description
`app:toggleReplTab`	(unbound)	Open or close the diff panel
`app:cycleDiffBase`	Ctrl+X B	Cycle the panel’s comparison base: this session, uncommitted, then branch
`app:diffFileListUp`	Ctrl+Up, Meta+Up	Scroll the panel’s file list up when it overflows
`app:diffFileListDown`	Ctrl+Down, Meta+Down	Scroll the panel’s file list down when it overflows
`app:toggleDiffNoiseFilter`	(unbound)	Show or hide test and generated files in the panel
`app:toggleDiffPreSession`	(unbound)	Expand or collapse the changes from before this session

Model picker actions

Actions available in the ModelPicker context:

Action	Default	Description
`modelPicker:decreaseEffort`	Left	Decrease effort level
`modelPicker:increaseEffort`	Right	Increase effort level
`modelPicker:thisSessionOnly`	s	Apply highlighted model to this session only

Effort slider actions

Actions available in the EffortSlider context, the slider that opens when you run /effort with no arguments. The slider’s Enter and Escape keys can’t be rebound.

Action	Default	Description
`effortSlider:decreaseEffort`	Left	Move the slider to the next lower effort level. Requires v2.1.284 or later
`effortSlider:increaseEffort`	Right	Move the slider to the next higher effort level. Requires v2.1.284 or later
`effortSlider:toggleUltracode`	Tab	Turn ultracode on or off for this session, when the slider offers it. Requires v2.1.284 or later
`effortSlider:thisSessionOnly`	s	Apply the focused effort level to this session only. Requires v2.1.257 or later

Select actions

Actions available in the Select context:

Action	Default	Description
`select:next`	Down, J, Ctrl+N	Next option
`select:previous`	Up, K, Ctrl+P	Previous option
`select:pageUp`	PageUp	Move up one page of options
`select:pageDown`	PageDown	Move down one page of options
`select:first`	Home	First option
`select:last`	End	Last option
`select:accept`	Enter	Accept selection
`select:cancel`	Escape	Cancel selection

In list panels such as /skills, /mcp, and /tasks, Claude Code applies your select:pageUp, select:pageDown, select:first, and select:last bindings. In most other lists, such as the /model picker, your select:first and select:last bindings apply. PageUp and PageDown page through the options in those lists regardless of your bindings. Before v2.1.280, those other lists ignored Home, End, and your select:first and select:last bindings. Before v2.1.283, the /mcp tool list paged with fixed PageUp and PageDown keys regardless of your bindings.

Plugin actions

Actions available in the Plugin context:

Action	Default	Description
`plugin:toggle`	Space	Toggle plugin selection
`plugin:install`	I	Install selected plugins
`plugin:favorite`	F	Favorite the selected plugin so it sorts near the top of the Installed tab

Settings actions

Actions available in the Settings context. The select:accept and confirm:no actions are reused from the Select and Confirmation contexts with Settings-specific behavior: changes apply to each setting as soon as you change it, so Escape closes the panel with your changes saved rather than declining.

Action	Default	Description
`settings:search`	/	Enter search mode
`settings:retry`	R	Retry loading usage data on error
`select:accept`	Enter, Space	Change the selected setting or open its submenu
`confirm:no`	Escape	Close the panel. Changes are already saved

Agents actions

Actions available in the Agents context, which applies in agent view, opened with claude agents. Requires v2.1.257 or later.

Action	Default	Description
`agents:switchView`	Ctrl+S	Switch session grouping between state and directory
`agents:togglePin`	Ctrl+T	Pin or unpin the selected session
`agents:find`	Ctrl+F	Find sessions by name, with the `n:` filter. Requires v2.1.288 or later
`agents:rename`	Ctrl+R	Rename the selected session. Requires v2.1.288 or later
`agents:previousGroup`	Ctrl+Up, Meta+Up	Jump to the previous group header. Requires v2.1.288 or later
`agents:nextGroup`	Ctrl+Down, Meta+Down	Jump to the next group header. Requires v2.1.288 or later

While agent view is open, Claude Code uses the Agents binding for any key the Agents context binds, and it ignores a Chat or Global binding on the same key. For example, pressing Ctrl+S in agent view switches the session grouping rather than triggering the default chat:stash. The dispatch input’s external-editor shortcut isn’t an Agents action. Agent view follows the Chat context’s chat:externalEditor binding, Ctrl+G by default. Bindings fire on single keystrokes in agent view, so the Ctrl+X Ctrl+E chord bound to chat:externalEditor doesn’t open the editor there.

Voice actions

Actions available in the Chat context when voice dictation is enabled:

Action	Default	Description
`voice:pushToTalk`	Space	Dictate a prompt. Hold or tap depending on `/voice` mode

Scroll actions

Actions available in the Scroll context when fullscreen rendering is enabled:

Action	Default	Description
`scroll:lineUp`	`wheelup`	Scroll up one line. Mouse wheel scrolling triggers this action
`scroll:lineDown`	`wheeldown`	Scroll down one line. Mouse wheel scrolling triggers this action
`scroll:pageUp`	PageUp	Scroll up half the viewport height
`scroll:pageDown`	PageDown	Scroll down half the viewport height
`scroll:top`	Ctrl+Home	Jump to the start of the conversation
`scroll:bottom`	Ctrl+End	Jump to the latest message and re-enable auto-follow
`scroll:halfPageUp`	(unbound)	Scroll up half the viewport height. Same behavior as `scroll:pageUp`, provided for vi-style rebinds
`scroll:halfPageDown`	(unbound)	Scroll down half the viewport height. Same behavior as `scroll:pageDown`, provided for vi-style rebinds
`scroll:fullPageUp`	(unbound)	Scroll up the full viewport height
`scroll:fullPageDown`	(unbound)	Scroll down the full viewport height
`selection:copy`	Ctrl+Shift+C / Cmd+C	Copy the selected text to the clipboard
`selection:clear`	(unbound)	Clear the active text selection. Requires v2.1.234 or later
`selection:extendLeft`	Shift+Left	Extend the active selection one column left
`selection:extendRight`	Shift+Right	Extend the active selection one column right
`selection:extendUp`	Shift+Up	Extend the active selection one row up. Scrolls the viewport when the selection reaches the top edge
`selection:extendDown`	Shift+Down	Extend the active selection one row down. Scrolls the viewport when the selection reaches the bottom edge
`selection:extendLineStart`	Shift+Home	Extend the active selection to the start of the line
`selection:extendLineEnd`	Shift+End	Extend the active selection to the end of the line

Keystroke syntax

Modifiers

Use modifier keys with the + separator:

ctrl or control - Control key
shift - Shift key
alt, opt, option, or meta - Alt key on Windows and Linux, Option key on macOS
cmd, command, super, or win - Command key on macOS, Windows key on Windows, Super key on Linux

The cmd group is only detected in terminals that report the Super modifier, such as those supporting the Kitty keyboard protocol or xterm’s modifyOtherKeys mode. Most terminals do not send it, so use ctrl or meta for bindings you want to work everywhere. For example:

ctrl+k          Ctrl + K
shift+tab       Shift + Tab
meta+p          Option + P on macOS, Alt + P elsewhere
ctrl+shift+c    Multiple modifiers

Uppercase letters

Claude Code parses key names case-insensitively, so K is the same binding as k and ctrl+K is the same as ctrl+k. To bind Shift and a letter, write shift+k.

Non-US keyboard layouts

Write the key names of Ctrl shortcuts as Latin characters even when your active keyboard layout types other characters. How Claude Code matches the key you press to a binding depends on the kind of layout:

Under a non-Latin layout such as Cyrillic, Claude Code matches Ctrl shortcuts by the key’s US-layout position when the terminal uses the Kitty keyboard protocol and reports that position. In such a terminal, with a Russian layout active, pressing Ctrl and the physical W key triggers ctrl+w. In a terminal that doesn’t report the position, Claude Code matches whatever the terminal sends for the keypress: an ASCII control code triggers the Latin shortcut, and a keypress that arrives as the Cyrillic character matches no binding
Under layouts that rearrange Latin letters, such as AZERTY, Claude Code matches the letter that the key types, so pressing Ctrl and the key labeled A triggers ctrl+a

Chords

Chords are sequences of keystrokes separated by spaces:

ctrl+k ctrl+s   Press Ctrl+K, release, then Ctrl+S

Press each keystroke within 3 seconds of the one before it. If you wait longer, Claude Code cancels the chord and shows a brief notice saying so.

Special keys

escape or esc - Escape key
enter or return - Enter key
tab - Tab key
space - Space bar
up, down, left, right - Arrow keys
pageup, pagedown - Page Up and Page Down keys
home, end - Home and End keys
backspace, delete - Delete keys
wheelup, wheeldown - Mouse wheel scroll events

Unbind default shortcuts

Set an action to null to unbind a default shortcut:

{
  "bindings": [
    {
      "context": "Chat",
      "bindings": {
        "ctrl+s": null
      }
    }
  ]
}

This also works for chord bindings. Unbinding every chord that shares a prefix frees that prefix for use as a single-key binding. A chord in any active context keeps its prefix reserved, so you must unbind each chord in the context that defines it. Claude Code binds these default chords on the ctrl+x prefix, by context:

Chat: ctrl+x ctrl+k, ctrl+x ctrl+e, ctrl+x enter, ctrl+x ctrl+a, ctrl+x ctrl+s, and ctrl+x tab
Task: ctrl+x ctrl+b
DiffPanel: ctrl+x b
Pane: ctrl+x left, ctrl+x right, ctrl+x up, ctrl+x down, and ctrl+x x
PaneField: ctrl+x x

The ctrl+x enter chord requires v2.1.247 or later, ctrl+x b, ctrl+x ctrl+a, and ctrl+x tab require v2.1.260 or later, and ctrl+x ctrl+s requires v2.1.275 or later. To reclaim ctrl+x itself as a single-key binding, unbind all of them:

{
  "bindings": [
    {
      "context": "Task",
      "bindings": {
        "ctrl+x ctrl+b": null
      }
    },
    {
      "context": "DiffPanel",
      "bindings": {
        "ctrl+x b": null
      }
    },
    {
      "context": "Pane",
      "bindings": {
        "ctrl+x left": null,
        "ctrl+x right": null,
        "ctrl+x up": null,
        "ctrl+x down": null,
        "ctrl+x x": null
      }
    },
    {
      "context": "PaneField",
      "bindings": {
        "ctrl+x x": null
      }
    },
    {
      "context": "Chat",
      "bindings": {
        "ctrl+x ctrl+k": null,
        "ctrl+x ctrl+e": null,
        "ctrl+x enter": null,
        "ctrl+x ctrl+a": null,
        "ctrl+x ctrl+s": null,
        "ctrl+x tab": null,
        "ctrl+x": "chat:newline"
      }
    }
  ]
}

If you unbind some but not all chords on a prefix, pressing the prefix still enters chord-wait mode for the remaining bindings.

Reserved shortcuts

These shortcuts cannot be rebound:

Shortcut	Reason
Ctrl+C	Hardcoded interrupt/cancel
Ctrl+D	Hardcoded exit
Ctrl+M	Claude Code always receives it as Enter
Ctrl+[	Claude Code always receives it as Escape. In terminals that use the Kitty keyboard protocol, this requires v2.1.242 or later
Ctrl+I	Claude Code always receives it as Tab
Ctrl+H	Sends the ASCII backspace byte. How Claude Code reads it on Windows depends on your terminal and the `CLAUDE_CODE_BS_AS_CTRL_BACKSPACE` environment variable
Caps Lock	Not delivered to terminal applications

Terminal conflicts

Some shortcuts may conflict with terminal multiplexers:

Shortcut	Conflict
Ctrl+B	tmux prefix (press twice to send)
Ctrl+A	GNU screen prefix
Ctrl+Z	Unix process suspend (SIGTSTP)

Text fields

If you bind a bare letter, digit, or Space, you can still type that character in a text field inside a dialog or panel. One such field is the Other answer to a question Claude asks. While the field has focus, a printable key you press without Ctrl, Alt, or Cmd goes to the field, and Claude Code doesn’t match it against your bindings. These keys still run their bindings while the field has focus:

Keys that don’t type a character, such as Enter, Escape, Tab, and the arrow keys
Any key pressed with Ctrl, Alt, or Cmd
The second keystroke of a chord already in progress

At the main prompt, Claude Code matches every key against the active contexts, such as Chat, and types the key only when no binding takes it.

Vim mode interaction

When vim mode is enabled via /config → Editor mode, keybindings and vim mode operate independently:

Vim mode handles input at the text input level (cursor movement, modes, motions)
Keybindings handle actions at the component level (toggle todos, submit, etc.)
The Escape key in vim mode switches INSERT to NORMAL mode; it does not trigger chat:cancel
Most Ctrl+key shortcuts pass through vim mode to the keybinding system
Vim keys aren’t remappable through the keybindings file. To map a two-key INSERT-mode sequence such as jj to Escape, use the vimInsertModeRemaps setting
In vim NORMAL mode, ? shows the help menu (vim behavior)
In vim NORMAL mode, / opens history search, the same as Ctrl+R in standard mode

Validation

Claude Code validates your keybindings and writes a warning to the debug log for:

Parse errors (invalid JSON or structure)
Misspelled modifiers, such as ctl+k. Claude Code drops the part it doesn’t recognize and applies the binding to the keystroke that remains, k in this example.
Invalid context names
Invalid action values, such as an action that isn’t a string or null
Unknown action names, such as a typo of a registered action. Claude Code skips the binding and keeps any default binding for that key in effect.
Reserved shortcut conflicts
Duplicate bindings in the same context

Start Claude Code with --debug to see the details.

​Configuration file

​Contexts

​Available actions

​App actions

​History actions

​Chat actions

​Autocomplete actions

​Confirmation actions

​Permission actions

​Transcript actions

​History search actions

​Task actions

​Theme actions

​Help actions

​Tabs actions

​Attachments actions

​Footer actions

​Message selector actions

​Diff actions

​Diff panel actions

​Model picker actions

​Effort slider actions

​Select actions

​Plugin actions

​Settings actions

​Agents actions

​Voice actions

​Scroll actions

​Keystroke syntax

​Modifiers

​Uppercase letters

​Non-US keyboard layouts

​Chords

​Special keys

​Unbind default shortcuts

​Reserved shortcuts

​Terminal conflicts

​Text fields

​Vim mode interaction

​Validation

Configuration file

Contexts

Available actions

App actions

History actions

Chat actions

Autocomplete actions

Confirmation actions

Permission actions

Transcript actions

History search actions

Task actions

Theme actions

Help actions

Tabs actions

Attachments actions

Footer actions

Message selector actions

Diff actions

Diff panel actions

Model picker actions

Effort slider actions

Select actions

Plugin actions

Settings actions

Agents actions

Voice actions

Scroll actions

Keystroke syntax

Modifiers

Uppercase letters

Non-US keyboard layouts

Chords

Special keys

Unbind default shortcuts

Reserved shortcuts

Terminal conflicts

Text fields

Vim mode interaction

Validation