Interactive mode - Claude Code Docs

Keyboard shortcuts

General controls

Shortcut	Description	Context
`Ctrl+C`	Cancel current input or generation	Standard interrupt
`Ctrl+X Ctrl+K`	Kill all background agents. Press twice within 3 seconds to confirm	Background agent control
`Ctrl+D`	Exit Claude Code session	EOF signal
`Ctrl+G` or `Ctrl+X Ctrl+E`	Open in default text editor	Edit your prompt or custom response in your default text editor. `Ctrl+X Ctrl+E` is the readline-native binding
`Ctrl+L`	Clear terminal screen	Keeps conversation history
`Ctrl+O`	Toggle verbose output	Shows detailed tool usage and execution. Also expands MCP read and search calls, which collapse to a single line like “Queried slack” by default
`Ctrl+R`	Reverse search command history	Search through previous commands interactively
`Ctrl+V` or `Cmd+V` (iTerm2) or `Alt+V` (Windows)	Paste image from clipboard	Inserts an `[Image #N]` chip at the cursor so you can reference it positionally in your prompt
`Ctrl+B`	Background running tasks	Backgrounds bash commands and agents. Tmux users press twice
`Ctrl+T`	Toggle task list	Show or hide the task list in the terminal status area
`Left/Right arrows`	Cycle through dialog tabs	Navigate between tabs in permission dialogs and menus
`Up/Down arrows`	Navigate command history	Recall previous inputs
`Esc` + `Esc`	Rewind or summarize	Restore code and/or conversation to a previous point, or summarize from a selected message
`Shift+Tab` or `Alt+M` (some configurations)	Cycle permission modes	Cycle through `default`, `acceptEdits`, `plan`, and any modes you have enabled, such as `auto` or `bypassPermissions`. See permission modes.
`Option+P` (macOS) or `Alt+P` (Windows/Linux)	Switch model	Switch models without clearing your prompt
`Option+T` (macOS) or `Alt+T` (Windows/Linux)	Toggle extended thinking	Enable or disable extended thinking mode. Run `/terminal-setup` first to enable this shortcut
`Option+O` (macOS) or `Alt+O` (Windows/Linux)	Toggle fast mode	Enable or disable fast mode

Text editing

Shortcut	Description	Context
`Ctrl+K`	Delete to end of line	Stores deleted text for pasting
`Ctrl+U`	Delete entire line	Stores deleted text for pasting
`Ctrl+Y`	Paste deleted text	Paste text deleted with `Ctrl+K` or `Ctrl+U`
`Alt+Y` (after `Ctrl+Y`)	Cycle paste history	After pasting, cycle through previously deleted text. Requires Option as Meta on macOS
`Alt+B`	Move cursor back one word	Word navigation. Requires Option as Meta on macOS
`Alt+F`	Move cursor forward one word	Word navigation. Requires Option as Meta on macOS

Theme and display

Shortcut	Description	Context
`Ctrl+T`	Toggle syntax highlighting for code blocks	Only works inside the `/theme` picker menu. Controls whether code in Claude’s responses uses syntax coloring

Multiline input

Method	Shortcut	Context
Quick escape	`\` + `Enter`	Works in all terminals
macOS default	`Option+Enter`	Default on macOS
Shift+Enter	`Shift+Enter`	Works out of the box in iTerm2, WezTerm, Ghostty, Kitty
Control sequence	`Ctrl+J`	Line feed character for multiline
Paste mode	Paste directly	For code blocks, logs

Quick commands

Shortcut	Description	Notes
`/` at start	Command or skill	See built-in commands and skills
`!` at start	Bash mode	Run commands directly and add execution output to the session
`@`	File path mention	Trigger file path autocomplete

Transcript viewer

When the transcript viewer is open (toggled with Ctrl+O), these shortcuts are available. Ctrl+E can be rebound via transcript:toggleShowAll.

Shortcut	Description
`Ctrl+E`	Toggle show all content
`q`, `Ctrl+C`, `Esc`	Exit transcript view. `Ctrl+C` and `Esc` can be rebound via `transcript:exit`; `q` is not rebindable

Voice input

Shortcut	Description	Notes
Hold `Space`	Push-to-talk dictation	Requires voice dictation to be enabled. Transcript inserts at cursor. Rebindable

Built-in commands

Type / in Claude Code to see all available commands, or type / followed by any letters to filter. The / menu shows both built-in commands and bundled skills like /simplify. Not all commands are visible to every user since some depend on your platform or plan. See the commands reference for the full list of built-in commands. To create your own commands, see skills.

Vim editor mode

Enable vim-style editing with /vim command or configure permanently via /config.

Mode switching

Command	Action	From mode
`Esc`	Enter NORMAL mode	INSERT
`i`	Insert before cursor	NORMAL
`I`	Insert at beginning of line	NORMAL
`a`	Insert after cursor	NORMAL
`A`	Insert at end of line	NORMAL
`o`	Open line below	NORMAL
`O`	Open line above	NORMAL

Command	Action
`h`/`j`/`k`/`l`	Move left/down/up/right
`w`	Next word
`e`	End of word
`b`	Previous word
`0`	Beginning of line
`$`	End of line
`^`	First non-blank character
`gg`	Beginning of input
`G`	End of input
`f{char}`	Jump to next occurrence of character
`F{char}`	Jump to previous occurrence of character
`t{char}`	Jump to just before next occurrence of character
`T{char}`	Jump to just after previous occurrence of character
`;`	Repeat last f/F/t/T motion
`,`	Repeat last f/F/t/T motion in reverse

Editing (NORMAL mode)

Command	Action
`x`	Delete character
`dd`	Delete line
`D`	Delete to end of line
`dw`/`de`/`db`	Delete word/to end/back
`cc`	Change line
`C`	Change to end of line
`cw`/`ce`/`cb`	Change word/to end/back
`yy`/`Y`	Yank (copy) line
`yw`/`ye`/`yb`	Yank word/to end/back
`p`	Paste after cursor
`P`	Paste before cursor
`>>`	Indent line
`<<`	Dedent line
`J`	Join lines
`.`	Repeat last change

Text objects (NORMAL mode)

Text objects work with operators like d, c, and y:

Command	Action
`iw`/`aw`	Inner/around word
`iW`/`aW`	Inner/around WORD (whitespace-delimited)
`i"`/`a"`	Inner/around double quotes
`i'`/`a'`	Inner/around single quotes
`i(`/`a(`	Inner/around parentheses
`i[`/`a[`	Inner/around brackets
`i{`/`a{`	Inner/around braces

Command history

Claude Code maintains command history for the current session:

Input history is stored per working directory
Input history resets when you run /clear to start a new session. The previous session’s conversation is preserved and can be resumed.
Use Up/Down arrows to navigate (see keyboard shortcuts above)
Note: history expansion (!) is disabled by default

Reverse search with Ctrl+R

Press Ctrl+R to interactively search through your command history:

Start search: press Ctrl+R to activate reverse history search
Type query: enter text to search for in previous commands. The search term is highlighted in matching results
Navigate matches: press Ctrl+R again to cycle through older matches
Accept match:
- Press Tab or Esc to accept the current match and continue editing
- Press Enter to accept and execute the command immediately
Cancel search:
- Press Ctrl+C to cancel and restore your original input
- Press Backspace on empty search to cancel

The search displays matching commands with the search term highlighted, so you can find and reuse previous inputs.

Background bash commands

Claude Code supports running bash commands in the background, allowing you to continue working while long-running processes execute.

How backgrounding works

When Claude Code runs a command in the background, it runs the command asynchronously and immediately returns a background task ID. Claude Code can respond to new prompts while the command continues executing in the background. To run commands in the background, you can either:

Prompt Claude Code to run a command in the background
Press Ctrl+B to move a regular Bash tool invocation to the background. (Tmux users must press Ctrl+B twice due to tmux’s prefix key.)

Key features:

Output is written to a file and Claude can retrieve it using the Read tool
Background tasks have unique IDs for tracking and output retrieval
Background tasks are automatically cleaned up when Claude Code exits
Background tasks are automatically terminated if output exceeds 5GB, with a note in stderr explaining why

To disable all background task functionality, set the CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_BACKGROUND_TASKS environment variable to 1. See Environment variables for details. Common backgrounded commands:

Build tools (webpack, vite, make)
Package managers (npm, yarn, pnpm)
Test runners (jest, pytest)
Development servers
Long-running processes (docker, terraform)

Bash mode with `!` prefix

Run bash commands directly without going through Claude by prefixing your input with !:

! npm test
! git status
! ls -la

Bash mode:

Adds the command and its output to the conversation context
Shows real-time progress and output
Supports the same Ctrl+B backgrounding for long-running commands
Does not require Claude to interpret or approve the command
Supports history-based autocomplete: type a partial command and press Tab to complete from previous ! commands in the current project
Exit with Escape, Backspace, or Ctrl+U on an empty prompt

This is useful for quick shell operations while maintaining conversation context.

Prompt suggestions

When you first open a session, a grayed-out example command appears in the prompt input to help you get started. Claude Code picks this from your project’s git history, so it reflects files you’ve been working on recently. After Claude responds, suggestions continue to appear based on your conversation history, such as a follow-up step from a multi-part request or a natural continuation of your workflow.

Press Tab to accept the suggestion, or press Enter to accept and submit
Start typing to dismiss it

The suggestion runs as a background request that reuses the parent conversation’s prompt cache, so the additional cost is minimal. Claude Code skips suggestion generation when the cache is cold to avoid unnecessary cost. Suggestions are automatically skipped after the first turn of a conversation, in non-interactive mode, and in plan mode. To disable prompt suggestions entirely, set the environment variable or toggle the setting in /config:

export CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_PROMPT_SUGGESTION=false

Side questions with /btw

Use /btw to ask a quick question about your current work without adding to the conversation history. This is useful when you want a fast answer but don’t want to clutter the main context or derail Claude from a long-running task.

/btw what was the name of that config file again?

Side questions have full visibility into the current conversation, so you can ask about code Claude has already read, decisions it made earlier, or anything else from the session. The question and answer are ephemeral: they appear in a dismissible overlay and never enter the conversation history.

Available while Claude is working: you can run /btw even while Claude is processing a response. The side question runs independently and does not interrupt the main turn.
No tool access: side questions answer only from what is already in context. Claude cannot read files, run commands, or search when answering a side question.
Single response: there are no follow-up turns. If you need a back-and-forth, use a normal prompt instead.
Low cost: the side question reuses the parent conversation’s prompt cache, so the additional cost is minimal.

Press Space, Enter, or Escape to dismiss the answer and return to the prompt. /btw is the inverse of a subagent: it sees your full conversation but has no tools, while a subagent has full tools but starts with an empty context. Use /btw to ask about what Claude already knows from this session; use a subagent to go find out something new.

Task list

When working on complex, multi-step work, Claude creates a task list to track progress. Tasks appear in the status area of your terminal with indicators showing what’s pending, in progress, or complete.

Press Ctrl+T to toggle the task list view. The display shows up to 10 tasks at a time
To see all tasks or clear them, ask Claude directly: “show me all tasks” or “clear all tasks”
Tasks persist across context compactions, helping Claude stay organized on larger projects
To share a task list across sessions, set CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID to use a named directory in ~/.claude/tasks/: CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID=my-project claude

PR review status

When working on a branch with an open pull request, Claude Code displays a clickable PR link in the footer (for example, “PR #446”). The link has a colored underline indicating the review state:

Green: approved
Yellow: pending review
Red: changes requested
Gray: draft
Purple: merged

Cmd+click (Mac) or Ctrl+click (Windows/Linux) the link to open the pull request in your browser. The status updates automatically every 60 seconds.

Interactive mode - Claude Code Docs

Keyboard shortcuts

General controls

Text editing

Theme and display

Multiline input

Quick commands

Transcript viewer

Voice input

Built-in commands

Vim editor mode

Mode switching

Navigation (NORMAL mode)

Editing (NORMAL mode)

Text objects (NORMAL mode)

Command history

Reverse search with Ctrl+R

Background bash commands

How backgrounding works

Bash mode with `!` prefix

Prompt suggestions

Side questions with /btw

Task list

PR review status

See also

Keyboard shortcuts

General controls

Text editing

Theme and display

Multiline input

Quick commands

Transcript viewer

Voice input

Built-in commands

Vim editor mode

Mode switching

Navigation (NORMAL mode)

Editing (NORMAL mode)

Text objects (NORMAL mode)

Command history

Reverse search with Ctrl+R

Background bash commands

How backgrounding works

Bash mode with ! prefix

Prompt suggestions

Side questions with /btw

Task list

PR review status

See also

Bash mode with `!` prefix