Keyboard shortcuts for Claude Code, Codex and Cursor

Keyboard shortcuts for coding agents decide how fast a developer can stop, rewind, plan and inspect agent work. In Claude Code 2.1.283 and the Codex CLI 0.157.1, Esc interrupts, Shift+Tab cycles modes and Ctrl+J inserts a newline. Cursor’s help lists its AI shortcuts (checked 2026-10-12), but they have moved across 3.x builds, so confirm them in the editor itself.

This reference is for developers who drive agents from the keyboard. The agent starts rewriting the wrong module, you press Ctrl+C out of habit, and the session exits instead of stopping. Or you press Shift+Enter inside tmux to add a second line and the half-written prompt goes to the agent. Every shortcut below was checked on 2026-09-26: Claude Code against its interactive-mode and keybindings docs for v2.1.283, and Codex against the rust-v0.157.1 source of its terminal UI. Entries that name a later version or a Cursor page were checked on 2026-10-12: Claude Code 2.1.296’s docs and changelog, Codex 0.162.1’s release notes and config schema, and Cursor’s help.

What this shortcut reference gives you

• The ten keys per tool that matter daily, side by side.
• The keys that keep you in control of verification: interrupt, rewind, plan first, and open the transcript or diff.
• A remapping recipe for each tool, and a way to prove a new binding works.
• Two copy-paste prompts: one that writes a Claude Code keybindings file, one that audits your terminal for broken keys.
• The failures you meet in tmux, WSL and macOS terminals, with the fix for each.

Which shortcuts matter most in each tool?

The three tools split along one line. Claude Code and Codex are terminal programs with readline-style editing and very similar keys. Cursor is a VS Code fork, so its AI actions are ordinary VS Code keybindings.

Claude Code

Shortcut	Action
Esc	Interrupt the current response or tool call; Claude keeps the work done so far
Esc Esc	With text: clear the draft (saved to history). With an empty prompt: open the rewind menu
Shift+Tab	Cycle permission modes, including Plan mode
Ctrl+J or \ + Enter	New line, in any terminal
Ctrl+O	Toggle the transcript viewer (tool calls, timestamps, model per message)
Ctrl+R	Reverse search through prompt history
Ctrl+B	Send a running Bash command or agent to the background
Ctrl+V	Paste an image (Alt+V on Windows and WSL; Cmd+V in iTerm2)
Ctrl+G	Edit the prompt in your external editor
? on an empty prompt	Show the shortcut help panel

Codex

Shortcut	Action
Esc	Interrupt a running turn (the status line reads “esc to interrupt”)
Esc Esc	Edit the previous message
Shift+Tab	Cycle modes (Plan mode is one of them)
Ctrl+J	New line, in any terminal
Ctrl+T	Show the transcript; F3 searches it
Ctrl+R	Search prompt history
Tab	While a turn runs, queue the message you are typing
Alt+, / Alt+.	Lower or raise reasoning effort
Ctrl+G	Edit the prompt in your external editor
?	Show the shortcut overlay

Cursor

Cursor’s AI shortcuts (inline edit, the Agent panel, add selection to chat, accept or reject changes) are VS Code keybindings. Cursor’s keyboard-shortcuts help page (checked 2026-10-12) lists these, spelled with the macOS Cmd key:

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+I or Cmd+L	Toggle the side panel; Cursor’s help gives Ctrl+I for the Agent panel on Windows and Linux
Cmd+K	Inline edit
Cmd+.	Open the mode menu
Shift+Tab	Rotate through the Agent modes: Agent, Ask, Plan and Debug. Each mode uses its own context, so switching starts a fresh context window
Cmd+/	“Loop between AI models”

Cursor’s help lists no Windows or Linux key for the last four rows, and the defaults have moved across the Cursor 3.x line. In Cursor 3.24 (2026-10-09) the Goal, queue, debug, canvas and browser panels open from pills above the prompt (Cursor’s release notes).

Confirm every key in your own build: open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows and Linux), run Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts, and search for the action. The Cursor keyboard shortcuts page has the worksheet of actions to confirm and the keybindings.json pattern that pins them so an update cannot move them.

Which keys keep you in control of what the agent does?

Speed at the keyboard matters less than how quickly you can stop a wrong turn and check the result. These are the keys that keep the loop verifiable without reading every line the agent writes.

Job	Claude Code	Codex CLI
Stop a wrong direction, keep the work	Esc	Esc
Plan before any edit	Shift+Tab to Plan mode, or /plan	Shift+Tab to Plan mode, or /plan
Undo the last turn’s code and conversation	Esc Esc on an empty prompt, or /rewind	Esc Esc edits the previous message; revert files with git
See every tool call the agent made	Ctrl+O	Ctrl+T
See the changed files	/diff	/diff (includes untracked files)
Add a correction without interrupting	Type and press Enter: it queues; Ctrl+Enter or Ctrl+X Ctrl+S sends it now	Type and press Tab to queue
Stop background subagents	Ctrl+X Ctrl+K, twice within 3 seconds	/stop ends background terminals

The keys only make review faster; they do not replace the gate. The proof that a change is correct still comes from the tests, type checks and review agents you run before merging, as described in evidence instead of diffs and the evidence bundle. Use Shift+Tab into Plan mode and the transcript key to confirm the agent is attacking the right problem, then let the checks decide whether it solved it.

Claude Code shortcuts in full (v2.1.283)

Session and control keys

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+C	Interrupt a running operation. At an idle prompt, the first press clears the input and the second exits. Up on the emptied prompt brings the draft back, pasted text and images included (v2.1.288; it also works after a slash command or a sent message from v2.1.292; both channels on 2026-10-17)
Ctrl+D	Exit. The first press shows a hint; the second within 800 ms exits. With text in the prompt, deletes the next character
Ctrl+L	Redraw the screen. Input and conversation history stay; use it when the display is garbled
Ctrl+T	Show or hide Claude’s to-do checklist (not the background-task view; that is /tasks)
Ctrl+S	Stash the current prompt; press again on an empty prompt to restore it
Ctrl+Z	Suspend to your shell (Unix only); fg resumes
Up / Down or Ctrl+P / Ctrl+N	Move within a multiline prompt, then through history
Tab	Accept an autocomplete suggestion
Option+P / Alt+P	Switch model without clearing the prompt
Option+T / Alt+T	Toggle extended thinking (no effect on Opus 5.5 or the Fable models, which always think)
Option+O / Alt+O	Toggle fast mode
Ctrl+F in the agents view (claude agents)	Find sessions by name with the n: filter; Alt+↑ and Alt+↓ jump between group headers (v2.1.288, both channels on 2026-10-17)

On macOS, the Option shortcuts, except Option+T, need the terminal to send Option as Meta (see the failure modes below).

Text editing keys

Claude Code uses readline conventions: Ctrl+A and Ctrl+E jump to the start and end of the line, Ctrl+K and Ctrl+U delete to the end or start, Ctrl+W deletes back to the previous whitespace (a whole path in one press), Ctrl+Y pastes what you deleted, and Ctrl+_ undoes the last edit. Alt+B, Alt+F and Alt+D move and delete by word.

Prefixes typed at the prompt

Prefix	Action
/ at the start	Command or skill menu; type letters to filter
! at the start	Shell mode: runs the command and adds its output to the session
@	File path autocomplete
? on an empty prompt	Shortcut help panel

To edit CLAUDE.md, run /memory. The command reference lists every slash command: see the command reference cheatsheet.

Vim mode

Turn it on in /config under Editor mode, or set "editorMode": "vim" in ~/.claude/settings.json (the old /vim command was removed in v2.1.92). Esc then switches to NORMAL mode instead of interrupting, so use Ctrl+C to stop a running turn. NORMAL mode supports the usual motions (hjkl, w/b/e, 0/$, gg/G, f{char}), operators (d, c, y with text objects such as iw or i"), visual mode (v, V), u and ..

Codex CLI shortcuts in full (0.157.1)

Shortcut or prefix	Action
Ctrl+C	With text in the composer, clear the draft (it stays in history). With an empty composer, interrupt a running turn, or quit when idle
Ctrl+D	Quit, when the composer is empty
Ctrl+V	Paste an image from the clipboard (Ctrl+Alt+V also works)
F4	Focus the activity pane
F8	Toggle voice input
@	Mention a file (the menu also lists plugins and skills)
! at the start	Shell mode: run a command directly
/ at the start	Slash command menu, for example /model, /plan, /diff, /review, /compact, /new

Pasting an image file path also attaches it. /vim toggles Vim mode for the composer. Codex 0.158.0 added copy-on-select and right-click paste to the fullscreen TUI. tui.copy_on_select (auto, always or never) and tui.right_click_paste (auto, on or off) control them: right-click paste is on by default on Windows, WSL and Linux, and on also enables macOS. tui.mouse_scroll_speed (0.162.0) scales the mouse wheel, and the 0.162.0 release notes also name Ctrl+Insert and /copy (config schema and release notes, checked 2026-10-12). For the full command list, see Codex CLI commands. The Codex desktop app (codex app, macOS and Windows) has its own shortcut set, which this page does not cover.

How do you remap agent shortcuts?

Claude Code

1. Run /keybindings. It creates or opens ~/.claude/keybindings.json.

2. Add a block per context. This example makes Enter insert a newline and Shift+Enter send, which suits people who paste long multi-line prompts:

   {
     "$schema": "https://www.schemastore.org/claude-code-keybindings.json",
     "bindings": [
       {
         "context": "Chat",
         "bindings": {
           "enter": "chat:newline",
           "shift+enter": "chat:submit"
         }
       }
     ]
   }

3. Save. Claude Code applies the change without a restart. Set an action to null to unbind a key.

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+M, Ctrl+[, Ctrl+I and Ctrl+H are reserved and cannot be rebound. Vim keys are not remappable here; the vimInsertModeRemaps setting in your user settings maps a two-key sequence such as jj to Esc, and Claude Code ignores that setting in a project’s .claude/settings.json, so a cloned repository cannot remap your keys.

The /effort slider’s keys became rebindable in v2.1.284: effortSlider:decreaseEffort (Left), effortSlider:increaseEffort (Right) and effortSlider:toggleUltracode (Tab). Enter and Escape in the slider can’t be rebound. In the agents view, agents:find (Ctrl+F) can be rebound from v2.1.288 (both channels on 2026-10-17).

Codex

Run /keymap in the Codex CLI to remap its TUI shortcuts interactively, or write the bindings yourself in ~/.codex/config.toml, one table per context. A value is one key or a list of keys, written as ctrl-a, shift-enter or f9. This example keeps Tab for queueing a message, adds Ctrl+Q as a second key, and moves voice input from F8 to F9:

[tui.keymap.composer]
queue = ["tab", "ctrl-q"]

[tui.keymap.chat]
toggle_voice = "f9"

Some keys belong to fixed actions and cannot be rebound: Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+Alt+V, Shift+Tab, Esc, Alt+Left, Alt+Right, and /, !, @ and $. Binding one of them fails at startup with an Ambiguous tui.keymap error (checked on 0.157.1). /vim toggles Vim mode for the composer. Press ? afterwards: the overlay shows the bindings in effect.

Cursor

Open Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts from the Command Palette, search for the action, and record a new key. Pin the bindings you depend on in keybindings.json, as the Cursor keyboard shortcuts page shows, so the next Cursor update cannot move them.

Copy-paste prompt: write a Claude Code keybindings file

Read ~/.claude/keybindings.json if it exists (create it if not) and the
keybindings docs at https://code.claude.com/docs/en/keybindings.
Add these bindings in the "Chat" context without removing any existing ones:
- "enter" -> "chat:newline"
- "shift+enter" -> "chat:submit"
- "ctrl+s" -> null (my terminal uses Ctrl+S for flow control; I accept losing prompt stash)
Keep the "$schema" line. Do not bind Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+M, Ctrl+[, Ctrl+I
or Ctrl+H: they are reserved. Show me the final file as a diff, then tell me
the exact command to start Claude Code with --debug so I can confirm there
are no keybinding warnings.

Copy-paste prompt: audit my terminal for broken agent keys

Check whether my terminal setup passes the keys Claude Code and Codex rely on.
Do not change anything yet; report first.
1. Print $TERM, $TERM_PROGRAM and whether I am inside tmux ($TMUX) or screen.
2. If ~/.tmux.conf exists, check for "set -s extended-keys on",
   "set -as terminal-features 'xterm*:extkeys'" and "set -g allow-passthrough on".
3. On macOS, tell me whether my terminal (from $TERM_PROGRAM) needs
   "Use Option as Meta" turned on for Option+P and Option+Enter.
4. Check whether my tmux prefix is Ctrl+B or Ctrl+A.
Give me a table: key, works / broken / unknown, the evidence you used, and
the one-line fix. Then propose the exact config lines to add and wait for
my approval before editing any file.

How do you prove a new binding works?

Do not trust a binding because the file saved. Three checks confirm it in under a minute:

1. Press ? on an empty prompt. Claude Code’s help panel and Codex’s overlay show the keys actually in effect.

2. Start Claude Code with claude --debug. It writes a warning to the debug log for invalid JSON, a misspelled modifier, an unknown context or action, a reserved key and a duplicate binding.

3. Press the key on a throwaway prompt such as echo test before you rely on it in a real session, and confirm it did what the table says.

What breaks with agent shortcuts, and how do you recover?

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Shift+Enter sends the prompt inside tmux	tmux does not pass extended keys by default	Add set -s extended-keys on and set -as terminal-features 'xterm*:extkeys' to ~/.tmux.conf, then run tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf. Until then, use Ctrl+J
Shift+Enter sends in the VS Code or Cursor integrated terminal	The terminal needs a keybinding	Run /terminal-setup once in Claude Code, from the host terminal, not inside tmux
Option+P or Option+Enter does nothing on macOS	The terminal does not send Option as Meta	Apple Terminal: Settings, Profiles, Keyboard, “Use Option as Meta Key”. iTerm2: set both Option keys to “Esc+”. VS Code: "terminal.integrated.macOptionIsMeta": true
Ctrl+B does nothing in tmux	It is the tmux prefix	Press it twice in Claude Code, or use the default Ctrl+X Ctrl+B chord
Image paste fails on WSL	The terminal intercepts Ctrl+V	Use Alt+V
Esc no longer stops Claude	Vim mode is on, so Esc enters NORMAL mode	Press Ctrl+C to interrupt
A key you bound fires a bare letter	A misspelled modifier (ctl+k) is dropped and binds k	Fix the spelling; claude --debug shows the warning
You sent a half-written prompt and the agent started editing	Enter submitted	Press Esc at once, then Esc Esc on the empty prompt to rewind in Claude Code, or Esc Esc to edit the previous message in Codex. Check git status before continuing
Ctrl+C quit the session	At an idle prompt, Claude Code exits on the second press, and Codex exits on the first press once the composer is empty	Resume with claude --continue or codex resume --last, and use Esc to stop turns from now on

For session recovery beyond the keyboard, see error recovery in Claude Code and error recovery in Codex.

Where to go next from the shortcut reference

• Terminal mastery for Claude Code: tmux, panes and long sessions in the terminal.
• Command reference cheatsheet: the slash commands and CLI flags for all three tools.
• Configuration reference: where each tool keeps its settings files.
• Permissions and sandboxing: what the modes you cycle with Shift+Tab actually allow.