Claude Code Controls and Modes
The core capabilities of Claude Code interactive mode includeKeyboard shortcuts、Vim editor mode、Command history managementandBackground Bash command execution, the following are the key extracted points:
1. Keyboard Shortcuts
Shortcut behavior varies by terminal and system. macOS users need to configure the Option key as Meta (see the original text for configuration paths in different terminals). Press?to view available shortcuts in the current environment.
| Category | Shortcut/Action | Core function |
|---|---|---|
| General controls | Ctrl+C |
Cancel current input/generation |
Ctrl+D |
Exit session | |
Ctrl+L |
Clear screen (keep history) | |
Ctrl+O |
Toggle verbose output (show tool execution logs) | |
Ctrl+R |
Reverse search command history | |
Option+P/Alt+P |
Switch model (without clearing the prompt) | |
| Text editing | Ctrl+K/Ctrl+U |
Delete to end of line / delete entire line (deleted content can be pasted) |
Ctrl+Y |
PasteCtrl+K/Ctrl+UDeleted content |
|
Alt+B/Alt+F |
Move cursor forward/backward by word (requires Meta key configuration) | |
| Theme display | Ctrl+T |
Toggle code block syntax highlighting (only/themevalid within the menu) |
| Multi-line input | \+Enter / Shift+Enter` |
Line break input (Shift+Enter requires no configuration in terminals such as iTerm2/WezTerm) |
Ctrl+J |
Multi-line newline | |
| Quick commands | /Prefix |
Trigger slash commands (see the slash command documentation for details) |
!Prefix |
Directly run Bash commands (output is counted in the session) | |
@ |
Trigger file path autocomplete |
2. Vim Editor Mode
Use/vimto enable it temporarily, or/configconfigure it permanently, supporting Vim core operation logic.
1. Mode Switching
| Command | Operation | Trigger scenario |
|---|---|---|
Esc |
Enter NORMAL mode | In INSERT mode |
i/I |
Insert before cursor / at line start | In NORMAL mode |
a/A |
Insert after cursor / at line end | In NORMAL mode |
o/O |
Open a new line below/above | In NORMAL mode |
2. Core Operations (NORMAL mode)
- Navigation：
h/j/k/lMove up/down/left/right;w/e/bJump by word;gg/GJump to start/end of input - Editing：
ddDelete line;yyCopy line;p/PPaste after/before cursor;>>/<<Indent/outdent - Text objects: combined with
d/c/yusage, such asdi"deleting content inside double quotes,awselecting an entire word
3. Command History
- Storage rules: stored independently by working directory,
/clearcommand can clear current session history - Reverse search (Ctrl+R)
- After pressing, enter keywords to match historical commands and highlight them
- Repeat
Ctrl+RCycle through earlier matches Tab/EscAccept match and edit,Enterexecute directly,Ctrl+Ccancel search
4. Background Bash Commands
Supports running time-consuming commands asynchronously without blocking session operations.
- How to run
- Prompt Claude to run commands in the background
- Press when executing a command
Ctrl+B(Tmux users press twice), generating a unique task ID for tracking
- Bash mode (! prefix)
- Input
! commandCan directly execute Bash commands (without Claude intervention), example:! npm test - Commands and their output become part of the session context, supports
Ctrl+Bbackground running, suitable for quickly executing shell operations
- Input
- Applicable scenarios: build tools, package management, test runs, development servers, and other long-running processes