Keyboard shortcuts

Use /hotkeys to view current shortcuts. Some combinations depend on the OS and terminal; use alternatives or rebind keys when conflicts occur.

Input and editing

Shortcut	Action
Enter	Send input
Shift+Enter, Alt+Enter, Ctrl+J	Insert a newline
↑ / ↓ with empty input	Browse history
Home / Ctrl+A; End / Ctrl+E	Move to line start / end
Alt+← / →, Ctrl+← / →	Move by word
Ctrl+] / Ctrl+Alt+]	Jump forward / backward to a character
Backspace; Delete / Ctrl+D	Delete backward / forward
Ctrl+W / Alt+Backspace; Alt+D	Delete a word backward / forward
Ctrl+U; Ctrl+K	Delete to line start / end
Ctrl+Y, Alt+Y	Restore deleted text or cycle the kill ring
Ctrl+-	Undo; Ctrl+Z on Windows, Alt+Z on WSL

See Interaction and input for input and message queue behavior.

Global and application shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Esc	Interrupt output or cancel
Ctrl+C	Clear input; exit when input is empty
Ctrl+D	Exit with empty input
Ctrl+Z	Suspend the process; not supported on native Windows
Ctrl+G	Open the external editor
Ctrl+V	Paste an image; Alt+V on Windows / WSL

Models and output

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+L	Redraw the screen
Ctrl+P	Next selected model
Shift+Ctrl+P	Previous model; Alt+P on Windows / WSL
Shift+Tab	Cycle permission modes
Ctrl+T	Collapse or expand thinking
Ctrl+O	Collapse or expand tool output
Ctrl+X	Copy a response, selected message, or fullscreen selection depending on context
Alt+↑	Retrieve queued messages; Alt+Q on Windows / WSL

See Slash commands for the corresponding interactive commands.

Transcript scrolling and search (fullscreen)

Shortcut	Action
PageUp / PageDown	Scroll by page
Ctrl+Shift+F	Search the transcript; Ctrl+F on Windows / WSL
Enter / Ctrl+G	Next search result
Shift+Enter	Previous search result
Ctrl+Shift+↑ / ↓	Previous / next marked message

Fullscreen is experimental. Start it with step --tui-mode fullscreen.

Inside /tree

Shortcut	Action
↑ / ↓	Browse nodes
Enter	Select a node
Ctrl+← / →, Alt+← / →	Collapse or expand jumps
Shift+L	Edit a label
Ctrl+O	Cycle filters

Common picker shortcuts

Use arrows and PageUp / PageDown to browse, Enter to confirm, and Esc to cancel. In /resume, Ctrl+S changes sorting, Ctrl+N filters named sessions, Ctrl+R renames, and Ctrl+D deletes. Ctrl+S in model and thinking-level pickers saves the default.

Customization

Edit ~/.stepcode/agent/keybindings.json, then run /reload. Action names include tui.input.newLine and app.model.select. For example:

{
  "tui.input.newLine": ["shift+enter", "ctrl+j"]
}

Override only the actions you need, avoiding duplicate bindings in the same context. If a binding fails, check terminal interception, action names, and JSON syntax. See Configuration files for other interface settings.

Overview

Get Started

Using Step Code

Reference & Support

Input and editing

Global and application shortcuts

Models and output

Transcript scrolling and search (fullscreen)

Inside /tree

Common picker shortcuts

Customization

​Input and editing

​Global and application shortcuts

​Models and output

​Transcript scrolling and search (fullscreen)

​Inside /tree

​Common picker shortcuts

​Customization

Input and editing

Global and application shortcuts

Models and output

Transcript scrolling and search (fullscreen)

Inside /tree

Common picker shortcuts

Customization