Keybindings

Keybindings

All keyboard shortcuts can be customized via ~/.atomic/agent/keybindings.json. Each action can be bound to one or more keys.

The config file uses the same namespaced keybinding ids that Atomic uses internally and that extension authors use in keyHint() and injected keybindings managers.

Older configs using pre-namespaced ids such as cursorUp or expandTools are migrated automatically to the namespaced ids on startup.

After editing keybindings.json, run /reload in Atomic to apply the changes without restarting the session.

Key Format

modifier+key where modifiers are ctrl, shift, alt (combinable) and keys are:

• Letters: a-z
• Digits: 0-9
• Special: escape, esc, enter, return, tab, space, backspace, delete, insert, clear, home, end, pageUp, pageDown, up, down, left, right
• Function: f1-f12
• Symbols: `, -, =, [, ], \, ;, ', ,, ., /, !, @, #, $, %, ^, &, *, (, ), _, +, |, ~, {, }, :, <, >, ?

Modifier combinations: ctrl+shift+x, alt+ctrl+x, ctrl+shift+alt+x, ctrl+1, etc.

All Actions

TUI Editor Cursor Movement

Keybinding id	Default	Description
tui.editor.cursorUp	up	Move cursor up
tui.editor.cursorDown	down	Move cursor down
tui.editor.cursorLeft	left, ctrl+b	Move cursor left
tui.editor.cursorRight	right, ctrl+f	Move cursor right
tui.editor.cursorWordLeft	alt+left, ctrl+left, alt+b	Move cursor word left
tui.editor.cursorWordRight	alt+right, ctrl+right, alt+f	Move cursor word right
tui.editor.cursorLineStart	home, ctrl+a	Move to line start
tui.editor.cursorLineEnd	end, ctrl+e	Move to line end
tui.editor.jumpForward	ctrl+]	Jump forward to character
tui.editor.jumpBackward	ctrl+alt+]	Jump backward to character
tui.editor.pageUp	pageUp	Scroll up by page
tui.editor.pageDown	pageDown	Scroll down by page

TUI Editor Deletion

Keybinding id	Default	Description
tui.editor.deleteCharBackward	backspace	Delete character backward
tui.editor.deleteCharForward	delete, ctrl+d	Delete character forward
tui.editor.deleteWordBackward	ctrl+w, alt+backspace	Delete word backward
tui.editor.deleteWordForward	alt+d, alt+delete	Delete word forward
tui.editor.deleteToLineStart	ctrl+u	Delete to line start
tui.editor.deleteToLineEnd	ctrl+k	Delete to line end

TUI Input

Keybinding id	Default	Description
tui.input.newLine	shift+enter	Insert new line
tui.input.submit	enter	Submit input
tui.input.tab	tab	Tab / autocomplete

TUI Kill Ring

Keybinding id	Default	Description
tui.editor.yank	ctrl+y	Paste most recently deleted text
tui.editor.yankPop	alt+y	Cycle through deleted text after yank
tui.editor.undo	ctrl+-	Undo last edit

TUI Clipboard and Selection

Keybinding id	Default	Description
tui.input.copy	ctrl+c	Copy selection
tui.select.up	up	Move selection up
tui.select.down	down	Move selection down
tui.select.pageUp	pageUp	Page up in list
tui.select.pageDown	pageDown	Page down in list
tui.select.confirm	enter	Confirm selection
tui.select.cancel	escape, ctrl+c	Cancel selection

Application

Keybinding id	Default	Description
app.interrupt	escape	Abort active or queued work and restore queued steering/follow-up messages to the editor; the session remains paused until an ordinary submission
app.clear	ctrl+c	Interrupt active or queued work, or terminate an unresponsive interactive engine; once idle, clear the editor (press twice while idle to exit)
app.exit	ctrl+d	Exit (when editor empty)
app.suspend	ctrl+z (none on Windows)	Suspend to background
app.editor.external	ctrl+g	Open in external editor ($VISUAL or $EDITOR)
app.clipboard.pasteImage	ctrl+v (alt+v on Windows)	Paste image from clipboard
app.message.copy	ctrl+x	Copy the last assistant message (or the selected message in /tree)

When app.clipboard.pasteImage finds text rather than an image, Atomic inserts that clipboard text into the editor instead of reporting an image-paste failure.

A held paused queue by itself is idle for Ctrl+C handling. After an interruption settles, the next Ctrl+C clears the editor without releasing or dequeuing the hold, and a second quick idle press exits normally.

In interactive sessions the agent runs in a supervised engine child (see Extensions). Escape there requests the engine’s cooperative cancellation and waits for it with no deadline; it never terminates or replaces the engine.

Both keys are recognized by their physical identity, not by the configured app.clear action, so rebinding app.clear cannot make Escape stop the engine or take the host route away from Ctrl+C.

Ctrl+C is the host’s escape hatch whenever an engine-owned ctx.ui.custom() component or overlay holds input: those forward every key to the engine, so a component that never resolves would swallow Ctrl+C. Which component gets the press is decided per mount, in this order:

1. If the engine is provably not answering, the first press terminates and replaces it — a wedged child cannot run the component’s own handler either. “Not answering” means the watchdog has declared it unresponsive, a cooperative abort has gone unanswered past the same one-second threshold, a replacement has been waiting for readiness past it, or a replacement failed. A failed replacement keeps Ctrl+C armed so another press can try again; Atomic never retries on its own.
2. Otherwise, if the component declared handlesCtrlC when it was mounted, it receives the press and keeps its own Skip, Close, or cancel behavior. The bundled workflow surfaces declare it. If the same component is still holding input on the next press, that press closes it.
3. Otherwise the first press closes that one component, exactly as if it had been cancelled: its ctx.ui.custom() promise resolves with undefined, the editor comes back, and the engine — along with everything else it has mounted or is running — is left alone.

tui.select.cancel still keeps Ctrl+C as local cancel inside host-native selectors, dialogs, input forms, and session pickers.

Sessions

Keybinding id	Default	Description
app.session.new	(none)	Start a new session (/new)
app.session.tree	(none)	Open session tree navigator (/tree)
app.session.fork	(none)	Fork current session (/fork)
app.session.resume	(none)	Open session resume picker (/resume)
app.session.togglePath	ctrl+p	Toggle path display
app.session.toggleSort	ctrl+s	Toggle sort mode
app.session.toggleNamedFilter	ctrl+n	Toggle named-only filter
app.session.rename	ctrl+r	Rename session
app.session.delete	ctrl+d	Delete session
app.session.deleteNoninvasive	ctrl+backspace	Delete session when query is empty

Models and Thinking

Keybinding id	Default	Description
app.model.select	ctrl+l	Open model selector
app.model.cycleForward	ctrl+p	Cycle to next model
app.model.cycleBackward	shift+ctrl+p	Cycle to previous model
app.thinking.cycle	shift+tab	Cycle thinking level
app.thinking.toggle	ctrl+t	Collapse or expand thinking blocks

Display and Message Queue

Keybinding id	Default	Description
app.tools.expand	ctrl+o	Collapse or expand tool and workflow-node detail in main chat or an attached workflow stage chat
app.message.followUp	alt+enter	Queue follow-up message
app.message.dequeue	alt+up	Restore queued messages to editor

Tree Navigation

Keybinding id	Default	Description
app.tree.foldOrUp	ctrl+left, alt+left	Fold current branch segment, or jump to the previous segment start
app.tree.unfoldOrDown	ctrl+right, alt+right	Unfold current branch segment, or jump to the next segment start or branch end
app.tree.editLabel	shift+l	Edit the label on the selected tree node
app.tree.toggleLabelTimestamp	shift+t	Toggle label timestamps in the tree
app.tree.filter.default	ctrl+d	Set tree filter to default view
app.tree.filter.noTools	ctrl+t	Toggle tree filter that hides tool results
app.tree.filter.userOnly	ctrl+u	Toggle tree filter that shows only user messages
app.tree.filter.labeledOnly	ctrl+l	Toggle tree filter that shows only labeled entries
app.tree.filter.all	ctrl+a	Toggle tree filter that shows all entries
app.tree.filter.cycleForward	ctrl+o	Cycle tree filter forward
app.tree.filter.cycleBackward	shift+ctrl+o	Cycle tree filter backward

Scoped Models Selector

Used inside the scoped models selector (opened via /scoped-models).

Keybinding id	Default	Description
app.models.save	ctrl+s	Save current model selection to settings
app.models.enableAll	ctrl+a	Enable all models (or all matching the current search)
app.models.clearAll	ctrl+x	Clear all models (or all matching the current search)
app.models.toggleProvider	ctrl+p	Toggle all models for the current provider
app.models.reorderUp	alt+up	Move the selected model up in the cycle order
app.models.reorderDown	alt+down	Move the selected model down in the cycle order

Custom Configuration

Create ~/.atomic/agent/keybindings.json:

{
  "tui.editor.cursorUp": ["up", "ctrl+p"],
  "tui.editor.cursorDown": ["down", "ctrl+n"],
  "tui.editor.deleteWordBackward": ["ctrl+w", "alt+backspace"]
}

Each action can have a single key or an array of keys. User config overrides defaults.

On native Windows, app.suspend has no default binding because Windows terminals do not support Unix job control. If you bind it manually, Atomic shows a status message instead of suspending. In WSL, the normal Linux ctrl+z/fg behavior still applies.

Emacs Example

{
  "tui.editor.cursorUp": ["up", "ctrl+p"],
  "tui.editor.cursorDown": ["down", "ctrl+n"],
  "tui.editor.cursorLeft": ["left", "ctrl+b"],
  "tui.editor.cursorRight": ["right", "ctrl+f"],
  "tui.editor.cursorWordLeft": ["alt+left", "alt+b"],
  "tui.editor.cursorWordRight": ["alt+right", "alt+f"],
  "tui.editor.deleteCharForward": ["delete", "ctrl+d"],
  "tui.editor.deleteCharBackward": ["backspace", "ctrl+h"],
  "tui.input.newLine": ["shift+enter", "ctrl+j"]
}

Vim Example

{
  "tui.editor.cursorUp": ["up", "alt+k"],
  "tui.editor.cursorDown": ["down", "alt+j"],
  "tui.editor.cursorLeft": ["left", "alt+h"],
  "tui.editor.cursorRight": ["right", "alt+l"],
  "tui.editor.cursorWordLeft": ["alt+left", "alt+b"],
  "tui.editor.cursorWordRight": ["alt+right", "alt+w"]
}