Keybinds

qialike takes over the terminal’s raw input while it runs: it enables SGR mouse tracking and bracketed paste, so the transcript scrolls in-app, the app draws its own text selection, and the terminal’s native scrollback is replaced. Every binding below applies to the main conversation surface unless a dialog is open.

Composer and the slash-command panel

Key	Action
/	Open the slash-command palette (also Ctrl+P). Type to filter; ↑/↓ move the highlight; Enter runs the highlighted command; Esc clears the filter.
Tab	While a slash command is being typed, complete it to /name .
Enter	Submit the message, or run the highlighted palette command.
Alt+Enter	Insert a newline in the draft.
↑ / ↓	Move in the palette when the draft starts with /; otherwise browse input history (one ↑ on an empty draft recalls your most recent message); in a multi-line draft they move the caret.
← / →	Move the caret.
Home / End	Jump to the start/end of the current logical line in the draft.
PgUp / PgDn	Scroll the transcript a page at a time.
Ctrl+U	Delete from the caret to the start of the line.
Ctrl+Y	Copy the active mouse selection.
Ctrl+T / Alt+T	Cycle the current model’s reasoning effort through its declared levels.
Tab	With no slash command pending, cycle the sandbox permission mode: read-only → workspace-write → danger-full-access.
Esc	Clear the selection; remove a pending composer image; clear the palette filter.
Esc Esc	Two presses within ~800 ms while the agent is running pause the run.
Ctrl+C	Clear the draft and cancel the current action. During a long session open it is the escape hatch that exits the process.

Tip

A plain Enter submits. There is no separate Shift+Enter binding — most terminals deliver Shift+Enter as an ordinary Enter — so use Alt+Enter (or paste a multi-line block) to write a multi-line prompt.

Mouse

Mouse tracking is enabled for the whole session, so the pointer drives the app rather than the terminal:

Gesture	Action
Left-press and drag	Select text in-app; the selection highlight is drawn by qialike. Releasing copies the selection.
Wheel	Scroll the transcript. Over the composer it scrolls the draft when the draft overflows its box.
Left-click a settled tool row	Expand or collapse that row’s detail — the same thing /think does for all rows.
Left-click the Steps title bar	Toggle the right-hand Steps panel (/sidebar cycles it too).
Right-click	Cancel a running manual /compact.
Shift+right-click (in a dialog)	Paste the clipboard into the dialog’s input. A plain right-click inside a dialog is inert.

While the slash-command palette is open it owns the mouse: the wheel moves the highlight and a left-click runs the row, exactly like ↑/↓ and Enter.

Note

Because the app takes over mouse events, the terminal’s own selection and context menu are replaced. Shift+right-click is the paste gesture precisely because VTE and other terminals keep Shift+right-click for their own menu.

Selection and copy

Drag with the left button to select. A drag anchored in the message column keeps selecting as the pointer crosses other regions, and a drag anchored in the Steps sidebar selects only sidebar text. Releasing finalizes the selection and copies it; Ctrl+Y copies the current selection again (useful on terminals that drop the release event, such as macOS Terminal.app). Copy feedback appears in the status bar rather than the transcript.

Paste

Bracketed paste is parsed as a single event and sanitised before any consumer sees it — escape sequences and control bytes are stripped from clipboard content.

• In the composer, a pasted local image path attaches that image (for models that declare image input); any other paste is inserted as text at the caret.

• In dialog inputs, newlines are folded into spaces for single-line fields (API keys, filters, file names) and kept for multi-line editors.

• Clicking the Steps title bar cycles the right-hand sidebar auto → on → off (the same switch as /sidebar); the choice persists. The wheel scrolls the transcript, or moves the command highlight while the command panel is open. Clicking a tool row or a Think row expands/collapses it, exactly like /think.

Inside dialogs

Dialogs are full-screen (or floating) panels with their own key handling. Esc is the way out; Ctrl+C also leaves a dialog.

Dialog	Keys
/help	Esc or Ctrl+C closes.
/models (level 1, providers)	↑/↓ move, Enter drills into the provider’s models, Esc backs out, type to filter, Backspace edits, PgUp/PgDn/Home/End page long lists, Ctrl+D (Alt+D) deactivates the highlighted provider.
/models (effort step)	↑/↓ or a number selects Off / Low / High / Max, Enter confirms, Esc goes back to the model list.
/sessions	Type to filter, Enter resumes, Ctrl+R renames, Ctrl+F pins/unpins, Ctrl+D deletes (two presses confirm), Esc clears the filter then closes.
/export	↑/↓ move between fields, ←/→ toggle a field, type the file name, Enter exports.
Approval prompt	y or a allows the call once; n or Esc rejects.
ask_user_question card	One floating card with a clickable tab per question; ←/→ or Tab revisits, digits select an option, answering auto-advances, Esc cancels the whole ask. Choosing Other… opens an inline editor under the option list.

Caution

If the terminal is too short for the conversation surface — this surface needs at least 14 rows — qialike paints a “terminal too small” notice and ignores all input, including Ctrl+C, until the window is tall enough. Full-screen dialogs remain visible and interactive at any height.

Next steps

• Commands — the CLI flags and slash commands
• Config — themes, colour depth and frame repaints
• Permissions — what the three Tab modes mean