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VibeTunnel Keyboard Shortcuts

VibeTunnel provides a comprehensive set of keyboard shortcuts for efficient terminal session management. The app intelligently handles keyboard input to balance browser functionality with terminal control.

Keyboard Capture Modes

VibeTunnel operates in two keyboard capture modes:

1. Capture Active (Default)

  • Most keyboard shortcuts are sent to the terminal
  • Critical browser shortcuts remain functional
  • Indicated by the keyboard icon in the session header

2. Capture Disabled

  • Browser shortcuts take precedence
  • Terminal receives only typed text
  • Toggle with double-press Escape

Toggling Keyboard Capture

Action Description
Double Escape Toggle keyboard capture on/off

Press Escape twice within 500ms to toggle between capture modes.

Critical Browser Shortcuts (Always Available)

These shortcuts always work, regardless of keyboard capture state:

Tab Management

macOS Windows/Linux Action
⌘T Ctrl+T New tab
⌘W Ctrl+W Close tab
⌘⇧T Ctrl+Shift+T Reopen closed tab
⌘1-9 Ctrl+1-9 Switch to tab 1-9*
⌘0 Ctrl+0 Switch to last tab*

*When keyboard capture is active in session view, these shortcuts switch between VibeTunnel sessions instead of browser tabs

Window Management

macOS Windows/Linux Action
⌘N Ctrl+N New window
⌘⇧N Ctrl+Shift+N New incognito window
⌘Q Ctrl+Q Quit browser
⌘H - Hide window (macOS)
- Alt+F4 Close window (Windows)

Essential Operations

macOS Windows/Linux Action
⌘C Ctrl+C Copy
⌘V Ctrl+V Paste
⌘A Ctrl+A Select all*
⌘, - Preferences (macOS)

*When capture is active, ⌘A/Ctrl+A goes to terminal (moves cursor to line start)

Developer Tools

macOS Windows/Linux Action
F12 F12 Open DevTools
⌘⌥I Ctrl+Shift+I Open DevTools

VibeTunnel-Specific Shortcuts

Navigation

macOS Windows/Linux Action Context
⌘K Ctrl+K Create new session Any view
⌘O Ctrl+O Browse files List view
⌘B Ctrl+B Toggle sidebar Any view
Escape Escape Return to list Session/File browser

Session Switching (When Keyboard Capture Active)

macOS Windows/Linux Action Context
⌘1...9 Ctrl+1...9 Switch to session 1 to 9 Session view with capture ON
⌘0 Ctrl+0 Switch to session 10 Session view with capture ON

Note: When keyboard capture is active in session view, number shortcuts switch between VibeTunnel sessions instead of browser tabs. The session numbers correspond to the numbers shown in the session list. This allows quick navigation between active sessions without leaving the keyboard.

Terminal Shortcuts (When Capture Active)

When keyboard capture is active, these shortcuts are sent to the terminal:

Cursor Movement

macOS Windows/Linux Terminal Action
⌘A Ctrl+A Move to line start
⌘E Ctrl+E Move to line end
⌥← Alt+Left Move word backward
⌥→ Alt+Right Move word forward

Text Editing

macOS Windows/Linux Terminal Action
⌘W Ctrl+W Delete word backward
⌘U Ctrl+U Delete to line start
⌘K Ctrl+K Delete to line end
⌥⌫ Alt+Backspace Delete word backward
⌥D Alt+D Delete word forward

History & Search

macOS Windows/Linux Terminal Action
⌘R Ctrl+R Reverse history search
⌘P Ctrl+P Previous command
⌘N Ctrl+N Next command

Terminal Control

macOS Windows/Linux Terminal Action
⌘L Ctrl+L Clear screen
⌘D Ctrl+D EOF/Exit
⌘C Ctrl+C Interrupt process
⌘Z Ctrl+Z Suspend process

Shortcuts Behavior by Capture State

When Capture is Active ✅

These shortcuts go to the terminal:

  • Text editing (⌘A, ⌘E, ⌘W, ⌘K, ⌘U)
  • Navigation (⌘F, ⌘B for forward/backward char)
  • Terminal control (⌘L, ⌘D, ⌘R)

When Capture is Disabled ❌

These shortcuts perform browser actions:

  • ⌘F/Ctrl+F - Find in page
  • ⌘L/Ctrl+L - Focus address bar
  • ⌘D/Ctrl+D - Bookmark page
  • ⌘P/Ctrl+P - Print
  • ⌘S/Ctrl+S - Save page

Special Key Handling

Modified Enter Key

Combination Terminal Receives
Enter Standard return
Ctrl+Enter Special control sequence
Shift+Enter Special shift sequence

Function Keys

  • F1-F12 are sent to the terminal when capture is active
  • F5 (Refresh) works in browser when capture is disabled
  • F11 (Fullscreen) always works

Platform Differences

macOS

  • Uses ⌘ (Command) as primary modifier
  • ⌥ (Option) for word navigation
  • Additional shortcuts like ⌘H (Hide), ⌘M (Minimize)

Windows/Linux

  • Uses Ctrl as primary modifier
  • Alt for word navigation
  • Alt+F4 closes windows

Tips

  1. Double-tap Escape to quickly toggle between terminal and browser shortcuts
  2. Critical shortcuts (new tab, close tab, copy/paste) always work
  3. Session switching (⌘1-9, ⌘0) - When keyboard capture is ON in session view, quickly switch between active sessions
  4. Tab switching (⌘1-9, ⌘0) - When keyboard capture is OFF, switch browser tabs as usual
  5. When unsure, check the keyboard icon in the session header to see capture state

Troubleshooting

Shortcuts not working as expected?

  1. Check keyboard capture state - Look for the keyboard icon in the session header
  2. Try double-escape - Toggle capture mode on/off
  3. Browser shortcuts in terminal? - Ensure keyboard capture is active
  4. Terminal shortcuts in browser? - Disable keyboard capture with double-escape

Copy/Paste issues?

  • Standard copy/paste (⌘C/⌘V or Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V) always works
  • For terminal copy mode, use the terminal's built-in shortcuts
  • Right-click context menu is always available

Implementation Details

The keyboard shortcut system is implemented in:

  • web/src/client/utils/browser-shortcuts.ts - Centralized shortcut detection
  • web/src/client/components/session-view/input-manager.ts - Terminal input handling
  • web/src/client/app.ts - Application-level shortcut handling

The system uses a priority-based approach:

  1. Critical browser shortcuts (highest priority)
  2. VibeTunnel app shortcuts
  3. Terminal shortcuts (when capture active)
  4. Browser defaults (when capture disabled)