Keyboard Shortcuts

Kimi Code CLI shell mode supports the following keyboard shortcuts.

Shortcuts list

Shortcut	Function
Ctrl-X	Toggle agent/shell mode
Shift-Tab	Toggle plan mode (read-only research and planning)
Ctrl-O	Edit in external editor ($VISUAL/$EDITOR)
Ctrl-J	Insert newline
Alt-Enter	Insert newline (same as Ctrl-J)
Ctrl-S	Steer: inject input immediately into the running turn (during streaming)
Ctrl-V	Paste (supports images and video files)
Ctrl-E	Expand full approval request content
1–4	Quick select approval option (4 for decline with feedback)
1–5	Select question option by number
Ctrl-D	Exit Kimi Code CLI
Ctrl-C	Interrupt current operation

Mode switching

Ctrl-X: Toggle agent/shell mode

Press Ctrl-X in the input box to switch between two modes:

• Agent mode: Input is sent to AI agent for processing
• Shell mode: Input is executed as local shell command

The prompt changes based on current mode:

• Agent mode: ✨ (normal) or 💫 (thinking mode)
• Plan mode: 📋
• Shell mode: $

Plan mode

Shift-Tab: Toggle plan mode

Press Shift-Tab to enable or disable plan mode. In plan mode, the AI can only use read-only tools to explore the codebase, writing an implementation plan to a plan file and submitting it for your approval.

When enabled, the prompt changes to 📋 and a blue plan badge appears in the status bar. You can also use the /plan slash command to manage plan mode. See Plan mode for details.

External editor

Ctrl-O: Edit in external editor

Press Ctrl-O to open an external editor (e.g., VS Code, Vim) to edit the current input content. The editor is selected in the following priority:

1. Editor configured via /editor command
2. $VISUAL environment variable
3. $EDITOR environment variable
4. Auto-detect: code --wait (VS Code) → vim → vi → nano

Use the /editor command to interactively switch editors, or specify directly, e.g., /editor vim.

After saving and exiting the editor, the edited content replaces the current input. If you quit without saving (e.g., :q! in Vim), the input remains unchanged. If the input contains pasted text placeholders, the editor automatically expands them to the original text for editing; unmodified portions are re-collapsed into placeholders after saving.

Useful for writing multi-line prompts, complex code snippets, etc.

Multi-line input

Ctrl-J / Alt-Enter: Insert newline

By default, pressing Enter submits the input. To enter multi-line content, use:

• Ctrl-J: Insert newline at any position
• Alt-Enter: Insert newline at any position

Useful for entering multi-line code snippets or formatted text.

Clipboard operations

Ctrl-V: Paste

Paste clipboard content into the input box. Supports:

• Text: In agent mode, text longer than 1000 characters or 15 lines is automatically collapsed into a [Pasted text #n] placeholder to keep the input box clean; the full content is expanded and sent to the model when submitting. When using Ctrl-O to open an external editor, placeholders are automatically expanded to the original text, and unmodified portions are re-collapsed after saving
• Images: Cached to disk and displayed as an [image:xxx.png,WxH] placeholder; the actual image data is sent along with the message to the model (requires model image input support)
• Video files: File path is inserted as text into the input box (requires model video input support)

TIP

Image pasting requires the model to support image_in capability. Video pasting requires the model to support video_in capability.

Streaming input

Ctrl-S: Steer

During streaming, press Ctrl-S to submit the current input (or pop the oldest queued message) and inject it immediately into the running turn's context. The model sees your message right away without waiting for the current turn to end.

If the input box is empty and there are queued messages, Ctrl-S pops the oldest queued message and steers it instead.

Enter: Queue

During streaming, pressing Enter queues your message for delivery after the current turn completes. The queued message count is shown in the input header (e.g., ── input · 2 queued ──). Press ↑ on an empty input to recall the last queued message for editing.

Approval request operations

Ctrl-E: Expand full content

When approval request preview content is truncated, press Ctrl-E to view the full content in a fullscreen pager. When preview is truncated, a "... (truncated, ctrl-e to expand)" hint is displayed.

Useful for viewing longer shell commands or file diff content.

Number key quick selection

In the approval panel, press 1–3 to directly select and submit the corresponding approval option without navigating with arrow keys first. Press 4 to enter feedback mode, where you can type a reason for declining and press Enter to submit; the feedback text is passed to the agent to guide its next attempt.

Structured question operations

When the AI uses the AskUserQuestion tool to ask you a question, the question panel supports the following keyboard operations:

Shortcut	Function
↑ / ↓	Navigate options
← / → / Tab	Switch between questions (multi-question mode)
1–5	Select option by number (auto-submits for single-select, toggles for multi-select)
Space	Submit selection in single-select mode, toggle selection in multi-select mode
Enter	Confirm selection
Esc	Skip question

When the AI asks multiple questions at once, the question panel displays them as tabs. Use ← / → or Tab to switch between questions. Answered questions are marked as complete, and switching back to a previously answered question restores your earlier selection.

Exit and interrupt

Ctrl-D: Exit

Press Ctrl-D when the input box is empty to exit Kimi Code CLI.

Ctrl-C: Interrupt

• In input box: Clear current input
• During agent execution: Interrupt current operation
• During slash command execution: Interrupt command

Completion operations

In agent mode, a completion menu is automatically displayed while typing:

Trigger	Completion content
/	Slash commands
@	File paths in working directory

Completion operations:

• Arrow keys to select
• Enter to confirm selection
• Esc to close menu
• Continue typing to filter options

Status bar

The bottom status bar displays:

• Current time
• Current mode (agent/shell) and model name (in agent mode)
• YOLO badge (yellow, when enabled)
• Plan badge (blue, when enabled)
• Shortcut hints
• Context usage

The status bar automatically refreshes to update information.