Cortex Code CLI keyboard shortcuts¶

Master Cortex Code CLI with these keyboard shortcuts for efficient navigation.

Input shortcuts¶

Shortcut	Action
Enter	Submit message
Ctrl-J	Insert newline (multiline input)
Ctrl/Cmd-V	Paste from clipboard
Ctrl-C	Cancel/interrupt (double-tap to exit)
Esc	Dismiss suggestions (double-tap to clear input)
Ctrl-K	Kill line (clear input)
Ctrl-Y	Yank (paste killed text)
Ctrl-A	Move to line start
Ctrl-E	Move to line end

View shortcuts¶

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl-T	Open table viewer (cycle forward)
Ctrl-Shift-T	Cycle table viewer backward
Ctrl-P	Toggle compact/expanded mode
Ctrl-O	Open full transcript viewer
Ctrl-B	View background bash processes
Ctrl-D	Open todo/task viewer
Ctrl-G	Open web search results
?	Toggle help overlay

Mode Shortcuts¶

Shortcut	Action
Shift-Tab	Cycle operational modes

Modes cycle in this order:

Confirm actions
Plan mode
Bypass safeguards

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl-R	Reverse search history (Emacs-style)
Ctrl-S	Forward search history
Ctrl-G	Cancel history search
Up / Down	Navigate history (when at top/bottom of input)
Option-Up	Previous history entry
Option-Down	Next history entry

Table viewer shortcuts¶

Additional shortcuts for the table viewer (Ctrl-T):

Shortcut	Action
Tab	Cycle to next table
Shift-Tab	Cycle to previous table
c	Copy query to clipboard

Auto-complete triggers¶

Typing one of the trigger characters below begins auto-completion for commands, file paths, skills, or Snowflake tables.

Trigger	Action
/	Slash command completion
@	File path completion
$	Skill completion
#	Snowflake table completion
Tab	Accept suggestion
Up / Down	Navigate suggestions

Display modes¶

Press Ctrl-P to toggle between Compact and Expanded display modes for tool execution details.

Compact mode (Default)

Minimal tool execution display
Shows summary of operations

Expanded mode

Full tool execution details
Complete input/output display

Quick reference card¶

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  CORTEX CODE SHORTCUTS                   │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  INPUT                  │  VIEW                          │
│  Enter      Submit      │  Ctrl-T    Table viewer        │
│  Ctrl-J     Newline     │  Ctrl-P    Toggle compact      │
│  Ctrl-C     Cancel      │  Ctrl-O    Transcript          │
│  Ctrl-R     History     │  Ctrl-B    Background bash     │
│  Esc Esc    Clear       │  Ctrl-D    Todo viewer         │
│                         │  ?         Help overlay        │
├─────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│  NAVIGATION             │  AUTOCOMPLETE                  │
│  Up/k       Up          │  /         Commands            │
│  Down/j     Down        │  @         Files               │
│  g          Top         │  $         Skills              │
│  G          Bottom      │  #         Tables              │
│  q/Esc      Exit        │  Tab       Accept              │
├─────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────┤
│  Shift-Tab  Cycle modes (Confirm → Plan → Bypass)        │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Tips¶

Use Ctrl-P often: Switch between compact and expanded mode based on what you need to see.
Master Ctrl-R: History search is powerful for repeating complex prompts.
Vim-style navigation: The h/j/k/l keys work everywhere for cursor movement.
Double-tap patterns: For example, Esc Esc clears input, Ctrl-C Ctrl-C exits.