Feat: Add caret mode for keyboard-driven navigation of the scrollback#12326
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brianc442 wants to merge 1 commit into
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Feat: Add caret mode for keyboard-driven navigation of the scrollback#12326brianc442 wants to merge 1 commit into
brianc442 wants to merge 1 commit into
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Uses VIM hotkeys as the default. The implementation is functionally the same as vim visual mode or the copy mode found in tmux & WezTerm. Written as an optional feature which is off by default. Requires a simple one line addition to the config file to create a keybind which activates caret mode.
philocalyst
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May 25, 2026
philocalyst
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Would love to have this in Ghostty! There's only a couple blocks of real logic so I hope this gets moving soon :)
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| // Push the "caret" key table so caret bindings become active. | ||
| if (self.config.keybind.tables.getPtr("caret")) |set| { | ||
| if (self.keyboard.table_stack.items.len < max_active_key_tables) { |
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I wonder if it would be better to switch the conditional order? The comparison is much cheaper.
| // Find the caret position within the viewport. | ||
| if (s.caret_mode) { | ||
| if (self.caret == null) { | ||
| if (s.caret_pin) |cp| { |
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An orelse here would do wonders! A few other simplifications may also be possible.
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Directly related discussions: #3708 #3488
Less directly related but still relevant discussions: #2394 #6916 #6917 #7672
The caret appears as a hollow block cursor. Vim hotkeys are used by default. The implementation is functionally the same as vim visual mode or the copy mode found in tmux & WezTerm. One notable deviation from vim visual mode is that pressing
yto copy the selection does not exit caret mode - this was a deliberate design decision as exiting caret mode redraws the screen at the cursor which may not be desired if the user was copying something several pages up in the scrollback.Written as an optional feature which is off by default. Requires a simple one line addition to the config file to create a keybind which activates caret mode:
e.g.
keybind = alt+v=enter_caret_modeThe built in key table can be extended or overridden in ghostty/config (e.g.
keybind = caret/w=...). All defaults can be cleared withkeybind = caret/if desired.Default keybinds:
h/j/k/l or arrows: move caret
pg up/Ctrl+u/b: page up
pg dn/Ctrl+d/f: page down
gg/G: top/bottom of scrollback
0/$: beginning/end of line
/: search
n/N: search next/prev
v: toggle selection mode on/off (unlike vim, does not exit caret mode)
y: copy selection
Esc/q/i: exit caret mode
Code written with assistance from Claude Code. I reviewed, tested on Arch Linux, & ran the feature locally for ~1 month before submitting. It should work on macOS as well but I do not have a machine to test this.