Terminal Setup

Pi uses the Kitty keyboard protocol for reliable modifier key detection. Most modern terminals support this protocol, but some require configuration.

Work out of the box.

Pi enables enhanced key reporting when available. If Terminal.app still sends plain Return for Shift+Enter, pi uses a local macOS modifier fallback to treat that Return as Shift+Enter.

This fallback only works when pi runs on the same Mac as Terminal.app. It cannot detect the local keyboard over remote SSH.

Add to your Ghostty config (~/Library/Application Support/com.mitchellh.ghostty/config on macOS, ~/.config/ghostty/config on Linux):

keybind = alt+backspace=text:\x1b\x7f

Older Claude Code versions may have added this Ghostty mapping:

keybind = shift+enter=text:\n

That mapping sends a raw linefeed byte. Inside pi, that is indistinguishable from Ctrl+J, so tmux and pi no longer see a real shift+enter key event.

If Claude Code 2.x or newer is the only reason you added that mapping, you can remove it, unless you want to use Claude Code in tmux, where it still requires that Ghostty mapping.

If you want Shift+Enter to keep working in tmux via that remap, add ctrl+j to your pi newLine keybinding in ~/.pi/agent/keybindings.json:

{
  "newLine": ["shift+enter", "ctrl+j"]
}

WezTerm usually works out of the box for Shift+Enter via xterm modifyOtherKeys. To use the Kitty keyboard protocol explicitly, create ~/.wezterm.lua:

local wezterm = require 'wezterm'
local config = wezterm.config_builder()
config.enable_kitty_keyboard = true
return config

On macOS, WezTerm binds Option+Enter to fullscreen by default. To use Option+Enter for pi follow-up queueing, add this key override:

local wezterm = require 'wezterm'
local config = wezterm.config_builder()
config.keys = {
  {
    key = 'Enter',
    mods = 'ALT',
    action = wezterm.action.SendString('\x1b[13;3u'),
  },
}
return config

If you already have a config.keys table, add the entry to it.

On WSL, WezTerm may require a visible hardware cursor for IME candidate window positioning. If CJK IME candidates do not follow the text cursor, set PI_HARDWARE_CURSOR=1 before running pi or set showHardwareCursor to true in settings.

Alacritty usually works out of the box for Shift+Enter. On macOS, Option+Enter may arrive as plain Enter. To use Option+Enter for pi follow-up queueing, add to ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.toml:

[[keyboard.bindings]]
key = "Enter"
mods = "Alt"
chars = "\u001b[13;3u"

Restart Alacritty after changing the config.

VS Code 1.109.5 and newer enable Kitty keyboard protocol in the integrated terminal by default, so Shift+Enter should work out of the box.

VS Code versions older than 1.109.5 need an explicit terminal keybinding for Shift+Enter.

keybindings.json locations:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/keybindings.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Code/User/keybindings.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\\Code\\User\\keybindings.json

Add to keybindings.json:

{
  "key": "shift+enter",
  "command": "workbench.action.terminal.sendSequence",
  "args": { "text": "\u001b[13;2u" },
  "when": "terminalFocus"
}

Add to settings.json (Ctrl+Shift+, or Settings → Open JSON file) to forward the modified Enter keys pi uses:

{
  "actions": [
    {
      "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u001b[13;2u" },
      "keys": "shift+enter"
    },
    {
      "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u001b[13;3u" },
      "keys": "alt+enter"
    }
  ]
}

• Shift+Enter inserts a new line.
• Windows Terminal binds Alt+Enter to fullscreen by default. That prevents pi from receiving Alt+Enter for follow-up queueing.
• Remapping Alt+Enter to sendInput forwards the real key chord to pi instead.

If you already have an actions array, add the objects to it. If the old fullscreen behavior persists, fully close and reopen Windows Terminal.

These terminals have limited escape sequence support. Modified Enter keys like Ctrl+Enter and Shift+Enter cannot be distinguished from plain Enter, preventing custom keybindings such as submit: ["ctrl+enter"] from working.

For the best experience, use a terminal that supports the Kitty keyboard protocol:

• Kitty
• Ghostty
• WezTerm
• iTerm2
• Alacritty (requires compilation with Kitty protocol support)

The built-in terminal has limited escape sequence support. Shift+Enter cannot be distinguished from Enter in IntelliJ's terminal.

If you want the hardware cursor visible, set PI_HARDWARE_CURSOR=1 before running pi (disabled by default for compatibility).

Consider using a dedicated terminal emulator for the best experience.