wezterm/docs/copymode.md

Copy Mode

since: 20200607-144723-74889cd4

Copy mode allows you to make selections using the keyboard; no need to reach for your mouse or trackpad. Copy mode is similar to quick select mode but is geared up for describing selections based on keyboard control, whereas quick select mode is used to quickly select and copy commonly used patterns.

The ActivateCopyMode key assignment is used to enter copy mode; it is bound to CTRL-SHIFT-X by default.

When copy mode is activated, the title is prefixed with "Copy Mode" and the behavior of the tab is changed; keyboard input now controls the cursor and allows moving it through the scrollback, scrolling the viewport as needed, in a style similar to that of the Vim editor.

Move the cursor to the start of the region you wish to select and press v to toggle selection mode (it is off by default), then move the cursor to the end of that region. You can then use Copy (by default: CTRl-SHIFT-C) to copy that region to the clipboard.

Key Assignments

The key assignments in copy mode are as follows. They are not currently reassignable.

Action	Key Assignment
Exit copy mode	Esc
	CTRL-C
	CTRL-g
	q
Toggle cell selection mode	v
Rectangular selection	CTRL-v (since: nightly builds only)
Move Left	LeftArrow
	h
Move Down	DownArrow
	j
Move Up	UpArrow
	k
Move Right	RightArrow
	l
Move forward one word	Alt-RightArrow
	Alt-f
	Tab
	w
Move backward one word	Alt-LeftArrow
	alt-b
	Shift-Tab
	b
Move to start of this line	0
Move to start of next line	Enter
Move to end of this line	$
Move to start of indented line	Alt-m
	^
Move to bottom of scrollback	G
Move to top of scrollback	g
Move to top of viewport	H
Move to middle of viewport	M
Move to bottom of viewport	L
Move up one screen	PageUp
	CTRL-b
Move down one screen	PageDown
	CTRL-f

Configurable Key Assignments

Since: nightly builds only

The key assignments for copy mode are specified by the copy_mode Key Table.

You may provide your own definition of this key table if you wish to customize it. There isn't a way to override portions of the key table, only to replace the entire table.

The default configuration is equivalent to:

local wezterm = require 'wezterm'

return {
  key_tables = {
    copy_mode = {
      {key="c", mods="CTRL", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="Close"}},
      {key="g", mods="CTRL", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="Close"}},
      {key="q", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="Close"}},
      {key="Escape", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="Close"}},

      {key="h", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveLeft"}},
      {key="j", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveDown"}},
      {key="k", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveUp"}},
      {key="l", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveRight"}},

      {key="LeftArrow", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveLeft"}},
      {key="DownArrow", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveDown"}},
      {key="UpArrow", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveUp"}},
      {key="RightArrow", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveRight"}},

      {key="RightArrow", mods="ALT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveForwardWord"}},
      {key="f", mods="ALT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveForwardWord"}},
      {key="Tab", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveForwardWord"}},
      {key="w", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveForwardWord"}},

      {key="LeftArrow", mods="ALT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveBackwardWord"}},
      {key="b", mods="ALT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveBackwardWord"}},
      {key="Tab", mods="SHIFT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveBackwardWord"}},
      {key="b", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveBackwardWord"}},

      {key="0", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToStartOfLine"}},
      {key="Enter", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToStartOfNextLine"}},
      {key="$", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToEndOfLineContent"}},
      {key="$", mods="SHIFT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToEndOfLineContent"}},

      {key="m", mods="ALT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToStartOfLineContent"}},
      {key="^", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToStartOfLineContent"}},
      {key="^", mods="SHIFT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToStartOfLineContent"}},

      {key=" ", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="ToggleSelectionByCell"}},
      {key="v", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="ToggleSelectionByCell"}},
      {key="v", mods="CTRL", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode={SetSelectionMode="Block"}}},

      {key="G", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToScrollbackBottom"}},
      {key="G", mods="SHIFT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToScrollbackBottom"}},
      {key="g", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToScrollbackTop"}},

      {key="H", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToViewportTop"}},
      {key="H", mods="SHIFT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToViewportTop"}},
      {key="M", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToViewportMiddle"}},
      {key="M", mods="SHIFT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToViewportMiddle"}},
      {key="L", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToViewportBottom"}},
      {key="L", mods="SHIFT", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="MoveToViewportBottom"}},

      {key="PageUp", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="PageUp"}},
      {key="PageDown", mods="NONE", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="PageDown"}},

      {key="b", mods="CTRL", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="PageUp"}},
      {key="f", mods="CTRL", action=wezterm.action{CopyMode="PageDown"}},
    }
  },
}