Helios / User guide / Keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts
A practical reference for Helios keyboard shortcuts, message editing, session navigation and workspace controls.
Helios 0.114.4 · Source reference ↗
Messages and stopping
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Enter | Send the composer message. |
| Enter | Insert a newline. |
| Ctrl+L | Focus the composer. |
| Esc or Ctrl+. | Stop the current turn; queued messages return to the composer. |
| Ctrl+Shift+. | Emergency stop across sessions and the shared Codex transport. |
| Ctrl+V | Paste an image when the clipboard offers image input. |
Sessions and window navigation
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+N | New chat with the default folder choice. |
| Ctrl+Shift+N | New chat with a folder chooser. |
| Ctrl+F | Search transcripts. |
| Ctrl+R | Reload sessions from disk. |
| Ctrl+1 | Toggle the sessions sidebar. |
| Ctrl+3 | Toggle the workspace pane. |
| Ctrl+Q | Quit Helios. |
Agent commands
Ctrl+Shift+B toggles the Browser pane. The legacy Ctrl+2 shortcut is another sessions-sidebar toggle.
Ctrl+Shift+P opens the agent-command palette. Typing / in the composer opens command suggestions; Claude can also expose its CLI-reported commands and skills.
Availability depends on the current provider: manual compaction is supported for eligible Claude, Codex and Kimi sessions; native Review belongs to Codex; head Fork belongs to Codex and Kimi. A generic safe Revert command is currently unavailable.
Claude’s typed /model <alias> and /effort <level> use the toolbar’s handlers and supported capability checks. See messages and commands for behaviour and limits.
Useful actions without a shortcut
Use the app menu or visible controls for Set a goal…, Rewind files… and Clear budget block. Use the new-chat menu for Chat in a Worktree. Saved Claude user messages expose message-level fork and rewind actions in their ⋮ menu.
For screenshots, use the composer camera or the Browser pane’s camera button. Terminal’s Send to chat transfers selected output into the composer for review.