Keybindings

Claude Code runs inside VS Code’s integrated terminal. Some VS Code shortcuts are intercepted before reaching the terminal, which conflicts with Claude Code’s own keybindings. This page explains the conflicts and three ways to resolve them.

Shortcut Conflicts

When the terminal is focused, VS Code intercepts these shortcuts before Claude Code can process them:

Shortcut	VS Code Action	Claude Code Action
`Ctrl`+`G`	Go to Line	External editor
`Ctrl`+`S`	Save File	Stash conversation
`Ctrl`+`T`	Open Symbol	Toggle todos
`Ctrl`+`O`	Open File	Toggle transcript
`Ctrl`+`B`	Toggle Sidebar	Background task
`Ctrl`+`P`	Quick Open	Model picker
`Ctrl`+`R`	Open Recent	Search history
`Ctrl`+`F`	Find in Terminal	Navigation

Already Resolved

CodeForge pre-configures Ctrl+P and Ctrl+F to pass through to Claude Code via terminal.integrated.commandsToSkipShell in devcontainer.json:

"terminal.integrated.commandsToSkipShell": [
    "-workbench.action.quickOpen",
    "-workbench.action.terminal.focusFind"
]

The - prefix removes the shortcut from VS Code’s interception list when the terminal is focused.

Resolving Other Conflicts

Option 1: Use Alt Variants

Claude Code binds Alt (Meta) variants for all shortcuts. Use Alt+G instead of Ctrl+G, and so on. No configuration needed.

Option 2: Add to VS Code’s Skip List

Add more shortcuts to terminal.integrated.commandsToSkipShell in devcontainer.json:

"terminal.integrated.commandsToSkipShell": [
    "-workbench.action.quickOpen",
    "-workbench.action.terminal.focusFind",
    "-workbench.action.gotoLine",
    "-workbench.action.files.save"
]

Common command IDs:

Shortcut	VS Code Command ID
`Ctrl`+`G`	`workbench.action.gotoLine`
`Ctrl`+`S`	`workbench.action.files.save`
`Ctrl`+`T`	`workbench.action.showAllSymbols`
`Ctrl`+`O`	`workbench.action.files.openFile`
`Ctrl`+`B`	`workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility`
`Ctrl`+`R`	`workbench.action.openRecent`

Option 3: Custom Claude Code Keybindings

Edit .codeforge/config/keybindings.json to remap Claude Code actions to non-conflicting shortcuts:

{
  "bindings": [
    {
      "key": "ctrl+shift+g",
      "command": "chat:externalEditor",
      "description": "Open external editor (remapped from Ctrl+G)"
    },
    {
      "key": "ctrl+shift+s",
      "command": "chat:stash",
      "description": "Stash conversation (remapped from Ctrl+S)"
    }
  ]
}

The keybindings file is deployed to ~/.claude/keybindings.json on container start via file-manifest.json.

Claude Code Shortcut Reference

Full list of default Claude Code shortcuts (these work when Claude Code has terminal focus):

Key	Action
`Ctrl`+`C` / `Esc`	Cancel / Interrupt
`Ctrl`+`L`	Clear screen
`Ctrl`+`P`	Model picker
`Ctrl`+`R`	Search history
`Ctrl`+`G`	External editor
`Ctrl`+`S`	Stash conversation
`Ctrl`+`T`	Toggle todos
`Ctrl`+`O`	Toggle transcript
`Ctrl`+`B`	Background current task
`Ctrl`+`F`	Find in output

All of these also have Alt (Meta) variants that work even when VS Code intercepts the Ctrl version.

Configuration — settings.json and file-manifest reference
Hooks — lifecycle hooks that can be customized
Commands — full CLI and slash command reference