Every binding in the client, by context. For the model behind it, see From the keyboard.

Keys are offered to contexts in a fixed order and the first claimant stops propagation, so a binding listed under a lower layer only fires when nothing above it claimed the key.

Global

Reachable from wherever no pane or overlay claimed the key first.

Key	Action
ctrl+c	Quit. Checked above everything else, so it works from every screen including modals, consent and login.
ctrl+p	Toggle the command palette. Not reachable from a modal, consent, or the login screens.
?	Open the help overlay. Types a literal ? in any text field, since those claim character keys first.
/	Open in-chat search. Only from selection mode, and only with a chat open.
Esc	Pop one level. See below.

Only ctrl+p is configurable (keys.palette). ? and ctrl+c are hard-coded despite living beside it in the code.

What Esc pops, in order

1. The newest visible toast, if any
2. Out of the archive, if the chat list is showing it
3. Selection mode, the chat filter (discarding it), the palette, or in-chat search (clearing highlights), depending on what's on top
4. Anything else on the stack
5. From the composer at the base of the stack: back to the chat list
6. At the very bottom: nothing. Esc never quits.

Esc is intercepted centrally, above the pane handlers, which is what makes "one Esc, one level" hold everywhere.

Pane movement

Only at the base of the focus stack (never with an overlay, filter, selection or modal up).

Key	From	To
→	Chat list	Composer (requires an open chat)
Tab / Shift+Tab	Chat list	Composer (requires an open chat)
Tab / Shift+Tab	Composer	Chat list

← is deliberately not a pane key. With two panes, Tab and Shift+Tab are indistinguishable.

Chat list

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Move the selection, clamped, no wraparound
Enter	Open the selected chat and move focus to the composer
/	Start the title filter
a	Toggle the archive
]	Next folder, wrapping. No-op in the archive or with one folder.
[	Previous folder, same conditions
Esc	Leave the archive (only while in it)

Chat filter

Key	Action
any character	Insert into the query
Backspace	Delete backwards
↑ / ↓	Move the selection within the filtered list
Enter	Commit: close the input, keep the list filtered
Esc	Cancel and clear the filter

No caret movement. ←, →, Home, End and Delete are inert here.

Composer

Key	Action
any character	Insert at the caret
Enter	Send, or apply an edit if one is armed, or confirm a /send
Alt+Enter	Insert a newline
↑ on empty input	Enter selection mode on the newest message
↑ with text	Move the caret up a line
← / →	Move the caret one character
Home / End	Start / end of the buffer
Backspace / Delete	Delete before / after the caret
↓, PageUp, PageDown	Not claimed: scroll the conversation

/send <path> followed by Enter raises the send-file confirmation. Pasting or dropping a bare path does the same without typing /send: bracketed paste is on, and text that looks like a single-line path is held as a pending offer instead of inserted. Enter confirms it the same way, Esc discards it and returns to an empty composer. Anything else pasted arrives as ordinary text at the caret.

Conversation scrolling

There is no separate conversation focus. These work from the composer and from selection mode.

Key	Action	Available from
↓	One message newer	Composer only (selection mode claims it)
PageUp	A page older	Composer and selection mode
PageDown	A page newer	Composer and selection mode

Scrolling near the top of the loaded window triggers a history page. There is no row-level scrolling; movement is per message.

Selection mode

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Select an older / newer message, clamped
← / →	Move the chip cursor, clamped. Up to five chips visible.
Enter	Invoke the focused chip
Esc	Leave selection mode
chip letter	Invoke that chip directly

Chip letters

Key	Chip	Shown when
r	Reply	Always
f	Forward	The message can be forwarded
e	React	Always. Toggles 👍.
c	Copy	The message can be saved
d	Edit	Your own message, editable, and text content only
x	Delete	Deletable for you or for everyone
l	Download	Has a file that isn't downloaded
o	Open	Has a file that is downloaded
s	Resend	The send failed. Failed messages show only Resend, Delete, and Cancel upload (if a file upload is still tracked for it).
v	Reveal	The message has an unrevealed spoiler. Never shown on a failed send: nothing server-confirmed to reveal.
k	Cancel upload	A file you sent from this message is still uploading. Shown even after a failed send, unlike Reveal, since an upload stuck mid-transfer is exactly what you'd want to abandon.

A letter with no matching chip in the current row isn't swallowed; it falls through to the global layer, which is how ? and / still work here.

In-chat search

Entered with / from selection mode.

Key	Action
any character	Insert into the query
Backspace	Delete backwards
Enter	Run the search
n	Next hit, wrapping. Only once hits exist; before that it types an n.
N	Previous hit, wrapping. Same condition.
Esc	Close search and clear the highlights

Hits come back newest-first, so n walks toward older messages. Arrow keys, Home, End and Delete are inert.

Command palette

Key	Action
any character	Insert into the query and re-rank
Backspace	Delete backwards
↑ / ↓	Move the selection, clamped
Enter	Run the selected item
ctrl+p / Esc	Close

No caret movement in the query. Commands: Toggle theme, Log out, Quit, plus Telemetry settings and Send file, which are both claimed no-ops.

Modals

Modals swallow every key except ctrl+c. Neither the palette nor help is reachable while one is up.

Confirm delete. Enter deletes, Esc cancels. Arrow keys and Tab toggle between "Delete for me" and "Delete for everyone", but only when the message can be deleted for everyone; otherwise the choice is forced.

Confirm send file. Enter sends, Esc cancels. No cursor, no options.

Help overlay

Opened with ?, closed with Esc. It swallows every key while up, including a second ?.

There is no scrolling. If the keymap doesn't fit the terminal height, the last visible row becomes a dim …, which happens at 80×24. The overlay's own table is also incomplete relative to this page: it omits the filter, palette and search bindings, the conversation scroll keys, and several Esc cases, and it lists ←/→ as pane movement, which ← has never been.

Consent screen

Key	Action
↑ ↓ ← → Tab Shift+Tab	Flip between Enable and Disable
Enter	Record the answer and continue

Enable is preselected. Every other key is swallowed.

Login screens

Method choice

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Flip between phone and QR
p / q	Pick phone / QR directly
Enter	Confirm. Phone opens the number field; QR fires the request.

With QR picked but not yet confirmed, ↑, ↓ and p flip back to phone and Enter fires the request.

Credentials wizard

Key	Action
Tab / ↓	API id to API hash
Shift+Tab / ↑	API hash to API id
Enter on API id	Move to API hash (does not submit)
Enter on API hash	Submit and save

Text fields (phone, code, password, credentials)

Key	Action
any character	Insert at the caret
Enter	Submit
← / →	Move the caret
Home / End	Start / end
Backspace / Delete	Delete before / after

Submission is blocked while a request is in flight or during a flood wait. The QR display screen and the intermediate phases claim every key and do nothing; ctrl+c is the only way out of them. Esc never reaches the escape handler while a login screen is up.

Mouse

Requires [app] mouse = true (the default).

Gesture	Target	Action
Left click	Chat row	Select and open
Left click	Archive row	Enter the archive
Left click	Folder tab	Switch folder, select its first row
Left click	Composer	Focus the composer (needs an open chat)
Left click	Spoiler run in a message	Reveal it
Left click	Reply-quote line in a message	Jump to the quoted message
Right click	Message	Enter selection mode on it
Wheel	Chat list	Move the selection one row per step
Wheel	Conversation	Scroll one message per step

Left-clicking ordinary message text is still a no-op. Only a masked spoiler run or a reply-quote line responds, and both are narrower hit targets than the message's full row. Hover, drag, release, the middle button and horizontal scroll are all discarded. Nothing is clickable while a modal, the palette or help is up, or on the consent and login screens.

Not bound to anything

What	Status
Function keys, Insert, media keys	Dropped at the input layer
Alt+ anything except Enter	Arrives as the bare key; there is no Alt modifier in the model
Rebinding ? or ctrl+c	Not configurable

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