What variant of Codex are you using?

CLI

What feature would you like to see?

Summary

Currently, the Codex CLI/TUI sends the prompt on ENTER and inserts a newline on Ctrl + J. While this matches traditional terminal behavior, the Codex TUI functions primarily as a multiline prompt editor rather than a classic shell.

This keybinding choice conflicts with modern text-editing conventions and frequently leads to accidental submission of incomplete prompts.

Problem

In most contemporary tools (IDEs, chat interfaces, documentation tools, browsers, etc.):

• ENTER inserts a newline
• Ctrl + Enter submits content (or, alternatively, CMD + Enter)

The Codex TUI reverses this expectation:

• ENTER submits
• Ctrl + J inserts newline

This creates several usability issues:

• Strong mismatch with established typing muscle memory
• Frequent accidental submission of unfinished prompts
• Cognitive friction when switching between Codex and other tools
• Ctrl + J is non-standard and unintuitive for multiline entry

In practice, this results in a high rate of unintended prompt submission.

Proposed Change

Adopt a text-editor-oriented interaction model:

• ENTER → Insert newline
• Ctrl + Enter or CMD + Enter → Submit prompt

Alternatively, and MUCH BETTER - make this configurable:

• Terminal-style mode (current behavior)
• Editor-style mode (proposed behavior)
• Define custom bindings (let user choose their combinations)

Rationale

The Codex TUI operates more like a structured prompt composition interface than a traditional command shell. Aligning keybindings with modern editor conventions would:

• Reduce accidental submissions
• Improve workflow consistency
• Lower cognitive load
• Better match user expectations in AI prompt composition contexts

This change would improve usability without affecting core functionality.

Additional information

No response