Keyboard & input
Tessera is keyboard-first. The tables below are the defaults: every chord can be remapped, and you can add shortcuts of your own — see custom shortcuts & remapping. The same list lives in settings → keyboard & input → shortcuts.
Global
| shortcut | action |
|---|---|
| ⌘N | new host |
| ⌘↩ | connect (in the host editor) |
| ⌘K | quick-switch palette (sessions and agents; prefix @ for agents) |
| ⌘, | settings |
Sessions
| shortcut | action |
|---|---|
| ⌘⇧K / ⌘⇧J | previous / next session |
| ⌘⇧E | files panel |
| ⌘⇧A | agent center |
| ⌘R | refresh terminal — a full repaint (iPad) |
tmux
| shortcut | action |
|---|---|
| ⌘T | new window |
| ⇧⌘W | close pane / window |
| ⇧⌘[ / ⇧⌘] | previous / next window |
| ⌘1 – ⌘9 | jump to window |
| ⌘D / ⇧⌘D | split side by side / stacked |
| ⌘[ / ⌘] | cycle panes |
| ⇧⌘↩ | zoom pane |
See tmux for details.
Find in terminal
⌘F (or the magnifier) opens the scrollback find bar: case-sensitive (Aa), whole-word ([w]), and regex (.*) toggles, a match counter, and ↑ / ↓ or ↩ / ⇧↩ to move between matches. esc closes.
| shortcut | action |
|---|---|
| ⌘F | open find |
| ⌘G / ⇧⌘G | next / previous match |
| ↩ / ⇧↩ | next / previous match |
| esc | close find |
Text editing
With natural text editing enabled (settings → keyboard & input), the mac-style editing chords work in shells:
| shortcut | action |
|---|---|
| ⌥← / ⌥→ | move by word |
| ⌘← / ⌘→ | line start / end |
| ⌥⌫ | delete word |
| ⌘⌫ | delete to line start |
The accessory bar
The on-screen accessory bar sits above the software keyboard and gives you
the keys a glass keyboard lacks. Default chips on iPad:
esc ⌃ ⌥ ⇥ ← ↓ ↑ → | ~; on iPhone: esc ⌃ ⇥ ← → ↓ ↑ ⌥ ⌃C ⌃J. (Defaults
apply on a fresh install or restore defaults — a layout you've arranged
stays as you left it.) On iPhone a dedicated control also shows or hides the
software keyboard itself, and the bar rides the keyboard's own animation as
it comes and goes.
Under settings → keyboard & input:
- show accessory bar — toggle it,
- the layout editor — long-press and drag chips to reorder, or pull in more
from the palette (navigation, modifiers, ⌃C and ⌃J, F1–F12,
symbols such as
/ \ $ { } [ ] < >, and any chips you've made under your shortcuts), with restore defaults to undo, - modifier behavior — one-shot (tap once, applies to the next key, then auto-clears) or sticky (tap to lock the modifier, tap again to release).
One palette chip is special: ⌘ arms Tessera's own shortcuts instead of sending anything to the remote, so app chords work even without a hardware keyboard.
Also under settings → keyboard & input: resize terminal with keyboard — off by default, so the view slides up under the software keyboard instead of reflowing your rows; turn it on to reflow instead.
The swipe pad
If you work without a hardware keyboard, the swipe pad adds radial macros, live agent options, and dictation under your thumb — on by default on iPhone, opt-in on iPad.