Input Mode
In general, the claw machine starts in Command Mode. If you want to type normally, there are two options:
- Exit the claw machine directly.
- Enter Input Mode.
If you want to keep the claw machine active while typing normally, enter Input Mode. Input Mode temporarily disables claw machine behaviors so you can type text normally. After you finish typing, press Control + Esc to exit Input Mode and return to Command Mode.
You can enter Input Mode by triggering command.enterTextMode. You can also assign a dedicated shortcut for this mode.
Raw Input Mode
Section titled “Raw Input Mode”Raw Input Mode is a variant of Input Mode. You can enter it with command.enterRawInputMode, whose default command sequence is I .
In Raw Input Mode, all Input Mode shortcuts are disabled, including the Nano-style shortcuts below. This makes it better for terminals, shells, editors, and other places where the foreground app should receive every key combination directly.
When a secure input field is active, macOS does not let keyboard events flow into Cursor Crane. Cursor Crane will show a secure-input status hint in that situation.
Shortcuts
Section titled “Shortcuts”Input Mode now has a richer Nano-style shortcut layer. These shortcuts are disabled in Raw Input Mode, and each one can be customized in Settings > Input.
The Nano shortcut actions are:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Exit Input Mode | Exit Input Mode and return to Command Mode |
| Move Left | Move one character left |
| Move Right | Move one character right |
| Move Up | Move one line up |
| Move Down | Move one line down |
| Move To Line Start | Move to the start of the current line |
| Move To Line End | Move to the end of the current line |
| Move To Previous Word | Move to the previous word |
| Move To Next Word | Move to the next word |
| Move To Document Start | Move to the start of the document |
| Move To Document End | Move to the end of the document |
| Delete Backward | Delete the previous character |
| Delete Forward | Delete the next character |
| Delete To Line Start | Delete back to the start of the current line |
| Delete To Line End | Delete forward to the end of the current line |
| Scroll Cursor To Visible Center | Scroll the text cursor back to the visible center |
| Select Text At Cursor | Select the text at the current text cursor location |
| Move Mouse To Cursor | Move the mouse to the current text cursor position |
| Left Click Cursor | Left-click at the current text cursor position |
| Command Left Click Cursor | Command-left-click at the current text cursor position |
| Option Left Click Cursor | Option-left-click at the current text cursor position |
| Control Left Click Cursor | Control-left-click at the current text cursor position |
| Right Click Cursor | Right-click at the current text cursor position |
| Move Cursor To Visible Middle Line Start | Move the text cursor to the start of the visible middle line |
| Show Cursor Position | Show the current text cursor line and column |
This page intentionally does not list default bindings. Check Settings > Input for the current shortcuts, especially if you have customized them.
Input Mode also changes the behavior of Page Up and Page Down to use shorter scroll distances for more precise scrolling while typing.
External Editor
Section titled “External Editor”If the focused control is a text area, you can open its content in an external editor with command.createTextAreaPortal.
In Settings > Input, you can choose whether this opens in:
- A regular app such as TextEdit or another editor that can open plain text files.
- A terminal app such as Terminal, iTerm2, Warp, Hyper, Kitty, or Ghostty.
When using a terminal target, you can also customize the launch command template.
- Press Control + Esc to exit Input Mode.
- Press Shift + Control + Esc to exit the claw machine.