Nushell

The structured-data shell (nu). Nushell uses Reedline (its own Rust line editor) with a menu-driven model: a single key opens a completion menu, history menu, or help menu, and arrow keys / Enter navigate it. Many bindings overlap with the readline conventions, but the menu model is the distinctive piece.

Default edit mode is emacs; switch with $env.config.edit_mode = "vi" in $nu.config-path. List active bindings with keybindings list -m; list named events with keybindings list -e; reset with keybindings default.

For startup files, $env.config keys, and plugin loading, see Nushell.

Cursor Movement

Key	Action
Ctrl-a	move to start of line
Ctrl-e	move to end of line
Ctrl-b	move back one character
Ctrl-f	move forward one character
Alt-b	move back one word
Alt-f	move forward one word
Left / Right	one character (or accept-next-suggestion-word on Right)
Home / End	start / end of line

Editing

Key	Action
Ctrl-d	delete character under cursor (EOF on empty line)
Ctrl-h / Backspace	delete character before cursor
Alt-d	delete word forward
Ctrl-w	delete word backward
Alt-Backspace	delete word backward (alphanumeric-aware)
Ctrl-k	cut to end of line
Ctrl-u	cut whole line
Ctrl-y	paste from cut buffer
Ctrl-t	transpose character with previous
Alt-t	transpose word with previous
Alt-u	uppercase word
Alt-l	lowercase word
Alt-c	capitalize word
Ctrl-z	undo (Reedline; not SIGTSTP in nu)
Ctrl-Shift-z / Ctrl-G	redo

Menus

The headline Reedline feature. Each menu has a default trigger and reuses arrow keys + Enter for navigation.

Key	Action
Tab	open the completion menu (completion_menu)
Ctrl-r	open the history menu (history_menu)
F1	open the help menu (help_menu)
Ctrl-x	open the IDE-style suggestion menu
Esc	close any open menu
Up / Down	navigate menu rows
Left / Right	navigate menu columns (when laid out as a grid)
Enter	accept the highlighted item
Page Up / Page Down	scroll the menu
Ctrl-n / Ctrl-p	next / previous menu entry (alt navigation)

History

Key	Action
Up / Ctrl-p	previous history line
Down / Ctrl-n	next history line
Ctrl-r	open searchable history menu
Alt-.	insert last argument of previous command
history	print full history
history | where command =~ git	filter history (nu-native)

Process Control

Key	Action
Ctrl-c	cancel current line / interrupt command
Ctrl-d	send EOF; exit shell on empty line
Ctrl-l	clear screen
Ctrl-s	pause terminal output (XOFF)
Ctrl-q	resume terminal output (XON)

Vi Mode

Enable with $env.config.edit_mode = "vi" in $nu.config-path. Two main modes: insert and normal; visual for selection.

Key	Action
Esc	enter normal mode
i / a / I / A	insert / append at cursor / start / end
0 / ^ / $	move to start / first non-blank / end of line
w / b / e	word forward / back / end
f<c> / F<c>	find next / previous character c
x	delete character under cursor
dw / d$ / dd	delete word / to end / whole line
cw / c$ / cc	change word / to end / whole line
yw / y$ / yy	yank word / to end / whole line
p / P	paste after / before cursor
u	undo
v	enter visual (selection) mode
k / j	previous / next history line (normal mode)

Config and Discovery

Command	Action
keybindings list	list every key (paginated)
keybindings list -m	list with the modifier each requires
keybindings list -e	list named edit / menu / motion events
keybindings default	reset all bindings to defaults
$env.config.edit_mode = "vi"	switch to vi mode (set in $nu.config-path)
$env.config.edit_mode = "emacs"	switch to emacs mode
config nu	open the config file in $EDITOR
config reset	regenerate default config
$env.config.keybindings = [...]	declare custom bindings (table of name / modifier / keycode / mode / event)
help <command>	inline help for any command
stty -a	list terminal-driver shortcuts