[BUG] keybindings.json ignored in Claude desktop app — Enter/Shift+Enter always submit

[jnikolaidis]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

The ~/.claude/keybindings.json configuration file is completely ignored when running Claude Code through the Claude desktop app on macOS.

Both Enter and Shift+Enter submit the message, regardless of the keybindings config. The config sets "enter": null to unbind Enter from submit and "ctrl+enter": "chat:submit" to use Ctrl+Enter instead, but this has no effect.

The file is valid JSON, correct encoding, located at the correct path (~/.claude/keybindings.json), and verified with python3 -c "import json; json.load(open(...))".

keybindings.json contents:

{
  "$schema": "https://www.schemastore.org/claude-code-keybindings.json",
  "$docs": "https://code.claude.com/docs/en/keybindings",
  "bindings": [
    {
      "context": "Chat",
      "bindings": {
        "enter": null,
        "ctrl+enter": "chat:submit"
      }
    }
  ]
}

What Should Happen?

• Enter should insert a newline (unbound from submit via "enter": null)
• Ctrl+Enter should submit the message (bound via "ctrl+enter": "chat:submit")
• Shift+Enter should insert a newline
• The ~/.claude/keybindings.json config should be respected in the Claude desktop app, just as it is in the CLI

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create ~/.claude/keybindings.json with the following content:

{
  "$schema": "https://www.schemastore.org/claude-code-keybindings.json",
  "$docs": "https://code.claude.com/docs/en/keybindings",
  "bindings": [
    {
      "context": "Chat",
      "bindings": {
        "enter": null,
        "ctrl+enter": "chat:submit"
      }
    }
  ]
}

2. Open Claude Code in the Claude desktop app (not terminal or VS Code)
3. Type a message in the chat input
4. Press Enter — it submits the message instead of inserting a newline
5. Press Shift+Enter — it also submits the message instead of inserting a newline
6. The keybindings.json config appears to be completely ignored

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

2.1.39 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Terminal/Shell note: Running Claude Code inside the Claude desktop app on macOS (not a standalone terminal). The desktop app is not listed in the Terminal/Shell dropdown, so "Other" was selected.

This issue may be that the Claude desktop app simply does not read ~/.claude/keybindings.json at all. Either the desktop app should respect the keybindings config, or there should be a separate keybinding setting within the desktop app itself.

OS: macOS (Darwin 25.3.0)

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. [BUG] No method to insert newlines in Windows Desktop App (v1.1.2685) - Shift+Enter, Ctrl+Enter, and backslash all broken #25089
2. [BUG] Shift+Enter not working in the Mac Claude Code Desktop app #25070
3. [BUG] Linebreak in input window causes send of message #25054

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

• If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[KenInLV]

Of the various duplicates, which will be kept as the active issue? So I can 👍 it.

[bananablueprint]

Yes, not working on Windows 11 either.

[GregEisenberg]

Feature Request: Default keybinding for newline in chat input

Summary

There is no default keybinding to insert a newline in the chat input. This makes composing multi-line prompts unnecessarily difficult, and multi-line prompts are important for writing clear, structured instructions.

Current behavior

• enter submits the message (the only default chat input binding)
• chat:newline has no default keybinding
• The natural choice shift+enter does not work because most terminal emulators send the same keycode for shift+enter and enter — they are indistinguishable

Workarounds that exist today

• ctrl+g to open an external editor — works, but can conflict with other apps (e.g., Gemini uses ctrl+g globally on macOS)
• Backslash \ continuation before pressing enter — works, but not intuitive
• Pasting multi-line text from clipboard — works, but breaks the flow

Suggestion

Assign a default keybinding to chat:newline that actually works in terminals. alt+enter (or option+enter on macOS) is distinguishable from enter in most terminal emulators and is a common newline convention in other tools (Slack, JetBrains IDEs, etc.).

Why this matters

Good prompts are often multi-line — numbered instructions, code blocks, structured context. Making newline entry frictionless would improve the experience for everyone using Claude Code in the terminal.

Environment

• macOS (Terminal / iTerm2)
• Claude Code CLI