Option+Click Not Working In Claude Code

[austinarbor-wk]

Issue Description

When using the claude code cli (on MacOs), option + click to move the cursor to a specific location does not work

I have also tried setting

macos-option-as-alt = true

Expected Behavior

Option+click moves the cursor to the expected location

Actual Behavior

The cursor does not move

Reproduction Steps

1. Open Ghostty
2. Launch claude code
3. Type out a bunch of random letters
4. Try option+click to move the cursor

Ghostty Logs

No response

Ghostty Version

Ghostty 1.3.1

Version
  - version: 1.3.1
  - channel: stable
Build Config
  - Zig version   : 0.15.2
  - build mode    : .ReleaseFast
  - app runtime   : .none
  - font engine   : .coretext
  - renderer      : renderer.generic.Renderer(renderer.Metal)
  - libxev        : kqueue

OS Version Information

MacOs 26.3.1

(Linux only) Display Server

None

(Linux only) Desktop Environment/Window Manager

No response

Minimal Ghostty Configuration

n/a

Additional Relevant Configuration

No response

I acknowledge that:

• I have reviewed the FAQ and confirm that my issue is NOT among them.
• I have searched the Ghostty repository (both open and closed Discussions and Issues) and confirm this is not a duplicate of an existing issue or discussion.
• I have checked the "Preview" tab on all text fields to ensure that everything looks right, and have wrapped all configuration and code in code blocks with a group of three backticks (```) on separate lines.

[harshagarwalnyu]

The conflict is between macos-option-as-alt = true and Claude Code's mouse reporting.

Root cause: When macos-option-as-alt = true, the Option key sends ESC prefix for all events. Option+Click sends a modified mouse event (with Alt modifier) — Claude Code's readline-based input uses the raw xterm-1006 mouse protocol which expects Option+Click as a cursor-movement signal, but the Alt-modified event breaks that expectation.

Fix: Use left or right instead of true

# ~/.config/ghostty/config
macos-option-as-alt = left

This only converts the left Option key to Alt, keeping right-Option for macOS shortcuts. Try Option+Click with the right Option key — it should work for cursor movement.

Or disable it entirely while using Claude Code:

macos-option-as-alt = false

Alternative: Claude Code also supports keyboard cursor movement:

• Ctrl+A / Ctrl+E — start/end of line
• Alt+F / Alt+B — forward/back one word
• Ctrl+F / Ctrl+B — forward/back one character

These work regardless of Option key settings.

Also check: Make sure mouse-hide-while-typing is not set in your Ghostty config — that can sometimes cause unexpected mouse behavior.

[austinarbor-wk]

@harshagarwalnyu none of macos-option-as-alt = false, macos-option-as-alt = left, or macos-option-as-alt = right seem to make it work for me.

I should note that this does work w/ caude in iTerm2

It also works in Ghostty when not using Claude CLI