Tab key triggers submit instead of autocomplete in Codex CLI prompt

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

codex-cli 0.106.0

What subscription do you have?

plus

What platform is your computer?

macos

What issue are you seeing?

Environment

• OS: macOS 14.x (arm64)
• Shell: zsh
• Terminal: iTerm2 / Apple Terminal
• Codex CLI version: (run codex --version)

Issue Description

In the Codex CLI interactive prompt, pressing the Tab key triggers submission (equivalent to Enter) instead of performing shell-style autocompletion.

This breaks the expected terminal workflow, where Tab normally completes:

• File paths
• Commands
• Flags
• Previous tokens

Expected Behavior

Pressing Tab should:

• Autocomplete file paths or commands

OR

• Provide a configurable option to choose between:
• Tab = autocomplete
• Tab = submit

Actual Behavior

Tab submits the prompt immediately, similar to pressing Enter.

Impact

This disrupts muscle memory and standard CLI ergonomics, particularly when working with file paths or long commands.

Suggestion

Add:

1. Native Tab autocompletion support

OR

1. A configuration option in ~/.codex/config.toml such as:

tab_behavior = "autocomplete" # or "submit"

Thank you.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Environment

• OS: macOS 14.x (arm64)
• Shell: zsh
• Terminal: iTerm2 / Apple Terminal
• Codex CLI version: (run codex --version)

Issue Description

In the Codex CLI interactive prompt, pressing the Tab key triggers submission (equivalent to Enter) instead of performing shell-style autocompletion.

This breaks the expected terminal workflow, where Tab normally completes:

• File paths
• Commands
• Flags
• Previous tokens

Expected Behavior

Pressing Tab should:

• Autocomplete file paths or commands

OR

• Provide a configurable option to choose between:
• Tab = autocomplete
• Tab = submit

Actual Behavior

Tab submits the prompt immediately, similar to pressing Enter.

Impact

This disrupts muscle memory and standard CLI ergonomics, particularly when working with file paths or long commands.

Suggestion

Add:

1. Native Tab autocompletion support

OR

1. A configuration option in ~/.codex/config.toml such as:

tab_behavior = "autocomplete" # or "submit"

Thank you.

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

_No response_