Option + backspace does not delete the last word

Most of the other common text editing shortcuts work as expected:

• option + left/right arrow moves the cursor one word at a time.
• cmd + left/right arrow moves the cursor to the beginning or end of line.
• cmd + backspace deletes the entire line.

There actually seems to be a test case in place for this exact key combination:

https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/5c67dc3af12ab5426ba5002a90a50b24f1dcf8f9/codex-rs/tui/src/bottom_pane/textarea.rs#L1246

Codex works as expected when I explicitly set Ghostty keybinding to this:

keybind = alt+backspace=text:\x1b\x7f

Perhaps the issue is that the ALT modifier is not somehow either passed or parsed correctly.

thanks a lot for the solution 'Codex works as expected when I explicitly set Ghostty keybinding to this:

keybind = alt+backspace=text:\x1b\x7f' ; both codex and qwen are working as expected now

So have you also found a solution to selecting. When using cmd+a it selects the whole chat. cmd+shift+arrow doesn't seem to work even when setting it in terminal/cursor shortcuts. Does this work differently for you?

Ok,I debugged into this, and here's what I found.

on macos:

| Key Combination | Actual Behaviour | Expected Behaviour |
| ------------------------- | ---------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| right option + backspace | delete line | delete line |
| right command + backspace | delete word | delete word |
| left command + backspace | delete line | delete line |
| left option + backspace | delete char | delete word |
| left control + backspace | delete char | no special behaviour (delete char) |

Here's a patch that fixes ths issue (codex's contributing.md doesn't allow external PRs without permission)

<details>

<summary>patch.diff</summary>

git diff --staged
diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/bottom_pane/textarea.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/bottom_pane/textarea.rs
index 0235f7a9c..d3d0a5112 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/bottom_pane/textarea.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/bottom_pane/textarea.rs
@@ -294,6 +294,11 @@ impl TextArea {
                 code: KeyCode::Backspace,
                 modifiers: KeyModifiers::ALT,
                 ..
+            }
+            | KeyEvent {
+                code: KeyCode::Backspace,
+                modifiers: KeyModifiers::CONTROL,
+                ..
             } => self.delete_backward_word(),
             KeyEvent {
                 code: KeyCode::Backspace,

</details>

This paatch aligns the behaviour with browsers/other CLI worlkflows.

EDIT: somehow after fixing and testing the patch, it's working now in some of my codex instances - but not others 🤷

@camc314, thanks for the analysis. Have you done any testing with other terminal emulator apps? We need to ensure broad compatibility across many terminals on all supported platforms, which is what makes issues like this difficult.

Have you done any testing with other terminal emulator apps?

I've tried https://ghostty.org and VSCode, and both appear to have the same behaviour.

Apple's terminal doesn't appear to send the key modifiers to the TUI (in here, the modifiers are always empty)

Here are some other references that might be helpful:

• opentui (tui beind opencode:
• backspace + meta triggers delete word backwards: https://github.com/anomalyco/opentui/blob/cf0415ea38367bc8fc3b2943921432e4c44e9d41/packages/core/src/renderables/Textarea.ts#L113
• backspace + ctrl triggers delete word backwards: https://github.com/anomalyco/opentui/blob/cf0415ea38367bc8fc3b2943921432e4c44e9d41/packages/core/src/renderables/Textarea.ts#L81
• vscode:
• https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/9306ddcd064723d18836ac75b94d17fc6fda7ff8/src/vs/editor/contrib/wordOperations/browser/wordOperations.ts#L423-L424
• ctrl/cmd + backspace (win + mac)
• alt + backspace (mac only

This is a limitation of how Terminal.app handles this key combination.

In Terminal.app:

1. Open Terminal → Settings (or Preferences)
2. Go to Profiles → Keyboard
3. Check "Use Option as Meta key"

<img width="779" height="740" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/996cab41-4ad2-4370-bf00-72190886dded" />

This makes Option+Backspace send ESC + Backspace (\x1b\x7f) instead of just Backspace (\x7f). Most shells interpret that as "delete word backward."

If you only want to remap that specific combo (without making Option a full Meta key), you can add a custom mapping in the same Keyboard tab:

1. Click the + button

<img width="779" height="740" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1a2ee870-f18c-458d-a0c1-afe8e060ffd4" />

1. Set the key to Delete with the Option modifier
2. Set the action to "Send text:"

<img width="779" height="740" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a69b307c-14cb-4b86-9492-9dd13c045e23" />

1. Click the empty field

<img width="294" height="145" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9bdf1b0c-03c9-4d05-b996-21fd9e77b5b4" />

1. Type Esc first, it will add "\033" to the field
2. Then type Delete (or Backspace on non-Apple/external keyboards), it will add "\177" to the field

<img width="779" height="740" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5fd82968-68e4-4507-a25c-9928927f26f2" />

1. Click OK

The "Use Option as Meta key" approach is simpler but changes the behavior of all Option+key combos. The custom mapping approach is surgical — it only affects Option+Backspace.

I can confirm that:
1) the same issue exists with kitty terminal on linux using ctrl+backspace (backward delete word) and ctrl+shift+backspace (forward delete word)
2) neither claude code nor gemini CLI have this issue, both shortcuts work. It's a codex problem, not a terminal or OS problem.

I confirm it's happening on Ghostty