Copy and Paste Key Actions

Key assignments for clipboard operations and text selection in WezTerm

Overview

WezTerm provides comprehensive clipboard operations through key assignments, supporting both system clipboard and primary selection (on X11 and Wayland systems). You can copy and paste text, select text with the mouse or keyboard, and integrate with the system clipboard.

Copying to Clipboard

CopyTo

Copy the current selection to a clipboard destination:

local wezterm = require 'wezterm'
local act = wezterm.action
local config = {}

config.keys = {
  {
    key = 'C',
    mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT',
    action = act.CopyTo 'Clipboard',
  },
  {
    key = 'C',
    mods = 'CTRL',
    action = act.CopyTo 'ClipboardAndPrimarySelection',
  },
}

return config

destination · ClipboardCopyDestination · required

Where to copy the selection:

• 'Clipboard' - Copy to the system clipboard
• 'PrimarySelection' - Copy to the primary selection buffer (X11/Wayland)
• 'ClipboardAndPrimarySelection' - Copy to both locations

PrimarySelection is supported on X11 and Wayland systems that support primary-selection-unstable-v1 protocol

Copy (Deprecated Alias)

For backwards compatibility, Copy is an alias for CopyTo 'ClipboardAndPrimarySelection':

config.keys = {
  { key = 'C', mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT', action = act.Copy },
}

CopyTextTo

Copy specific text to the clipboard without requiring a selection:

config.keys = {
  {
    key = 'E',
    mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT',
    action = act.CopyTextTo {
      text = 'echo "Hello, World!"',
      destination = 'Clipboard',
    },
  },
}

text · string · required

The text to copy to the clipboard

destination · ClipboardCopyDestination · required

Where to copy the text

Pasting from Clipboard

PasteFrom

Paste text from a clipboard source:

config.keys = {
  {
    key = 'V',
    mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT',
    action = act.PasteFrom 'Clipboard',
  },
  {
    key = 'V',
    mods = 'CTRL',
    action = act.PasteFrom 'PrimarySelection',
  },
}

source · ClipboardPasteSource · required

Where to paste from:

• 'Clipboard' - Paste from the system clipboard
• 'PrimarySelection' - Paste from the primary selection buffer

Paste (Deprecated Alias)

For backwards compatibility, Paste is an alias for PasteFrom 'Clipboard':

config.keys = {
  { key = 'V', mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT', action = act.Paste },
}

PastePrimarySelection (Deprecated Alias)

Alias for PasteFrom 'PrimarySelection':

config.keys = {
  { key = 'Insert', mods = 'SHIFT', action = act.PastePrimarySelection },
}

Text Selection

SelectTextAtMouseCursor

Start a text selection at the mouse cursor position:

config.mouse_bindings = {
  {
    event = { Up = { streak = 1, button = 'Left' } },
    mods = 'NONE',
    action = act.SelectTextAtMouseCursor 'Cell',
  },
  {
    event = { Up = { streak = 2, button = 'Left' } },
    mods = 'NONE',
    action = act.SelectTextAtMouseCursor 'Word',
  },
  {
    event = { Up = { streak = 3, button = 'Left' } },
    mods = 'NONE',
    action = act.SelectTextAtMouseCursor 'Line',
  },
}

mode · SelectionMode · required

Selection granularity:

• 'Cell' - Select individual characters
• 'Word' - Select whole words
• 'Line' - Select entire lines
• 'SemanticZone' - Select semantic zones (e.g., URLs, file paths)
• 'Block' - Rectangular block selection

ExtendSelectionToMouseCursor

Extend the current selection to the mouse cursor:

config.mouse_bindings = {
  {
    event = { Down = { streak = 1, button = 'Left' } },
    mods = 'SHIFT',
    action = act.ExtendSelectionToMouseCursor 'Cell',
  },
}

mode · SelectionMode · required

Selection mode to use when extending

ClearSelection

Clear the current text selection:

config.keys = {
  {
    key = 'Escape',
    mods = 'NONE',
    action = act.ClearSelection,
  },
}

CompleteSelection

Complete the selection and copy it to the clipboard:

config.mouse_bindings = {
  {
    event = { Up = { streak = 1, button = 'Left' } },
    mods = 'NONE',
    action = act.CompleteSelection 'ClipboardAndPrimarySelection',
  },
}

destination · ClipboardCopyDestination · required

Where to copy the completed selection

CompleteSelectionOrOpenLinkAtMouseCursor

Complete the selection or open a URL if hovering over one:

config.mouse_bindings = {
  {
    event = { Up = { streak = 1, button = 'Left' } },
    mods = 'NONE',
    action = act.CompleteSelectionOrOpenLinkAtMouseCursor 'ClipboardAndPrimarySelection',
  },
}

destination · ClipboardCopyDestination · required

Where to copy the selection if not opening a link

Copy Mode

ActivateCopyMode

Enter copy mode for keyboard-driven text selection:

config.keys = {
  {
    key = '[',
    mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT',
    action = act.ActivateCopyMode,
  },
}

Copy mode allows you to navigate and select text using keyboard shortcuts, similar to vim’s visual mode.

In copy mode, use:

• Arrow keys or h/j/k/l to move cursor
• v to start selection
• y to copy selection
• Escape or q to exit

Quick Select

QuickSelect

Activate quick select mode to select and copy patterns:

config.keys = {
  {
    key = 'Space',
    mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT',
    action = act.QuickSelect,
  },
}

Quick select highlights patterns (URLs, file paths, hashes) and allows you to select them with keyboard shortcuts.

QuickSelectArgs

Customize quick select behavior:

config.keys = {
  {
    key = 'Space',
    mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT',
    action = act.QuickSelectArgs {
      patterns = {
        'https?://\\S+',
        '\\w+@\\w+\\.\\w+',
      },
      alphabet = 'asdfghjkl;',
      action = wezterm.action_callback(function(window, pane)
        local url = window:get_selection_text_for_pane(pane)
        wezterm.open_with(url)
      end),
    },
  },
}

patterns · string[]

Regular expressions to match. Defaults to quick_select_patterns config

alphabet · string

Characters to use for labels. Defaults to quick_select_alphabet config

action · KeyAssignment

Action to perform when a match is selected. Defaults to copying to clipboard

label · string

Label to show in place of “copy” when custom action is set

scope_lines · integer

Number of lines before and after viewport to search

Complete Example

Basic Copy/Paste

local wezterm = require 'wezterm'
local act = wezterm.action
local config = {}

config.keys = {
  -- Copy to clipboard
  { key = 'C', mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT', action = act.CopyTo 'Clipboard' },
  
  -- Paste from clipboard
  { key = 'V', mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT', action = act.PasteFrom 'Clipboard' },
  
  -- Clear selection
  { key = 'Escape', mods = 'NONE', action = act.ClearSelection },
  
  -- Copy mode
  { key = '[', mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT', action = act.ActivateCopyMode },
  
  -- Quick select
  { key = 'Space', mods = 'CTRL|SHIFT', action = act.QuickSelect },
}

return config

Related Actions

• Search Actions - Find and copy text from scrollback
• Scrolling Actions - Navigate through output before copying