Support macOS-native text editing shortcuts in terminal input #2222

Problem

Terminals inherit keybindings from the 1970s (control codes), which means standard macOS text editing shortcuts don't work. Every other text input on macOS — Notes, Slack, browser address bar, Spotlight — uses the same muscle-memory shortcuts. The terminal is the odd one out.

For users who aren't terminal power users (but use Superset daily to run agents), this makes the input line feel foreign and frustrating.

Requested Shortcuts

These are standard macOS text editing shortcuts that should "just work" when the cursor is in the terminal input line:

For reference, the terminal control-code equivalents are Ctrl+A/E (line start/end), Ctrl+U (delete to start), Ctrl+W (delete word), Alt+B/F (word movement) — but nobody outside terminal power users knows these.

Proposed Behavior

When the cursor is in the input line (actively typing a command or prompt), Superset intercepts these macOS shortcuts and translates them to the appropriate terminal action:

• ⌘← → send Ctrl+A (move to beginning of line)
• ⌘→ → send Ctrl+E (move to end of line)
• ⌘⌫ → send Ctrl+U (kill line backward)
• ⌥← → send Alt+B / Esc+B (move back one word)
• ⌥→ → send Alt+F / Esc+F (move forward one word)
• ⌥⌫ → send Ctrl+W (delete previous word)
• ⌘A → select input line text only (see Cmd+A should select input line text, not entire terminal output #2221)
• ⌘Z → send Ctrl+_ (undo in readline/zle) instead of ^Z

This translation only applies to the input line context — when scrolling output or in an interactive app (vim, less, etc.), shortcuts should pass through unchanged.

Prior Art

• Warp does exactly this — macOS shortcuts work natively in the input editor
• iTerm2 has partial support via key mapping profiles
• VS Code integrated terminal translates some of these

Why This Matters

Superset is positioning itself as the terminal for everyone, not just terminal power users. The single biggest UX gap between "terminal" and "normal app" is that text editing feels broken. Fixing these 7-8 shortcuts would make the input line feel like a native macOS text field — which is exactly what non-terminal users expect.

Environment

• Superset version: 1.1.2
• OS: macOS 15.5