[dylanklohr]

Summary

option+←/→ on macOS (alt+←/→ on Linux/Windows) now navigates word-by-word in Orca's integrated terminal, matching iTerm2 / Ghostty / Terminal.app behavior with default shell configs. Before this fix, the keys emitted the xterm CSI sequences \e[1;3D / \e[1;3C, which readline doesn't bind — the cursor wouldn't move, and depending on the shell the escape bytes could appear at the prompt as literal garbage.

Fixes #696.

Root cause

• Orca's terminal sets macOptionIsMeta: true, which is why option+b / option+f already work (xterm.js emits \eb / \ef, readline's default bindings).
• For the arrow keys, however, xterm.js emits CSI modifier sequences (\e[1;3D / \e[1;3C) that default readline doesn't recognize as word-nav.
• Fix: intercept alt+ArrowLeft/Right in terminal-shortcut-policy.ts (the pure allowlist introduced by fix: audit terminal shortcut interception #519) and translate to \eb / \ef before xterm.js sees the event. Same pattern iTerm2's "Esc+" option-key mode uses.

Scope

One new if block in terminal-shortcut-policy.ts; one new it(...) block in its sibling test file covering macOS + Linux/Windows + three passthrough regression cases (alt+shift+arrow, alt+ctrl+arrow, plain arrow). No refactors.

Platform testing

• macOS (darwin 25.2.0, Apple Silicon): verified locally with pnpm dev — cat shows ^[b / ^[f on option+←/→; at a shell prompt, cursor jumps word-by-word. Regression checks pass: option+b, option+f, option+Backspace still work; Cmd+F still opens terminal search.
• Linux / Windows: not tested on hardware. The policy is platform-agnostic (same altKey semantics on all three OSes), and the unit test pins the non-Mac branch, so there's no reasonable path for this to regress on those platforms without also regressing on macOS.

Before / after

Test plan

• pnpm lint — clean
• pnpm typecheck — clean
• pnpm test — 1716 tests pass
• pnpm build — clean
• Manual verification: cat with option+←/→ before/after the fix on macOS

AI code-review summary

• Cross-platform keyboard behavior: the new branch gates on !metaKey && !ctrlKey && altKey && !shiftKey and key === 'ArrowLeft' | 'ArrowRight' — the same shape as the existing Alt+Backspace branch directly above. On macOS this matches option only; on Linux/Windows it matches alt only. Other chords (alt+shift, alt+ctrl, cmd+alt) fall through to xterm.js unchanged, and unit tests pin that.
• Security: the branch only emits two fixed, hard-coded 2-byte escape sequences (\x1bb, \x1bf) — no user input is interpolated, no path traversal or injection surface. sendInput is the same IPC path already used by Alt+Backspace, Cmd+Backspace, Cmd+Delete, and Shift+Enter.
• Shortcut-allowlist correctness: the branch lives inside the centralized terminal-shortcut policy (the audit surface introduced by fix: audit terminal shortcut interception #519), so any future drift is visible via the pinned unit-test matrix.
• Regression surface: passthrough guards (alt+shift+arrow, alt+ctrl+arrow, plain arrow) are explicitly tested so a later edit to this file can't silently start swallowing select-word chords or plain cursor moves.

Related: #519 (terminal-shortcut audit), #443 (Ctrl+R), #586 (Ctrl+D / EOF split fix).

---

X/Twitter: @dylanklohr

[Jinwoo-H]

Thank you for contributing, lgtm!