# Type straight into the terminal

Direct Input sends every key you type straight to the agent's terminal, with a tools keyboard for Esc, Ctrl, arrows, and other keys.

Direct Input lets you type straight into an agent's terminal, key by key, as if you sat at the Host. Every agent opens with the Toolbar alone and the terminal ready for the keyboard; the [Composer](https://waycar.dev/help/composer) only opens when you tap **Message Agent**.

## Start typing in the terminal

1. Open an agent or shell from the Console.
2. Tap **Terminal Keyboard** on the right of the Toolbar, or tap the prompt line in the terminal.
3. Type. Each key goes straight to the agent.

Tap **Terminal Keyboard** again to put the keyboard away. Opening Message Agent closes the terminal keyboard, and the other way round.

## Keys the iOS keyboard doesn't have

- Tap keys on the [Toolbar](https://waycar.dev/help/toolbar), such as Esc, arrows, or **⌃C Interrupt**. They go directly to the agent.
- Add a sticky modifier (**Ctrl**, **Alt**, or **Shift**) to the Toolbar; tap it and it applies to the next key you press.
- Tap **Tools Keyboard** on the Toolbar to swap the iOS keyboard for the terminal's tools keyboard. Tap it again to go back to the iOS keyboard.
- Tap **Paste** to paste your clipboard into the agent. Text with more than one line opens **Review Paste** first. See [Pasting more than one line](https://waycar.dev/help/toolbar#pasting-more-than-one-line).

## What's on the tools keyboard?

The tools keyboard has a tab bar with four panes:

| Pane | What it holds |
| --- | --- |
| **Control Keys** | A full terminal keyboard. The top row has Esc, Tab, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, and Del (Ins on the symbols layer). Below are numbers and letters, sticky **Shift**, **Ctrl**, and **Alt**, an **Fn** layer for F1 to F12, a **#+=** symbols layer, Space, the arrows, and Return. |
| **Skills** | The agent's [Skills](https://waycar.dev/help/skills). Tap one to type it in; tap **Refresh** to reload the list. |
| **Snippets** | Your [Snippets](https://waycar.dev/help/snippets). Tap one to type it in; tap **Manage Snippets** to add or edit them. |
| **Terminal Appearance** | **Smaller** and **Larger** text size, the terminal font, and a theme grid, applied as you choose. See [Terminal themes, fonts, and zoom](https://waycar.dev/help/terminal-appearance). |

## When should I use Direct Input instead of the Composer?

Use Direct Input for short replies, menu choices, keys like Esc or Ctrl+C, and anything the agent asks for in its own interface. Use the Composer to write and edit a longer message, attach photos and files, or queue a message while the Host is offline.

## Dictate to the agent

Tap **Dictate to Agent** on the Toolbar and speak. When the red stop button appears, speak, then tap it (VoiceOver reads **Stop and Send**). What you said goes straight to the agent, as if typed and submitted. Saying nothing sends nothing. When the agent is Blocked, what you said goes into the Composer draft instead, so you can check it first. See [Dictation](https://waycar.dev/help/dictation).

## iPad with a hardware keyboard

While an agent's terminal has the keyboard, the arrow keys go to the terminal instead of moving the agent list. Return and ⌘Return submit, and Shift+Return inserts a new line (Ctrl+J, which omp and Claude Code read as a new line). Press ⌘E (**Toggle Message Agent**) to switch between Direct Input and the Composer. See [Keyboard shortcuts](https://waycar.dev/help/keyboard-shortcuts).

## Good to know

- In Direct Input, the **Skills** and **Snippets** panes of the tools keyboard, and Snippet buttons on the Toolbar, type into the terminal without pressing Enter. Choosing **Skills** from **More** opens the Composer and inserts into your draft. **Snippets** in **More** opens the Snippets list for adding and editing, not for inserting.
- Shells use Direct Input the same way as agents.

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Waycar Help › The terminal: https://waycar.dev/help/direct-input