2.1b How to Copy Content

💡 First Question from Beginners: "Why does the program exit when I press Ctrl+C?!"

📝 Course Notes

Key takeaways from this lesson:

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What You'll Learn

• Understand why Ctrl+C doesn't work for copying
• Master the "magic" of copy-on-selection with your mouse
• Learn to copy AI's long responses with one keystroke
• Solve text selection issues in Windows terminals

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💥 Why Doesn't Ctrl+C Work?

For users accustomed to Word and browsers, this might be the biggest culture shock.

In the terminal world (the black box where OpenCode runs), Ctrl+C is typically used as an interrupt signal, not a copy shortcut.

• In Word: Ctrl+C = 📷 Take a snapshot (copy content)
• In Terminal: Ctrl+C = 🛑 Interrupt

Therefore, pressing Ctrl+C in OpenCode doesn't copy the selected content.

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🚀 Method 1: Mouse Flow (Most Intuitive)

This is a "hidden skill" specially designed by OpenCode for modern users, works on both Windows and Mac.

Steps

1. Press and hold the left mouse button, drag to select the text you want to copy.
2. Release the left mouse button.
3. Done! 🎉

Yes, you read that right. You don't need to right-click or press any key. The moment you release the mouse, OpenCode automatically copies the selected content to the clipboard and shows Copied to clipboard.

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⌨️ Method 2: Keyboard Flow (Fastest)

When you only want what the AI just said (like a big chunk of code), dragging with the mouse is too tedious.

Steps

1. Press the Leader key (default is Ctrl+X).
2. Release all keys.
3. Press Y.

Memory trick: Y = Yank (this is programmer slang for "copy").

Want more shortcuts? Check out 2.3 Recommended Shortcuts.

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📜 Method 3: Command Flow (Most Complete)

When you want to save the entire conversation history (what you said + what the AI said) to share with friends or save to a document.

Steps

1. Type /copy in the input box.
2. Press Enter.

The entire conversation history will be copied completely.

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🛡️ Last Resort: Force System Copy

If the "magic" above doesn't work, or you just want to use the native system copy method.

System	Operation
Mac	Hold Option (⌥) + mouse drag select → Command+C
Windows (before v1.1.64)	Hold Shift + mouse drag select → Right click or Enter
Windows (v1.1.64+)	Direct mouse drag select → auto copy or Ctrl+C

Use Cases:

• When OpenCode is frozen and unresponsive
• When you want to precisely copy error messages
• When the terminal window is hijacked by another program

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Follow Along

Step 1: Experience Ctrl+C

1. Type a few characters in the input box (don't send it).
2. Press Ctrl+C.
3. Did the input box get cleared? That's because Ctrl+C was recognized as an interrupt signal.

Step 2: Experience "Auto Copy"

1. Let the AI say something (e.g., type hi).
2. Use your mouse to select a few words from the AI's response.
3. Release the mouse.
4. Open a notepad and press Ctrl+V to paste.
5. Did it work?

Step 3: Experience "Force Copy"

1. Go back to OpenCode.
2. Mac users: Hold Option, Windows users: Hold Shift.
3. Drag select some text with your mouse.
4. This method bypasses OpenCode and uses the terminal system's selection function directly.

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🚑 Troubleshooting: What If Garbled Text Appears?

Symptom: If you're a Windows user, after pressing Ctrl+C to exit, you might see garbled text like [555;38;16M appearing on screen when you move the mouse.

Cause:

• OpenCode enables "mouse tracking mode" on startup.
• Ctrl+C on Windows is a forceful termination signal (SIGINT).
• This causes OpenCode to be killed before it can tell the terminal to "disable mouse tracking".
• The terminal thinks you're still in the program and keeps sending mouse coordinates to the screen, which appears as garbled text.

🐛 Known Issue: As of OpenCode v1.1.25, this issue is not fully resolved on Windows. This is a low-level technical limitation, we recommend following the table below.

Solutions:

1. Quick Fix: Close the current terminal window and reopen it.
2. Prevention (Highly Recommended): Don't use Ctrl+C to exit! Use Ctrl+D instead.

Exit Method	Nature	Result
Ctrl+C	🔪 Force Kill	Prone to mouse garbled text, not recommended
Ctrl+D	👋 Graceful Exit	Clean exit with automatic cleanup, recommended

Tip: Ctrl+D triggers OpenCode's cleanup logic, ensuring mouse mode is properly disabled.

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🎉 Good News: Major Windows Experience Improvements (v1.1.64+)

🪟 Windows Exclusive: If you're using OpenCode v1.1.64 or later, congratulations!

Starting from v1.1.64, the text selection experience on Windows has been greatly improved:

Improvement	Before	Now
Mouse selection	Required holding Shift	Direct drag select works
Ctrl+C copy	Not supported	Supports manual copy of selected content

Now Windows users can:

• Select text directly with the mouse like a normal text editor
• Press Ctrl+C to manually copy after selection (if auto copy doesn't trigger)

📌 Version Check: Type /version to check your OpenCode version.

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📚 Further Reading

• Want to master more shortcuts? 👉 2.3 Recommended Shortcuts

• Want to customize shortcuts (like changing Ctrl+C back)? 👉 5.6b Shortcut Customization

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Next Lesson Preview

Next lesson: AI's Basic Tools.

You'll learn:

• What are the 6 basic tools AI has and what each does
• The "read before write" rule and edit's smart matching
• Why you shouldn't let AI use bash for file operations

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Appendix: Source Code Reference

Click to expand source code locations

Last updated: 2026-02-14 (v1.1.64)

OpenCode's "copy on mouse release" logic is not a terminal default behavior, but an advanced feature written in code:

Feature	File Path	Key Logic
Mouse copy logic	src/cli/cmd/tui/app.tsx	onMouseUp event listener
Clipboard utility	src/cli/cmd/tui/util/clipboard.ts	Cross-platform clipboard support
Windows selection improvement (v1.1.64)	Search keywords windows, win32, selection	packages/opencode/src/

Source code search command:

grep -rn "windows\|win32\|selection" packages/opencode/src/

Core code snippet (app.tsx):

// When mouse is released
onMouseUp={async () => {
  // 1. Get selected text
  const text = renderer.getSelection()?.getSelectedText()
  if (text && text.length > 0) {
    // 2. Call clipboard API to copy
    await Clipboard.copy(text)
    // 3. Notify user
    toast.show({ message: "Copied to clipboard" })
    // 4. Clear selection state
    renderer.clearSelection()
  }
}}