Symptom
-
Arrow keys: Navigation in the TUI is entirely Tab/Shift+Tab based. Arrow keys do nothing in most contexts, which is unintuitive — users expect Up/Down arrows to move between items in lists and menus.
-
Enter key in forms: Pressing Enter in a text input field doesn't advance to the next field. For example, the password setup wizard should: focus the first password field automatically → user types password → presses Enter → focus moves to confirmation field → user types again → Enter submits. Currently this flow requires Tab between fields.
Expected Behavior
- Arrow keys (Up/Down) navigate between focusable items (menu options, list entries, buttons)
- Arrow keys (Left/Right) work for horizontal navigation (switching tabs, sidebar sections)
- Enter in a text input field advances focus to the next field (or submits if it's the last field)
- First input field in a form should be auto-focused on screen mount
- Tab should still work as an alternative
Note
Textual supports custom key bindings and on_input_submitted events on Input widgets which can be used to advance focus to the next sibling.
Symptom
Arrow keys: Navigation in the TUI is entirely Tab/Shift+Tab based. Arrow keys do nothing in most contexts, which is unintuitive — users expect Up/Down arrows to move between items in lists and menus.
Enter key in forms: Pressing Enter in a text input field doesn't advance to the next field. For example, the password setup wizard should: focus the first password field automatically → user types password → presses Enter → focus moves to confirmation field → user types again → Enter submits. Currently this flow requires Tab between fields.
Expected Behavior
Note
Textual supports custom key bindings and
on_input_submittedevents onInputwidgets which can be used to advance focus to the next sibling.