{"slug": "select-text-in-claude-code-instead-of-prompting", "title": "Select text in Claude Code instead of prompting", "summary": "Developer Gregory Bolshakov released peekme, an MIT/Apache-2.0 tool that lets users select text in the output of Claude Code, Codex CLI, Pi, GitHub Copilot CLI or Kiro CLI and press Alt+P (Option+P on Mac) to open an inline explanation box inside the terminal, or Alt+Q to ask a custom question about the selection. peekme installs via `npm i -g peekme` followed by `peekme install` (also available through Homebrew, Cargo or a shell installer), uses the agent's existing login with no separate account or API key, and sends Peek requests only relevant parts of the conversation while Ask sends the whole conversation.", "body_md": "Select text in [Claude Code](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code),\n[Codex CLI](https://github.com/openai/codex), [Pi](https://pi.dev),\n[GitHub Copilot CLI](https://github.com/github/copilot-cli) or [Kiro CLI](https://kiro.dev/cli/)\noutput, press **Alt+P**, and an explanation opens right under it, inside the terminal.\nThe other lines move to make room, like Peek in VS Code. **Esc** closes the box.\nOn a Mac, use **Option+P**.\n\n- **Peek.** Get a short explanation using your chat's model. It gets context from your chat,\nso \"its split panes\" in an answer about Kitty gets explained as Kitty's split panes.\n- **Ask.** Select text and press**Alt+Q** to type your own question, such as \"why not use a\nmutex here?\". It goes to your chat's model with the whole conversation.\n- **Boxes inside boxes.** Select words in an explanation and press Alt+P or Alt+Q again.\nA new box opens inside it, under that line.\n- **Saved answers.** Explained text gets a dotted underline. Click it to reopen the answer\nwithout another request. Saved answers come back when you reopen the chat later.\n\nYou need one of the supported agents installed and logged in. Then run:\n\n```\nnpm i -g peekme\npeekme install\n```\n\nOpen a new terminal. Start `claude`, `codex`, `pi`, `copilot` or `kiro-cli` as always.\npeekme opens with the agent, including when you resume an existing chat.\n\nYou can replace the npm command with one of these, then run `peekme install`:\n\n- Homebrew: `brew install gregorybolshakov/tap/peekme`\n- Cargo: `cargo install peekme`\n- Shell installer: `curl -LsSf https://github.com/GregoryBolshakov/peekme/releases/latest/download/peekme-installer.sh | sh`\n\nBinaries for Linux and macOS, x86_64 and ARM, are on the\n[releases page](https://github.com/GregoryBolshakov/peekme/releases/latest).\n\nSelect text in your agent's output with the mouse. On a Mac, use Option in place of Alt.\n\n| Key | What it does | \n|---|---|\n| Alt+P | Explain the selection | \n| Alt+Q | Type a question about the selection, then Enter to send | \n| Alt+P again | Explain again using the whole conversation | \n| Click underlined text | Reopen a saved answer. Click again to close it | \n| Mouse wheel or PgUp / PgDn | Scroll the chat with the boxes in it | \n| Esc | Close the innermost box, or cancel a question you are typing | \n\nWith a box open, select words inside it to open a nested peek or question. You can keep typing in the agent's input line while an explanation is open. Enter sends your message and closes the boxes.\n\nIn Claude Code, peekme uses Alt+P for peeking. Use `/model` to open Claude's model picker.\nSee [all keys and gestures](https://peekme.dev/docs/keys/).\n\npeekme uses the agent's existing login. There is no separate account or API key. Each explanation uses a little of your agent's plan or credits.\n\nPeek and Ask use your chat's model by default. Peek sends relevant parts of the conversation.\nAsk sends the whole conversation. You can change either model in\n[settings](https://peekme.dev/docs/settings/).\n\nText goes through your agent's own CLI to its provider. The temporary explanation sessions\nare not kept in your agent's chat history. Read [what gets sent](https://peekme.dev/privacy/)\nand [how peekme works](https://peekme.dev/how-it-works/).\n\nFor Terminal and iTerm2 setup, see the [Mac guide](https://peekme.dev/docs/macos/).\nOver SSH, install peekme on the remote machine where your agent runs. If you use Codex inside\ntmux, turn its mouse on with `set -g mouse on` and restart Codex.\nSee the [tmux and SSH guide](https://peekme.dev/docs/tmux-ssh/).\n\nIf something does not work, start with:\n\n```\npeekme doctor\n```\n\nSee [troubleshooting](https://peekme.dev/docs/troubleshooting/) for selection problems and known\nlimits. To remove peekme, run `peekme uninstall`. To run an agent without it once, use\n`command claude` (or `codex`, `pi`, `copilot`, `kiro-cli`).\n\nFull documentation: [peekme.dev/docs](https://peekme.dev/docs/).\n\nMIT or Apache-2.0, at your choice.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/select-text-in-claude-code-instead-of-prompting", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/GregoryBolshakov/peekme", "published_at": "2026-11-04 04:20:18+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-11-04 04:50:13.803293+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "ai-agents", "developer-tools", "ai-products"], "entities": ["peekme", "Gregory Bolshakov", "Claude Code", "Codex CLI", "GitHub Copilot CLI", "Kiro CLI", "Pi"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/select-text-in-claude-code-instead-of-prompting", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/select-text-in-claude-code-instead-of-prompting.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/select-text-in-claude-code-instead-of-prompting.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/select-text-in-claude-code-instead-of-prompting.jsonld"}}