[Bug] Option+Backspace (delete word) not working in Ghostty terminal on macOS

Totally hobbled by this! 😅

Sometimes it works, sometimes doesn't. Most of the time it does not.

Actually, seems it works if you put it in ghostty config:

macos-option-as-alt = left

adding this line does it trick as well

macos-option-as-alt = true

adding this line does it trick as well `` macos-option-as-alt = true ``

Did the trick for me as well.

The fix works, but breaks specific behavior on non US Keyboards. I use a german keyboard, where we e.g. dont have a special key for ~ or |, but rather have to type option + n and option + 7.

The relevant section from the ghostty docs:

If true, the Option key will be treated as Alt. This makes terminal sequences expecting Alt to work properly, but will break Unicode input sequences on macOS if you use them via the Alt key.

The fix works, but breaks specific behavior on non US Keyboards. I use a german keyboard, where we e.g. dont have a special key for ~ or |, but rather have to type option + n and option + 7. The relevant section from the ghostty docs: > If true, the Option key will be treated as Alt. This makes terminal sequences expecting Alt to work properly, but will break Unicode input sequences on macOS if you use them via the Alt key.

Exactly...

Opt+backspace was working completely fine for me in Ghostty and Claude Code for months, and only stopped working in January.

Ctrl+w still works, but it's not as natural for me to use as opt+backspace.

macos-option-as-alt = true

~Works for me. Haven't yet had any issues using a UK keyboard.~ I take it back, this subsequently stopped working for me only minutes later.

I'm starting to think this is more a Ghostty issue, since I don't have this issue with Claude Code when I use Warp or any other terminal app for that matter.

Same issue here. Claude Code 2.1.49, Ghostty, macOS. Option+Backspace stopped working for delete-word inside Claude Code, while it works fine in the shell. Control+Backspace works as a workaround. No macos-option-as-alt set in Ghostty config — and shouldn't need to be, since it works everywhere else.

Repros for me even outside of Claude Code. keybind = opt+backspace=text:\x1b\x7f fixes it. I had to have a keybinding mapped for this even in iTerm2

This stopped working for me in warp as well

Though my experiment wasn't thorough, I noticed a while back that the misbehaving Option+Backspace happens only when Claude is in fullscreen mode. Try switching with /tui. I like the fullscreen rendering, so I ended up with macos-option-as-alt for both Ghostty and Warp.