25 shortcuts and commands in 5 groups, from AWS’s official Amazon Q Developer documentation.
| Shortcut | Action | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Alt + C | Manually Trigger Suggestion | Invokes Amazon Q's inline suggestion on demand — this key triggers, it does not cycle. macOS uses Option + C. |
| Tab | Accept Suggestion | Accepts the current inline recommendation. |
| Right | Next Suggestion | Cycles forward through alternative recommendations. |
| Left | Previous Suggestion | Cycles back through recommendations. |
| Esc | Reject Suggestion | Dismisses the recommendation; Backspace or simply typing on does the same. |
| Alt + Right | Accept Next Word | Accepts the suggestion one word at a time; AWS documents the macOS form Option + Right for VS Code. |
| Shortcut | Action | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Alt + ] | Next Suggestion | Eclipse uses bracket keys instead of arrows. |
| Alt + [ | Previous Suggestion | Cycles back in Eclipse. |
| Shortcut | Action | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Shift + Ctrl + Enter | Run Command | Runs the command Q proposes in the chat panel; active only while focus is in the chat. |
| Shift + Ctrl + R | Reject Command | Declines the proposed command. |
| Shift + Ctrl + Backspace | Stop Generation | Stops the response mid-stream. |
| Shortcut | Action | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| q chat | Start Chat Session | Opens an interactive Amazon Q session in the terminal. |
| q chat "prompt" | Single Query | Asks one question and returns to the shell. |
| q translate | Natural Language to Shell | Turns an English description into a shell command. |
| q doctor | Diagnose Installation | Checks and fixes common setup problems. |
| q login | Sign In | Authenticates with Builder ID or IAM Identity Center. |
| q logout | Sign Out | Ends the authenticated session. |
| q version | Show Version | Prints the installed CLI version. |
| q --help | Help | Lists all available CLI commands. |
| Shortcut | Action | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| /help | Show Commands | Lists what the chat can do. |
| /clear | Clear History | Wipes the current conversation context. |
| /quit | Exit Chat | Leaves the interactive session. |
| /transform | Code Transformation | Starts an automated language or framework upgrade. |
| /dev | Development Agent | Has Q implement a feature across files from a description. |
| /review | Code Review | Runs an automated review for issues and vulnerabilities. |
The inline-suggestion keys are small but precise: Alt + C summons a suggestion on demand, Tab accepts it, and the Right and Left arrows cycle through alternatives. Cheat sheets sometimes list Alt + C as “next suggestion” — an earlier version of this page did too — but AWS’s reference is unambiguous: Alt + C triggers, the arrows cycle. Eclipse is the exception, cycling with Alt + ] and Alt + [. Rejection needs no shortcut at all: Esc, Backspace, or simply typing something that mismatches all dismiss the ghost text.
The agentic chat adds three VS Code bindings — Shift + Ctrl + Enter to run the command Q proposes, Shift + Ctrl + R to reject it, Shift + Ctrl + Backspace to stop generation — and AWS scopes them to fire only while focus is inside the Q chat panel, precisely so they can never shadow your editor’s own bindings. They ride VS Code’s native keybinding system, so anything you remap in the Keyboard Shortcuts editor updates Q’s tooltips too.
Outside the IDE, Amazon Q is a CLI whose commands read like sentences: q chat opens a session, q translate turns plain English into a shell command, and q doctor diagnoses a broken install. Inside any chat, the slash commands carry the heavyweight workflows — /dev implements a feature across files, /review audits code for issues, /transform runs version upgrades — with /clear to reset context when a conversation has drifted.
It manually triggers an inline suggestion (Option + C on macOS). It does not cycle to the next suggestion — that is the Right arrow in VS Code and JetBrains, or Alt + ] in Eclipse. The mislabel is common because the two actions are easy to conflate.
Three ways, no dedicated key needed: press Esc, press Backspace, or just keep typing — the suggestion disappears at the first character mismatch.
They are scoped: Shift + Ctrl + Enter, Shift + Ctrl + R and Shift + Ctrl + Backspace fire only while focus is inside the Q chat panel, and currently only in VS Code. That scoping is deliberate, to avoid clashing with editor keybindings.
Yes. Q uses each IDE's native shortcut system, so remap them in your IDE's keyboard settings; tooltips inside Q update to match. A refresh of the IDE may be needed before tooltips reflect the change.
q chat is the terminal entry point that opens a session. Slash commands run inside a chat: /dev implements features, /review audits code, /transform upgrades versions, /clear resets the context.
Yes — accept next word, documented by AWS as Option + Right in VS Code (Alt + Right on a Windows layout). Tab still accepts the whole suggestion.
Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"