---
title: How do I answer the agent when it asks me something?
question: choosing options in the terminal, clicking does nothing
area: getting-started
order: 6
surface: desktop
audience: beginner
keywords: [terminal, cannot click, clicking does nothing, arrow keys, choose option, select, keyboard, enter, how do I reply, stuck]
related: [how-do-i-start-working-on-a-project, what-happens-when-i-first-open-codus]
updated: 2026-07-20
---

# How do I answer the agent when it asks me something?

Use the arrow keys and Enter, not your mouse. The big text panel where you talk to the agent is a terminal, and clicking an option in it does nothing. When the agent offers you a list of choices, move up and down with the arrow keys and press Enter on the one you want. This catches out every single person the first time, so if clicking felt broken, it was not you.

## Choosing from a list

When the agent asks a question, it shows the answers as a list, often numbered. To pick one:

- Move the highlight with the **up and down arrow keys**.
- Press **Enter** to choose the highlighted one.
- Where the options are numbered, you can also just type the number.

Clicking an option with the mouse will not select it. All the mouse does inside the terminal is move the cursor or select text, which is why nothing happens when you click a choice.

## Typing a reply

To type a message to the agent, click once into the terminal so it has focus, type at the bottom, and press **Enter** to send.

If you want a new line in the middle of a longer message without sending it yet, press **Shift+Enter** (or **Option+Enter**). Plain Enter always sends.

## Links are not clickable either

If the agent prints a web address, it is plain text, not a link. Clicking it does nothing. Copy it and paste it into your browser, or ask the agent to open it for you.

## The short version

Inside the terminal, your controls are: the **arrow keys**, **Enter**, and typing. That is the whole set. Anywhere else in codus the mouse works normally. It is only the terminal that is keyboard-driven, because that is what a terminal is.

## Why it works this way

The terminal is where the agent, Claude Code, actually runs, and it behaves like a terminal on purpose. That is also what makes it powerful. It just means the interaction is by keyboard, which nothing on screen currently tells you, hence this page.