Agentic keypad with Semiotic Standard keycaps

Design an Ortholinear, one-handed agentic keypad using only G20 Semiotic Standard legends — Linux action inventory for Cursor, Claude Code, and Codex over KVM.

Why a pad

One machine does the typing; another runs an agent you can see on a shared monitor. A KVM lets you glance at that second screen, but you often do not want a full keyboard plugged into it. A small programmable macro pad is enough if it can send the few chords and sequences you actually use to steer, approve, stop, and exit.

This post is that agentic keypad: personal high-frequency controls across Cursor, Claude Code, and Codex on Linux, mapped onto an Ortholinear pad with uni-profile Semiotic Standard legends. The pad is one-handed and never asks you to hold a modifier chord — macros may emit chords, but every physical key is a single press.

Decisions

Ortholinear (all 1u). No pad-side key combinations means no need for 1.25u / 1.5u Shift or Ctrl blanks; stock pads with odd key widths make legend matching painful.
Uni-profile keycaps. Row-sculpted profiles (e.g. Cherry) lock which legend can sit in which row. Uni-profile sets — G20, XDA, DSA — keep every key the same shape so layout stays free.
Semiotic Standard only. One legend vocabulary (G20 Semiotic); every other keycap set is out of scope.
Mode cycle = one key. Using an encoder to spam Shift+Tab both ways wastes an axis and misreads as continuous control. A dedicated pad key emits Shift+Tab instead; the encoder is free for zoom.

Semiotic Standard keycaps

1u symbol sheet from G20 Semiotic (kits with wider caps omitted — Ortholinear pad uses 1u only). Click for the product page.

Conventions

Bindings are Linux defaults from current product docs (Cursor Cmd → Ctrl).
Chords use + inside one key span: Ctrl+L.
Sequences of separate presses use →: / → plan → Enter.
Alternates in the Tools columns are separated by ;.
An empty cell means the action is not applicable or has no documented binding / keycap fit.
Several rows are cycles (mode, approval), not single toggles — a pad key may need to send the chord more than once.
Knob/Wheel marks analog pad controls: rotary encoder / scroll wheel () for scroll and zoom, or joystick () for selection.
Semiotic is the only keycap legend set: G20 Semiotic (Zslane / Signature Plastics). Icons are Cobb Semiotic Standard vectors (louh/semiotic-standard, CC BY 4.0), linked to that product page.
A green row with means that binding choice is decided (ADR-style).

Actions

Tool columns link to each product’s shortcut docs. Identical bindings across tools share a cell.

Action	Tools			Controls		Notes
Action	Cursor	Claude Code	Codex	Knob/Wheel	Semiotic	Notes
Scroll Content						Mouse-wheel scrolling works in each agent. Map to a rotary encoder — too sensitive for a discrete keycap, so no Semiotic legend.
Zoom in	`Ctrl`+`Shift`++					Terminal / agent-host zoom on one rotary: one direction emits `Ctrl`+`Shift`++, the other `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`-`. Hosts may also honor plain `Ctrl`++ / `Ctrl`+`-`; the pad sends the Shift variants. No Semiotic — knob only.
Zoom out	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`-`
Plan Mode	`Shift`+`Tab`					One dedicated pad key for both rows: each press emits `Shift`+`Tab`, which cycles modes in every tool. Keep two action rows for clarity (Plan vs Agent; on Claude Code the agent-side stop is Auto). Encoder left for zoom — not mode cycling.
Agent Mode	`Shift`+`Tab`
Selection up	`Up`	`Up`; `Ctrl`+`P`	`Up`			Joystick on the pad: up/down emit `Up` / `Down` (lists, pickers, plan choices, draft history). No Semiotic — stick only.
Selection down	`Down`	`Down`; `Ctrl`+`N`	`Down`
Choose option 1	`1`					Numbered alternatives map 1:1 to pad keys `1` / `2` / `3`. Prefer joystick `Up` / `Down` + Confirm when the menu is not numbered.
Choose option 2	`2`
Choose option 3	`3`
Open slash / command menu	`/`					Type at the start of the input (or empty composer) to open the command list, then navigate with `Up` / `Down`.
Open Codex apps / `$` insert			`$`			Codex inserts app mentions as `$app-slug` (see `/apps`). Not a second slash menu — keep `/` for slash commands.
Mention file	`@`					Fuzzy file path mention / attach.
Stop agent	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Backspace`	`Esc`				Cursor: cancel generation. Claude Code / Codex: interrupt the current turn. On Claude Code permission dialogs, `Esc` closes the dialog rather than interrupting.
Exit agent session	`Ctrl`+`W`; `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`P` → `View: Close Editor`	`Ctrl`+`C` → `Ctrl`+`C`; `Ctrl`+`D` → `Ctrl`+`D`	`Ctrl`+`C` → `Ctrl`+`C`; `/` → `exit` → `Enter`			One pad “exit” key should expand to the tool-specific sequence. Claude Code / Codex require a double press within a short window.
Mic on/off	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Space`; `Ctrl`+`M`	`Space` (hold or tap)				Cursor: toggle Voice Mode; `Ctrl`+`M` is hold-to-talk in the Agents Window. Claude Code: voice dictation when enabled (`/voice`).
Confirm	`Enter`					Submit, accept selection, or confirm a dialog. Cursor may also use `Ctrl`+`Enter` to force-send while typing. No Cobb SVG for EDS-style Enter on the G20 set.
Approve tool	`Enter` (on prompt); Allow in UI	`Y`; `Enter`	`Y`; `Enter`; `/` → `approve` → `Enter`			Unblocks a waiting permission prompt. Codex `/approve` retries a recent auto-review denial.
Reject tool	`Esc` (on prompt); Deny in UI	`N`; `Esc`
Accept diff / keep edits	`Ctrl`+`Enter`	`Y`; `Enter` (on edit prompt); `Shift`+`Tab` → `acceptEdits`	Accept on prompt; `/` → `diff` → `Enter` to review			Cursor: accept all suggested changes when the review UI is active. Claude Code: confirm the edit prompt, or cycle into `acceptEdits` with `Shift`+`Tab`.
Reject diff / discard edits	`Ctrl`+`Backspace`	`N`; `Esc` (on edit prompt)	Decline on prompt			Cursor: reject all suggested changes. Does not always roll back files already written — use git / an explicit revert prompt when needed.
Complete picker	`Tab`					Accept autocomplete / slash / path suggestion. Codex: while a turn is running, `Tab` queues a follow-up instead of interrupting.
Focus agent panel	`Ctrl`+`L`; `Ctrl`+`I`					Cursor: toggle / focus the AI sidepanel (both chords are documented). Claude Code and Codex already own the terminal — no separate panel focus.
Focus workspace	`Win`+`Num +`					i3 binding used to jump to the workspace where background agents run — window-manager level, not app-specific.
Lock	`Win`+`L`					Locks the machine running the agents (Super/Win + L) — OS-level, not app-specific.