Enter commands efficiently

The command input sends text to the current session. It also keeps a history and completes words found in recent output.

• Press Enter to send the input.
• Press Up to recall older commands and Down to move toward newer ones.
• Press Escape to leave the input and return focus to the main session.

Blank commands are not added to history. Passwords typed while the input is masked are not added either.

After sending, smudgy selects or clears the input according to Settings → Preferences → Command input. With the default setting, typing the next command replaces the selected text.

Type the beginning of a word and press Tab. Smudgy first checks suggestions registered by scripts, then words in the most recent 1,000 lines of output. Press Tab again to move to another match. Only the newly completed part is selected, so you can keep typing to replace it.

Completion is useful for character and item names copied from the MUD. It is disabled while the input is masked.

By default, a semicolon separates commands on one line:

open door;north;look

Smudgy processes each part in order. Aliases may transform a part before it is sent.

To send a semicolon literally and bypass aliases, begin the line with two backslashes:

\\say The separator is ;

Both the separator and raw-line prefix are configurable in Settings. Changing them affects every session and may change how existing aliases behave.

When a MUD negotiates password input correctly, smudgy masks the field and shows a reveal control. Masked text is kept out of history, completion, clipboard writes, and the script-visible input snapshot. The field is cleared when masking ends so an unsubmitted secret does not reappear as ordinary text.

If an ordinary prompt is masked, first confirm whether the MUD has incorrectly enabled telnet echo suppression. The preference to disable automatic masking is a compatibility escape hatch, not a normal display option.

An alias can consume or replace what you type. A disconnected or offline session cannot send network commands. If Enter appears to do nothing, check the connection banner and then temporarily disable matching aliases; see Organize and troubleshoot automations.