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Mistral Vibe: Setting to Hand Text Selection and Copy Back to Your Terminal

Mistral VibeView original changelog

Mistral Vibe 3.0.2 added an enable_mouse_capture setting, also controllable with the VIBE_ENABLE_MOUSE_CAPTURE=false environment variable. Turning it off leaves text selection and copy to the terminal. The same release shortened the copy hint for narrow terminals and added xclip and xsel fallbacks for copying on Linux.

Key Takeaways

  • enable_mouse_capture can be turned off, handing text selection and copy back to the terminal.
  • The VIBE_ENABLE_MOUSE_CAPTURE=false environment variable does the same without editing config.
  • The trade-off is that some other mouse interactions, such as clicks, may stop working, depending on the terminal.
  • Linux users get automatic fallbacks to xclip or xsel when wl-copy fails, plus a hint when no clipboard tool is available.
  • The copy hint is shorter so it fits in narrow terminals.
  • In the Rust CLI, selections release outside the window still copy, which removes a common annoyance.

Let your terminal handle selection and copy

Mistral Vibe 3.0.2 adds a way to stop the app from capturing the mouse. Setting enable_mouse_capture to false, or setting the environment variable VIBE_ENABLE_MOUSE_CAPTURE=false, leaves text selection and copy to the terminal itself. People who prefer their terminal's native selection behavior, or who found selecting text inside the app awkward, can now opt out.

The trade-off

Releasing the mouse has a cost. Depending on the terminal, some other mouse interactions, such as clicks, are disabled too. Users should choose based on whether they value native selection or in-app click interactions more.

Related copy improvements

Several smaller changes in 3.0.2 improve copying. The copy hint is shorter so it fits in narrow terminals. On Linux, copying now falls back to xclip or xsel when wl-copy fails. If no clipboard tool works, Mistral Vibe suggests using Shift+select or installing xclip. In the Rust CLI, mouse selections are copied to the clipboard even when the button is released outside the terminal window.