feat: enhance Ctrl+C behavior with intelligent dialog/request handling

- Preserve fast double-press habit: Ctrl+C twice = direct quit
- Implement smart cleanup on single press with priority order:
  1. Close dialogs (theme, auth, settings, etc.) like ESC key
  2. Cancel ongoing streaming requests
  3. Clear input buffer content
  4. Show quit confirmation when all cleanup done
- Special case: Ctrl+C in quit-confirm dialog = immediate exit
- Extract dialog closing logic into reusable useDialogClose hook
- Refactor handleExit to centralize all exit logic
- Update help text and dialog hints to reflect new behavior
- Fix delay issues in first Ctrl+C press by optimizing request cancellation

Improves UX by making Ctrl+C context-aware while maintaining user habits.

packages/cli/src/ui/App.tsx

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import { useFolderTrust } from './hooks/useFolderTrust.js';
 import { useEditorSettings } from './hooks/useEditorSettings.js';
 import { useQuitConfirmation } from './hooks/useQuitConfirmation.js';
 import { useWelcomeBack } from './hooks/useWelcomeBack.js';
+import { useDialogClose } from './hooks/useDialogClose.js';
 import { useSlashCommandProcessor } from './hooks/slashCommandProcessor.js';
 import { useAutoAcceptIndicator } from './hooks/useAutoAcceptIndicator.js';
 import { useMessageQueue } from './hooks/useMessageQueue.js';
@@ -108,7 +109,6 @@ import { appEvents, AppEvent } from '../utils/events.js';
 import { isNarrowWidth } from './utils/isNarrowWidth.js';
 import { WelcomeBackDialog } from './components/WelcomeBackDialog.js';
 
-const CTRL_EXIT_PROMPT_DURATION_MS = 1000;
 // Maximum number of queued messages to display in UI to prevent performance issues
 const MAX_DISPLAYED_QUEUED_MESSAGES = 3;
 
@@ -626,6 +626,25 @@ const App = ({ config, settings, startupWarnings = [], version }: AppProps) => {
     handleWelcomeBackClose,
   } = useWelcomeBack(config, submitQuery, buffer, settings.merged);
 
+  // Dialog close functionality
+  const { closeAnyOpenDialog } = useDialogClose({
+    isThemeDialogOpen,
+    handleThemeSelect,
+    isAuthDialogOpen,
+    handleAuthSelect,
+    selectedAuthType: settings.merged.selectedAuthType,
+    isEditorDialogOpen,
+    exitEditorDialog,
+    isSettingsDialogOpen,
+    closeSettingsDialog,
+    isFolderTrustDialogOpen,
+    showPrivacyNotice,
+    setShowPrivacyNotice,
+    showWelcomeBackDialog,
+    handleWelcomeBackClose,
+    quitConfirmationRequest,
+  });
+
   // Message queue for handling input during streaming
   const { messageQueue, addMessage, clearQueue, getQueuedMessagesText } =
     useMessageQueue({
@@ -697,23 +716,52 @@ const App = ({ config, settings, startupWarnings = [], version }: AppProps) => {
       setPressedOnce: (value: boolean) => void,
       timerRef: ReturnType<typeof useRef<NodeJS.Timeout | null>>,
     ) => {
+      // Fast double-press: Direct quit (preserve user habit)
       if (pressedOnce) {
         if (timerRef.current) {
           clearTimeout(timerRef.current);
         }
-        // Directly invoke the central command handler.
+        // Exit directly without showing confirmation dialog
         handleSlashCommand('/quit');
-      } else {
-        setPressedOnce(true);
-        // Show quit confirmation dialog immediately on first Ctrl+C
-        handleSlashCommand('/quit-confirm');
-        timerRef.current = setTimeout(() => {
-          setPressedOnce(false);
-          timerRef.current = null;
-        }, CTRL_EXIT_PROMPT_DURATION_MS);
+        return;
       }
+
+      // First press: Prioritize cleanup tasks
+
+      // Special case: If quit-confirm dialog is open, Ctrl+C means "quit immediately"
+      if (quitConfirmationRequest) {
+        handleSlashCommand('/quit');
+        return;
+      }
+
+      // 1. Close other dialogs (highest priority)
+      if (closeAnyOpenDialog()) {
+        return; // Dialog closed, end processing
+      }
+
+      // 2. Cancel ongoing requests
+      if (streamingState === StreamingState.Responding) {
+        cancelOngoingRequest?.();
+        return; // Request cancelled, end processing
+      }
+
+      // 3. Clear input buffer (if has content)
+      if (buffer.text.length > 0) {
+        buffer.setText('');
+        return; // Input cleared, end processing
+      }
+
+      // All cleanup tasks completed, show quit confirmation dialog
+      handleSlashCommand('/quit-confirm');
     },
-    [handleSlashCommand],
+    [
+      handleSlashCommand,
+      quitConfirmationRequest,
+      closeAnyOpenDialog,
+      streamingState,
+      cancelOngoingRequest,
+      buffer,
+    ],
   );
 
   const handleGlobalKeypress = useCallback(
@@ -746,9 +794,6 @@ const App = ({ config, settings, startupWarnings = [], version }: AppProps) => {
         if (isAuthenticating) {
           return;
         }
-        if (!ctrlCPressedOnce) {
-          cancelOngoingRequest?.();
-        }
         handleExit(ctrlCPressedOnce, setCtrlCPressedOnce, ctrlCTimerRef);
       } else if (keyMatchers[Command.EXIT](key)) {
         if (buffer.text.length > 0) {
@@ -780,7 +825,6 @@ const App = ({ config, settings, startupWarnings = [], version }: AppProps) => {
       ctrlDTimerRef,
       handleSlashCommand,
       isAuthenticating,
-      cancelOngoingRequest,
     ],
   );
 
@@ -1247,7 +1291,7 @@ const App = ({ config, settings, startupWarnings = [], version }: AppProps) => {
                   )}
                   {ctrlCPressedOnce ? (
                     <Text color={Colors.AccentYellow}>
-                      Press Ctrl+C again to exit.
+                      Press Ctrl+C again to confirm exit.
                     </Text>
                   ) : ctrlDPressedOnce ? (
                     <Text color={Colors.AccentYellow}>

packages/cli/src/ui/components/AuthDialog.tsx

@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ export function AuthDialog({
         if (settings.merged.selectedAuthType === undefined) {
           // Prevent exiting if no auth method is set
           setErrorMessage(
-            'You must select an auth method to proceed. Press Ctrl+C twice to exit.',
+            'You must select an auth method to proceed. Press Ctrl+C again to exit.',
           );
           return;
         }

packages/cli/src/ui/components/Help.tsx

@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ export const Help: React.FC<Help> = ({ commands }) => (
       <Text bold color={Colors.AccentPurple}>
         Ctrl+C
       </Text>{' '}
-      - Quit application
+      - Close dialogs, cancel requests, or quit application
     </Text>
     <Text color={Colors.Foreground}>
       <Text bold color={Colors.AccentPurple}>

packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useDialogClose.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright 2025 Google LLC
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+import { useCallback } from 'react';
+import { SettingScope } from '../../config/settings.js';
+import { AuthType } from '@qwen-code/qwen-code-core';
+
+export interface DialogCloseOptions {
+  // Theme dialog
+  isThemeDialogOpen: boolean;
+  handleThemeSelect: (theme: string | undefined, scope: SettingScope) => void;
+
+  // Auth dialog
+  isAuthDialogOpen: boolean;
+  handleAuthSelect: (
+    authType: AuthType | undefined,
+    scope: SettingScope,
+  ) => Promise<void>;
+  selectedAuthType: AuthType | undefined;
+
+  // Editor dialog
+  isEditorDialogOpen: boolean;
+  exitEditorDialog: () => void;
+
+  // Settings dialog
+  isSettingsDialogOpen: boolean;
+  closeSettingsDialog: () => void;
+
+  // Folder trust dialog
+  isFolderTrustDialogOpen: boolean;
+
+  // Privacy notice
+  showPrivacyNotice: boolean;
+  setShowPrivacyNotice: (show: boolean) => void;
+
+  // Welcome back dialog
+  showWelcomeBackDialog: boolean;
+  handleWelcomeBackClose: () => void;
+
+  // Quit confirmation dialog
+  quitConfirmationRequest: {
+    onConfirm: (shouldQuit: boolean, action?: string) => void;
+  } | null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Hook that handles closing dialogs when Ctrl+C is pressed.
+ * This mimics the ESC key behavior by calling the same handlers that ESC uses.
+ * Returns true if a dialog was closed, false if no dialogs were open.
+ */
+export function useDialogClose(options: DialogCloseOptions) {
+  const closeAnyOpenDialog = useCallback((): boolean => {
+    // Check each dialog in priority order and close using the same logic as ESC key
+
+    if (options.isThemeDialogOpen) {
+      // Mimic ESC behavior: onSelect(undefined, selectedScope) - keeps current theme
+      options.handleThemeSelect(undefined, SettingScope.User);
+      return true;
+    }
+
+    if (options.isAuthDialogOpen) {
+      // Mimic ESC behavior: only close if already authenticated (same as AuthDialog ESC logic)
+      if (options.selectedAuthType !== undefined) {
+        // Note: We don't await this since we want non-blocking behavior like ESC
+        void options.handleAuthSelect(undefined, SettingScope.User);
+      }
+      // Note: AuthDialog prevents ESC exit if not authenticated, we follow same logic
+      return true;
+    }
+
+    if (options.isEditorDialogOpen) {
+      // Mimic ESC behavior: call onExit() directly
+      options.exitEditorDialog();
+      return true;
+    }
+
+    if (options.isSettingsDialogOpen) {
+      // Mimic ESC behavior: onSelect(undefined, selectedScope)
+      options.closeSettingsDialog();
+      return true;
+    }
+
+    if (options.isFolderTrustDialogOpen) {
+      // FolderTrustDialog doesn't expose close function, but ESC would prevent exit
+      // We follow the same pattern - prevent exit behavior
+      return true;
+    }
+
+    if (options.showPrivacyNotice) {
+      // PrivacyNotice uses onExit callback
+      options.setShowPrivacyNotice(false);
+      return true;
+    }
+
+    if (options.showWelcomeBackDialog) {
+      // WelcomeBack has its own close handler
+      options.handleWelcomeBackClose();
+      return true;
+    }
+
+    // Note: quitConfirmationRequest is NOT handled here anymore
+    // It's handled specially in handleExit - ctrl+c in quit-confirm should exit immediately
+
+    // No dialog was open
+    return false;
+  }, [options]);
+
+  return { closeAnyOpenDialog };
+}