Better yet, from gentoo's /etc/inputrc: # map "page up" and "page down" to search history based on current cmdline "\e[5~": history-search-backward

Better yet, from gentoo's /etc/inputrc: # map "page up" and "page down" to search history based on current cmdline "\e[5~": history-search-backward "\e[6~": history-search-forward This way, you have up/down for history traversal, and page up/page down for history searching. More importantly, and what most people missed out is that, this history searching works on ALL command line interfaces, including bash shell, ipython, and psql. Seriously, a command line advocate who doesn't know about this can't be serious.