I have heard that the readline module is reading ~/.inputrc and that is how it changes the behaviour of keystrokes under programs such as bash.
How can I reload this after editing to see the changed behaviour without restarting my terminal program?
By default, C-x C-r is bound to re-read-init-file.
See the Bash Reference Manual for explanation.
You can also reload new entries from command line using bind -f ~/.inputrc. That will load the entries in .inputrc. Note that it just does a load, not a "reload" - so it doesn't reset any lines you happen to have removed from the .inputrc.
To quickly test from a clean slate, just run bash then work inside that new nested shell (or start a new terminal).
This worked for me
bind -f ~/.inputrc
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/153357/inputrc-file-not-sourcing-correctly/246422#246422
In .inputrc first choose your binding and after bind the re-read-init-file function:
set editing-mode vi
"\C-x\C-r": re-read-init-file
Press CTRL and x, release both, press CTRL and r.
This worked for me:
exec $SHELL
This runs the current shell again, without creating a subprocess, and it involves doing all the usual initialisations and script reading, so any new or changed settings in /etc/inputrc, ~/.profile, ~/.bashrc etc. become effective.
The following snippet for ~/.inputrc will map C-x C-r in all keymaps (emacs, vim command mode and vim insert mode):
set keymap emacs
"\C-x\C-r": re-read-init-file
set keymap vi-command
"\C-x\C-r": re-read-init-file
set keymap vi-insert
"\C-x\C-r": re-read-init-file
