diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Composer.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Composer.tsx
index b4559a997f..15a2b45599 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Composer.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/Composer.tsx
@@ -173,7 +173,9 @@ export const Composer = () => {
           placeholder={
             vimEnabled
               ? "  Press 'i' for INSERT mode and 'Esc' for NORMAL mode."
-              : '  Type your message or @path/to/file'
+              : uiState.shellModeActive
+                ? '  Type your shell command'
+                : '  Type your message or @path/to/file'
           }
           setQueueErrorMessage={uiActions.setQueueErrorMessage}
           streamingState={uiState.streamingState}