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FISH-TERMINAL-COMPATIBILITY(1) fish-shell FISH-TERMINAL-COMPATIBILITY(1) fish writes various control sequences to the terminal. Some must be implemented to enable basic functionality, while others enable optional features and may be ignored by the terminal. The terminal must be able to parse Control Sequence Introducer (CSI) commands, Operating System Commands (OSC) and optionally Device Control Strings (DCS). These are defined by ECMA-48. If a valid CSI, OSC or DCS sequence does not rep- resent a command implemented by the terminal, the terminal must ignore it. For historical reasons, OSC sequences may be terminated with \x07 instead of \e\\. Control sequences are denoted in a fish-like syntax. Special characters other than \ are not escaped. Spaces are only added for readability and are not part of the sequence. Placeholders are written as Ps for a number or Pt for an arbi- trary printable string. NOTE: fish does not rely on your system's terminfo database. In this document, terminfo (TI) codes are included for reference only. REQUIRED COMMANDS +----------+-------+----------------------+ | Sequence | TI | Description | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \r | n/a | Move cursor to the | | | | beginning of the | | | | line | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \n | cud1 | Move cursor down one | | | | line. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \e[ Ps A | cuu | Move cursor up Ps | | | | columns, or one col- | | | | umn if no parameter. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \e[ Ps C | cuf | Move cursor to the | | | | right Ps columns, or | | | | one column if no pa- | | | | rameter. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \x08 | cub1 | Move cursor one col- | | | | umn to the left. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \e[ Ps D | cub | Move cursor to the | | | | left Ps times. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \e[H | cup | Set cursor position | | | | (no parameters | | | | means: move to row | | | | 1, column 1). | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \e[K | el | Clear to end of | | | | line. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \e[J | ed | Clear to the end of | | | | screen. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \e[2J | clear | Clear the screen. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | \e[0c | | Request Primary De- | | | | vice Attribute. The | | | | terminal must re- | | | | spond with a CSI | | | | command that starts | | | | with the ? parameter | | | | byte (so a sequence | | | | starting with \e[?) | | | | and has c as final | | | | byte. | | | | | | | | Failure to implement | | | | this will cause a | | | | brief pause at | | | | startup followed by | | | | a warning. For the | | | | time being, both can | | | | be turned off by | | | | turning off the | | | | query-terminal | | | | feature flag. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | n/a | am | Soft wrap text at | | | | screen width. | +----------+-------+----------------------+ | n/a | xenl | Printing to the last | | | | column does not move | | | | the cursor to the | | | | next line. Verify | | | | this by running | | | | printf %0"$COLUMNS"d | | | | 0; sleep 3 | +----------+-------+----------------------+ OPTIONAL COMMANDS +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | Sequence | TI | Description | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \t | it | Move the cursor to | | | | the next tab stop | | | | (A 8 columns). | | | | This is mainly rele- | | | | vant if your prompt | | | | includes tabs. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[m | sgr0 | Turn off | | | | bold/dim/italic/un- | | | | der- | | | | line/strikethrough/re- | | | | verse attribute | | | | modes and select de- | | | | fault colors. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[1m | bold | Enter bold mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[2m | dim | Enter dim mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[3m | sitm | Enter italic mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[4m | smul | Enter underline mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[4:2m | Su | Enter double underline | | | | mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[4:3m | Su | Enter curly underline | | | | mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[4:4m | Su | Enter dotted underline | | | | mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[4:5m | Su | Enter dashed underline | | | | mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[7m | rev | Enter reverse video | | | | mode (swap foreground | | | | and background col- | | | | ors). | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[9m | smxx | Enter strikethrough | | | | mode | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[23m | ritm | Exit italic mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[24m | rmul | Exit underline mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[29m | rmxx | Exit strikethrough | | | | mode. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[38;5; Ps m | setaf | Select foreground | | | | color Ps from the | | | | 256-color-palette. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[48;5; Ps m | setab | Select background | | | | color Ps from the | | | | 256-color-palette. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[58:5: Ps m (note: | Su | Select underline color | | colons not semi- | | Ps from the | | colons) | | 256-color-palette. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[ Ps m | setaf setab | Select fore- | | | | ground/background | | | | color. This uses a | | | | color in the aforemen- | | | | tioned | | | | 256-color-palette, | | | | based on the range | | | | that contains the pa- | | | | rameter: 30-37 maps to | | | | foreground 0-7, 40-47 | | | | maps to background | | | | 0-7, 90-97 maps to | | | | foreground 8-15 and | | | | 100-107 maps to back- | | | | ground 8-15. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[38;2; Ps ; Ps ; | | Select foreground | | Ps m | | color from 24-bit RGB | | | | colors. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[48;2; Ps ; Ps ; | | Select background | | Ps m | | color from 24-bit RGB | | | | colors. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[39m | | Reset foreground color | | | | to the terminal's de- | | | | fault. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[49m | | Reset background color | | | | to the terminal's de- | | | | fault. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[58:2:: Ps : Ps : | Su | Select underline color | | Ps m (note: colons | | from 24-bit RGB col- | | not semicolons) | | ors. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[59m | Su | Reset underline color | | | | to the default (follow | | | | the foreground color). | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[ Ps S | indn | Scroll up the content | | | | (not the viewport) Ps | | | | lines (called SCROLL | | | | UP / SU by ECMA-48 and | | | | "scroll forward" by | | | | terminfo). When fish | | | | detects support for | | | | this feature, status | | | | test-terminal-features | | | | scroll-content-up will | | | | return 0, which en- | | | | ables the ctrl-l bind- | | | | ing to use the | | | | scrollback-push spe- | | | | cial input function. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[= Ps u, \e[? Ps u | n/a | Enable the kitty key- | | | | board protocol. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[6n | n/a | Request cursor posi- | | | | tion report. The re- | | | | sponse must be of the | | | | form \e[ Ps ; Ps R | | | | where the first para- | | | | meter is the row num- | | | | ber and the second pa- | | | | rameter is the column | | | | number. Both start at | | | | 1. | | | | | | | | This is used for trun- | | | | cating multiline auto- | | | | suggestions at the | | | | screen's bottom edge, | | | | by the scrollback-push | | | | special input func- | | | | tion, and inside ter- | | | | minals that implement | | | | the OSC 133 | | | | click_events feature. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[ \x20 q | Se | Reset cursor style to | | | | the terminal's de- | | | | fault. This is not | | | | used as of today but | | | | may be in future. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[ Ps \x20 q | Ss | Set cursor style (DEC- | | | | SCUSR); Ps is 2, 4 or | | | | 6 for block, under- | | | | score or line shape. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[ Ps q | n/a | Request terminal name | | | | and version (XTVER- | | | | SION). This is only | | | | used for temporary | | | | workarounds for incom- | | | | patible terminals. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[?25h | cvvis | Enable cursor visibil- | | | | ity (DECTCEM). | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[?1004h | n/a | Enable focus report- | | | | ing. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[?1004l | n/a | Disable focus report- | | | | ing. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[?1049h | n/a | Enable alternate | | | | screen buffer. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[?1049l | n/a | Disable alternate | | | | screen buffer. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[?2004h | | Enable bracketed | | | | paste. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[?2004l | | Disable bracketed | | | | paste. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[?2031h | | Enable unsolicited - | | | | color theme reporting | | | | <https://contour-ter- | | | | minal.org/vt-exten- | | | | sions/color-palette- | | | | update-notifica- | | | | tions/>. When en- | | | | abled, the terminal | | | | should send \e[?997;1n | | | | or \e[?997;2n whenever | | | | its color theme has | | | | changed. This prompts | | | | fish to query for | | | | background color. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e[?2031l | | Disable unsolicited | | | | color theme reporting. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]0; Pt \e\\ | ts | Set terminal window | | | | title (OSC 0). Used in | | | | fish_title. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]2; Pt \e\\ | ts | Set terminal tab title | | | | (OSC 1). Used in | | | | fish_tab_title. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]7;file:// Pt / Pt | | Report working direc- | | \e\\ | | tory (OSC 7). Since | | | | the terminal may be | | | | running on a different | | | | system than a (remote) | | | | shell, the hostname | | | | (first parameter) will | | | | not be localhost. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]8;; Pt \e\\ | | Create a hyperlink | | | | (OSC 8) | | | | <https://gist.github.com/egmon- | | | | tkob/eb114294ef- | | | | bcd5adb1944c9f3cb5feda>. | | | | This is used in fish's | | | | man pages. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]11;?\e\\ | n/a | Query background color. | | | | | | | | A valid response would be of | | | | the form \e]11;rgb: Pt / Pt / | | | | Pt \e\\ or \e]11;rgba: Pt / Pt | | | | / Pt / Pt\e\\ where the first | | | | three parameters consist of one | | | | to four hex digits each, repre- | | | | senting red, blue and green | | | | components. | | | | | | | | This is used to populate | | | | fish_terminal_color_theme, | | | | which is used to select a theme | | | | variant optimized for the ter- | | | | minal's color theme. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]52;c; Pt \e\\ | | Copy to clipboard (OSC 52). | | | | Used by fish_clipboard_copy. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]133;A; | | Mark prompt start (OSC 133), | | click_events=1\e\\ | | with kitty's click_events ex- | | | | tension. The click_events ex- | | | | tension enables mouse clicks to | | | | move the cursor or select pager | | | | items, assuming that cursor po- | | | | sition reporting is available. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]133;B\e\\ | | Mark prompt end (OSC 133). | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]133;C; cmd- | | Mark command start (OSC 133), | | line_url= Pt \e\\ | | with kitty's cmdline_url exten- | | | | sion whose parameter is the | | | | URL-encoded command line. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \e]133;D; Ps \e\\ | | Mark command end (OSC 133); Ps | | | | is the exit status. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ | \eP+q Pt \e\\ | | Request terminfo capability | | | | (XTGETTCAP). The parameter is | | | | the capability's hex-encoded | | | | terminfo code. | | | | | | | | The response must be of the | | | | form \eP1+q Pt \e\\ ("boolean") | | | | or \eP1+q Pt = Pt \e\\ | | | | ("string"). In either variant, | | | | the first parameter must be the | | | | same as the request parameter. | | | | | | | | fish queries the following | | | | string capabilities: | | | | | | | | * indn | | | | | | | | The response's second | | | | parameter is ignored. | | | | | | | | * query-os-name (for | | | | status terminal-os) | | | | | | | | Terminals running on | | | | Unix should respond with | | | | the hex encoding of | | | | $(uname -s) as second | | | | parameter. | +----------------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ DCS COMMANDS AND GNU SCREEN DCS parsing is optional because fish temporarily switches to the alternate screen before printing any DCS commands. However, since GNU screen neither allows turning on the alternate screen buffer by default, nor treats DCS commands in a compatible way, fish's initial prompt may be garbled by a DCS payload like +q696e646e. For the time being, fish works around this by checking for presence of the STY environment variable. If that doesn't work for some reason, you can add this to your ~/.screenrc: altscreen on Or add this to your config.fish: function GNU-screen-workaround --on-event fish_prompt commandline -f repaint functions --erase GNU-screen-workaround end UNICODE CODEPOINTS By default, fish outputs the following non-ASCII characters: A ao A<paragraph> a ac a a| I1/4 a a a a a a a a a as well as control pictures (U+2400 through U+241F), and locale-specific ones in translated strings. AUTHOR fish-shell developers COPYRIGHT fish-shell developers 4.6 Aug 01, 2026 FISH-TERMINAL-COMPATIBILITY(1)
REQUIRED COMMANDS | OPTIONAL COMMANDS | DCS COMMANDS AND GNU SCREEN | UNICODE CODEPOINTS | AUTHOR | COPYRIGHT
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