CSI cursor controls¶

Status: Standard (movement), DEC (save/restore, style, visibility).

The cursor has a position, a saved position, and an appearance with three independent dimensions: visibility, shape, and blinking. Applications should not assume that changing one dimension changes another.

Movement¶

Name	Sequence	Default	Effect
CUU	`CSI Ps A`	1	Up `Ps` rows; stops at the top margin
CUD	`CSI Ps B`	1	Down `Ps` rows; stops at the bottom margin
CUF	`CSI Ps C`	1	Forward `Ps` columns; stops at the right margin
CUB	`CSI Ps D`	1	Back `Ps` columns; stops at the left margin
CNL	`CSI Ps E`	1	Down `Ps` rows, to column 1
CPL	`CSI Ps F`	1	Up `Ps` rows, to column 1
CHA	`CSI Ps G`	1	To column `Ps` in the current row
CUP	`CSI Ps ; Ps H`	1;1	To row, column
HVP	`CSI Ps ; Ps f`	1;1	Same as CUP
VPA	`CSI Ps d`	1	To row `Ps` in the current column
HPA	CSI Ps \`` \| 1 \| To columnPs` (rarely used; CHA is equivalent)
CHT	`CSI Ps I`	1	Forward `Ps` tab stops
CBT	`CSI Ps Z`	1	Back `Ps` tab stops

A parameter of 0 is treated as 1. Movement never scrolls; CUD at the bottom margin stays there, unlike LF or IND.

Coordinates are 1-based and, under DEC origin mode (?6, DECOM), relative to the scrolling region. With origin mode reset, the cursor may be placed outside the region with CUP, but relative motion still clamps to margins.

CUP with a row or column beyond the screen clamps to the edge. Emulators do not report an error.

Pending wrap¶

After writing a character in the last column, DEC terminals and every serious emulator enter a pending wrap state: the cursor is still drawn in the last column and the next printable character wraps first. Any explicit cursor movement, including CSI 0 C, clears the pending state without moving. Applications that write exactly one row of text and then position the cursor depend on this; applications that assume the cursor is already on the next row do not work.

Save and restore¶

ESC 7      DECSC   save cursor position, attributes, charset, origin mode, pending wrap
ESC 8      DECRC   restore them
CSI s      SCOSC   save position only (ANSI.SYS); conflicts with DECSLRM when ?69 is set
CSI u      SCORC   restore position only

DECSC/DECRC are the portable pair. CSI s is ambiguous: with left/right margin mode enabled, xterm interprets CSI Pl ; Pr s as DECSLRM. Alternate screen mode ?1049 performs its own save and restore; see Modes.

Style: DECSCUSR¶

Status: DEC (VT520), with emulator extensions for parameter 0.

CSI Ps SP q

SP is a literal space byte, not notation.

`Ps`	Description
`0`	Blinking block in DEC VT520 and xterm; some emulators use their configured default
`1`	Blinking block
`2`	Steady block
`3`	Blinking underline
`4`	Steady underline
`5`	Blinking bar (xterm extension, now universal)
`6`	Steady bar (xterm extension, now universal)

The VT520 manual defines 0 as "blinking block" and 1 the same, and xterm keeps that interpretation. Some other emulators treat 0 as "return to the configured default" instead. Parameter 0 is therefore not a portable restore operation. Programs that need to restore should query with DECRQSS (DCS $ q SP q ST) first; see DECRQSS.

Visibility: DECTCEM¶

CSI ? 25 h    show the cursor
CSI ? 25 l    hide the cursor

Visibility is independent of style. A forced blink policy must still honor a hidden cursor. Full-screen programs hide the cursor while painting and show it after; a crash leaves it hidden, and reset(1) or tput cnorm recovers.

Blinking: DEC mode 12¶

CSI ? 12 h    start blinking
CSI ? 12 l    stop blinking
CSI ? 12 s    save the blink mode (xterm)
CSI ? 12 r    restore the saved blink mode (xterm)

Mode 12 (att610 in xterm's naming) changes blinking without selecting a shape. Several emulators let configuration override or ignore it. In xterm, RIS and DECSTR clear the application blink request and restore the startup cursorBlink policy.

Observed compatibility¶

Observed on 2026-08-25 with tools/sendcsi blink-block, then tools/sendcsi default.

Emulator	Version	Initial cursor	After `blink-block`	After `default`
xterm	406	Steady	Blinking	Blinking
WezTerm	`20260820_005713_e95b3713`	Steady	Blinking	Steady
Ghostty	1.3.1, default configuration	Blinking	Blinking	Blinking

This table describes outcomes, not motives. Configuration changes every row; an implementation's documentation remains authoritative for its intent.

Documented compatibility¶

Feature	xterm	VTE	Konsole	kitty	WezTerm	Ghostty	foot	Alacritty	PuTTY	Windows Terminal	Apple Terminal	iTerm2	xterm.js	tmux
DECSCUSR 1–6	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes (`Ss`/`Se`)
DECSCUSR 0 = blinking block	Yes	?	?	?	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	pass-through
DECTCEM `?25`	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mode `?12`	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?

Sources for the Yes cells are the escape-sequence references listed under each terminal in Terminals. Cells marked ? are contribution targets.

Probe¶

tools/sendcsi steady-block
tools/sendcsi blink-block
tools/sendcsi blink-steady
tools/sendcsi default
tools/query cursor                # CPR: expect ^[[row;colR
tools/query decrqss ' q'         # DECRQSS for DECSCUSR; reply carries the style
printf '%*s' "$(tput cols)" x; tools/query cursor   # pending wrap: column stays at the edge

Sources¶

Compatibility¶

Feature support by terminal. Imported claims have not been reverified; unknown is not unsupported.
Feature / stable ID	Alacritty	Apple Terminal	ConPTY (conhost)	Contour	DomTerm	foot	Ghostty	iTerm2	kitty	Konsole	mintty	mlterm	PuTTY	Revenant	RLogin	st	tmux	rxvt-unicode	VTE	wayst	WezTerm	Windows Terminal	xterm	xterm.js
CUU cursor up `csi-cuu`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
CUD cursor down `csi-cud`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
CUF cursor forward `csi-cuf`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
CUB cursor back `csi-cub`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
CNL cursor next line `csi-cnl`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
CPL cursor previous line `csi-cpl`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
CHA cursor horizontal absolute `csi-cha`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
CUP cursor position `csi-cup`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
HPA horizontal position absolute `csi-hpa`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
HPR horizontal position relative `csi-hpr`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
VPA vertical position absolute `csi-vpa`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
VPR vertical position relative `csi-vpr`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
HVP horizontal and vertical position `csi-hvp`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
DECSCUSR cursor style `csi-decscusr`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Partial	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
SCOSC save cursor (ANSI.SYS) `csi-scosc`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
SCORC restore cursor (ANSI.SYS) `csi-scorc`	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown