# ANSI Escape Sequences

Standard escape codes are prefixed with `Escape`:

- Ctrl-Key: `^[`
- Octal: `\033`
- Unicode: `\u001b`
- Hexadecimal: `\x1b`
- Decimal: `27`

Followed by the command, usually delimited by opening square bracket (`[`) and optionally followed by arguments and the command itself.

Arguments are delimeted by semi colon (`;`).

For example:

```sh
\x1b[1;31m  # Set style to bold, red foreground.
```

## General ASCII Codes

| Name  | decimal | octal | hex  | C-escape | Ctrl-Key | Description                    |
| ----- | ------- | ----- | ---- | -------- | -------- | ------------------------------ |
| `BEL` | 7       | 007   | 0x07 | `\a`     | `^G`     | Terminal bell                  |
| `BS`  | 8       | 010   | 0x08 | `\b`     | `^H`     | Backspace                      |
| `HT`  | 9       | 011   | 0x09 | `\t`     | `^I`     | Horizontal TAB                 |
| `LF`  | 10      | 012   | 0x0A | `\n`     | `^J`     | Linefeed (newline)             |
| `VT`  | 11      | 013   | 0x0B | `\v`     | `^K`     | Vertical TAB                   |
| `FF`  | 12      | 014   | 0x0C | `\f`     | `^L`     | Formfeed (also: New page `NP`) |
| `CR`  | 13      | 015   | 0x0D | `\r`     | `^M`     | Carriage return                |
| `ESC` | 27      | 033   | 0x1B | `\e`[*](#escape) | `^[` | Escape character           |
| `DEL` | 127     | 177   | 0x7F | `<none>` | `<none>` | Delete character               |

<div id="escape"></div>

> **Note:** Some control escape sequences, like `\e` for `ESC`, are not guaranteed to work in all languages and compilers. It is recommended to use the decimal, octal or hex representation as escape code.

  

> **Note:** The **Ctrl-Key** representation is simply associating the non-printable characters from ASCII code 1 with the printable (letter) characters from ASCII code 65 ("A"). ASCII code 1 would be `^A` (Ctrl-A), while ASCII code 7 (BEL) would be `^G` (Ctrl-G). This is a common representation (and input method) and historically comes from one of the VT series of terminals.

## Cursor Controls

| ESC Code Sequence                                  | Description                                              |
| :------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ESC[H`                                            | moves cursor to home position (0, 0)                     |
| `ESC[{line};{column}H` <br> `ESC[{line};{column}f` | moves cursor to line #, column #                         |
| `ESC[#A`                                           | moves cursor up # lines                                  |
| `ESC[#B`                                           | moves cursor down # lines                                |
| `ESC[#C`                                           | moves cursor right # columns                             |
| `ESC[#D`                                           | moves cursor left # columns                              |
| `ESC[#E`                                           | moves cursor to beginning of next line, # lines down     |
| `ESC[#F`                                           | moves cursor to beginning of previous line, # lines down |
| `ESC[#G`                                           | moves cursor to column #                                 |
| `ESC[6n`                                           | request cursor position (reports as `ESC[#;#R`)          |
| `ESC[s`                                            | save cursor position                                     |
| `ESC[u`                                            | restores the cursor to the last saved position           |

## Erase Functions

| ESC Code Sequence | Description                               |
| :---------------- | :---------------------------------------- |
| `ESC[J`           | clears the screen                         |
| `ESC[0J`          | clears from cursor until end of screen    |
| `ESC[1J`          | clears from cursor to beginning of screen |
| `ESC[2J`          | clears entire screen                      |
| `ESC[K`           | clears the current line                   |
| `ESC[0K`          | clears from cursor to end of line         |
| `ESC[1K`          | clears from cursor to start of line       |
| `ESC[2K`          | clears entire line                        |

## Colors / Graphics Mode

| ESC Code Sequence | Description                                                              |
| :---------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ESC[1;34;{...}m` | Set graphics modes for cell, separated by semicolon (`;`).               |
| `ESC[0m`          | reset all modes (styles and colors)                                      |
| `ESC[1m`          | set bold mode.                                                           |
| `ESC[2m`          | set dim/faint mode.                                                      |
| `ESC[3m`          | set italic mode.                                                         |
| `ESC[4m`          | set underline mode.                                                      |
| `ESC[5m`          | set blinking mode                                                        |
| `ESC[7m`          | set inverse/reverse mode                                                 |
| `ESC[8m`          | set invisible mode                                                       |
| `ESC[9m`          | set strikethrough mode.                                                  |

> **Note:** Some terminals may not support some of the graphic mode sequences listed above.

### Color codes

Most terminals support 8 and 16 colors, as well as 256 (8-bit) colors. These colors are set by the user, but have commonly defined meanings.

#### 8-16 Colors

| Color Name | Foreground Color Code | Background Color Code |
| :--------- | :-------------------- | :-------------------- |
| Black      | `30`                  | `40`                  |
| Red        | `31`                  | `41`                  |
| Green      | `32`                  | `42`                  |
| Yellow     | `33`                  | `43`                  |
| Blue       | `34`                  | `44`                  |
| Magenta    | `35`                  | `45`                  |
| Cyan       | `36`                  | `46`                  |
| White      | `37`                  | `47`                  |
| Reset      | `0`                   | `0`                   |

> **Note:** the _Reset_ color is the reset code that resets _all_ colors and text effects.

Most terminals, apart from the basic set of 8 colors, also support the "bright" or "bold" colors. These have their own set of codes, mirroring the normal colors, but with an additional `;1` in their codes:

```sh
# Set style to bold, red foreground.
\x1b[1;31mHello
# Set style to dimmed white foreground with red background.
\x1b[2;37;41mWorld
```

#### 256 Colors

The following escape codes tells the terminal to use the given color ID:

| ESC Code Sequence | Description           |
| :---------------- | :-------------------- |
| `ESC[38;5;{ID}m` | Set foreground color. |
| `ESC[48;5;{ID}m` | Set background color. |

Where `{ID}` should be replaced with the color index from 0 to 255 of the following color table:

![256 Color table](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/995050/47952855-ecb12480-df75-11e8-89d4-ac26c50e80b9.png)

The table starts with the original 16 colors (0-15).

The proceeding 216 colors (16-231) or formed by a 3bpc RGB value offset by 16, packed into a single value.

The final 24 colors (232-255) are grayscale starting from a shade slighly lighter than black, ranging up to shade slightly darker than white.

Some emulators interpret these steps as linear increments (`256 / 24`) on all three channels, although some emulators may explicitly define these values.

#### RGB Colors

More modern terminals supports [Truecolor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth#True_color_.2824-bit.29) (24-bit RGB), which allows you to set foreground and background colors using RGB.

These escape sequences are usually not well documented.

| ESC Code Sequence       | Description                  |
| :---------------------- | :--------------------------- |
| `ESC[38;2;{r};{g};{b}m` | Set foreground color as RGB. |
| `ESC[48;2;{r};{g};{b}m` | Set background color as RGB. |

> Note that `;38` and `;48` corresponds to the 16 color sequence and is interpreted by the terminal to set the foreground and background color respectively. Where as `;2` and `;5` sets the color format.

## Screen Modes

### Set Mode

| ESC Code Sequence | Description                                                                                                                                                           |
| :---------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ESC[={value}h`   | Changes the screen width or type to the mode specified by value.                                                                                                      |
| `ESC[=0h`         | 40 x 25 monochrome (text)                                                                                                                                             |
| `ESC[=1h`         | 40 x 25 color (text)                                                                                                                                                  |
| `ESC[=2h`         | 80 x 25 monochrome (text)                                                                                                                                             |
| `ESC[=3h`         | 80 x 25 color (text)                                                                                                                                                  |
| `ESC[=4h`         | 320 x 200 4-color (graphics)                                                                                                                                          |
| `ESC[=5h`         | 320 x 200 monochrome (graphics)                                                                                                                                       |
| `ESC[=6h`         | 640 x 200 monochrome (graphics)                                                                                                                                       |
| `ESC[=7h`         | Enables line wrapping                                                                                                                                                 |
| `ESC[=13h`        | 320 x 200 color (graphics)                                                                                                                                            |
| `ESC[=14h`        | 640 x 200 color (16-color graphics)                                                                                                                                   |
| `ESC[=15h`        | 640 x 350 monochrome (2-color graphics)                                                                                                                               |
| `ESC[=16h`        | 640 x 350 color (16-color graphics)                                                                                                                                   |
| `ESC[=17h`        | 640 x 480 monochrome (2-color graphics)                                                                                                                               |
| `ESC[=18h`        | 640 x 480 color (16-color graphics)                                                                                                                                   |
| `ESC[=19h`        | 320 x 200 color (256-color graphics)                                                                                                                                  |
| `ESC[={value}l`   | Resets the mode by using the same values that Set Mode uses, except for 7, which disables line wrapping. The last character in this escape sequence is a lowercase L. |

### Common Private Modes

These are some examples of private modes, which are not defined by the specification, but are implemented in most terminals.

| ESC Code Sequence | Description                     |
| :---------------- | :------------------------------ |
| `ESC[?25l`        | make cursor invisible           |
| `ESC[?25h`        | make cursor visible             |
| `ESC[?47l`        | restore screen                  |
| `ESC[?47h`        | save screen                     |
| `ESC[?1049h`      | enables the alternative buffer  |
| `ESC[?1049l`      | disables the alternative buffer |

Refer to the [XTerm Control Sequences](https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html) for a more in-depth list of private modes defined by XTerm.

> Note: While these modes may be supported by the most terminals, some may not work in multiplexers like tmux.

### Keyboard Strings

```sh
ESC[{code};{string};{...}p
```

Redefines a keyboard key to a specified string.

The parameters for this escape sequence are defined as follows:

- `code` is one or more of the values listed in the following table. These values represent keyboard keys and key combinations. When using these values in a command, you must type the semicolons shown in this table in addition to the semicolons required by the escape sequence. The codes in parentheses are not available on some keyboards. `ANSI.SYS` will not interpret the codes in parentheses for those keyboards unless you specify the `/X` switch in the `DEVICE` command for `ANSI.SYS`.

- `string` is either the ASCII code for a single character or a string contained in quotation marks. For example, both 65 and "A" can be used to represent an uppercase A.

> **IMPORTANT:** Some of the values in the following table are not valid for all computers. Check your computer's documentation for values that are different.

#### List of keyboard strings

| Key                      | Code     | SHIFT+code | CTRL+code | ALT+code  |
| ------------------------ | -------- | ---------- | --------- | --------- |
| F1                       | 0;59     | 0;84       | 0;94      | 0;104     |
| F2                       | 0;60     | 0;85       | 0;95      | 0;105     |
| F3                       | 0;61     | 0;86       | 0;96      | 0;106     |
| F4                       | 0;62     | 0;87       | 0;97      | 0;107     |
| F5                       | 0;63     | 0;88       | 0;98      | 0;108     |
| F6                       | 0;64     | 0;89       | 0;99      | 0;109     |
| F7                       | 0;65     | 0;90       | 0;100     | 0;110     |
| F8                       | 0;66     | 0;91       | 0;101     | 0;111     |
| F9                       | 0;67     | 0;92       | 0;102     | 0;112     |
| F10                      | 0;68     | 0;93       | 0;103     | 0;113     |
| F11                      | 0;133    | 0;135      | 0;137     | 0;139     |
| F12                      | 0;134    | 0;136      | 0;138     | 0;140     |
| HOME (num keypad)        | 0;71     | 55         | 0;119     | \--       |
| UP ARROW (num keypad)    | 0;72     | 56         | (0;141)   | \--       |
| PAGE UP (num keypad)     | 0;73     | 57         | 0;132     | \--       |
| LEFT ARROW (num keypad)  | 0;75     | 52         | 0;115     | \--       |
| RIGHT ARROW (num keypad) | 0;77     | 54         | 0;116     | \--       |
| END (num keypad)         | 0;79     | 49         | 0;117     | \--       |
| DOWN ARROW (num keypad)  | 0;80     | 50         | (0;145)   | \--       |
| PAGE DOWN (num keypad)   | 0;81     | 51         | 0;118     | \--       |
| INSERT (num keypad)      | 0;82     | 48         | (0;146)   | \--       |
| DELETE (num keypad)      | 0;83     | 46         | (0;147)   | \--       |
| HOME                     | (224;71) | (224;71)   | (224;119) | (224;151) |
| UP ARROW                 | (224;72) | (224;72)   | (224;141) | (224;152) |
| PAGE UP                  | (224;73) | (224;73)   | (224;132) | (224;153) |
| LEFT ARROW               | (224;75) | (224;75)   | (224;115) | (224;155) |
| RIGHT ARROW              | (224;77) | (224;77)   | (224;116) | (224;157) |
| END                      | (224;79) | (224;79)   | (224;117) | (224;159) |
| DOWN ARROW               | (224;80) | (224;80)   | (224;145) | (224;154) |
| PAGE DOWN                | (224;81) | (224;81)   | (224;118) | (224;161) |
| INSERT                   | (224;82) | (224;82)   | (224;146) | (224;162) |
| DELETE                   | (224;83) | (224;83)   | (224;147) | (224;163) |
| PRINT SCREEN             | \--      | \--        | 0;114     | \--       |
| PAUSE/BREAK              | \--      | \--        | 0;0       | \--       |
| BACKSPACE                | 8        | 8          | 127       | (0)       |
| ENTER                    | 13       | \--        | 10        | (0        |
| TAB                      | 9        | 0;15       | (0;148)   | (0;165)   |
| NULL                     | 0;3      | \--        | \--       | \--       |
| A                        | 97       | 65         | 1         | 0;30      |
| B                        | 98       | 66         | 2         | 0;48      |
| C                        | 99       | 66         | 3         | 0;46      |
| D                        | 100      | 68         | 4         | 0;32      |
| E                        | 101      | 69         | 5         | 0;18      |
| F                        | 102      | 70         | 6         | 0;33      |
| G                        | 103      | 71         | 7         | 0;34      |
| H                        | 104      | 72         | 8         | 0;35      |
| I                        | 105      | 73         | 9         | 0;23      |
| J                        | 106      | 74         | 10        | 0;36      |
| K                        | 107      | 75         | 11        | 0;37      |
| L                        | 108      | 76         | 12        | 0;38      |
| M                        | 109      | 77         | 13        | 0;50      |
| N                        | 110      | 78         | 14        | 0;49      |
| O                        | 111      | 79         | 15        | 0;24      |
| P                        | 112      | 80         | 16        | 0;25      |
| Q                        | 113      | 81         | 17        | 0;16      |
| R                        | 114      | 82         | 18        | 0;19      |
| S                        | 115      | 83         | 19        | 0;31      |
| T                        | 116      | 84         | 20        | 0;20      |
| U                        | 117      | 85         | 21        | 0;22      |
| V                        | 118      | 86         | 22        | 0;47      |
| W                        | 119      | 87         | 23        | 0;17      |
| X                        | 120      | 88         | 24        | 0;45      |
| Y                        | 121      | 89         | 25        | 0;21      |
| Z                        | 122      | 90         | 26        | 0;44      |
| 1                        | 49       | 33         | \--       | 0;120     |
| 2                        | 50       | 64         | 0         | 0;121     |
| 3                        | 51       | 35         | \--       | 0;122     |
| 4                        | 52       | 36         | \--       | 0;123     |
| 5                        | 53       | 37         | \--       | 0;124     |
| 6                        | 54       | 94         | 30        | 0;125     |
| 7                        | 55       | 38         | \--       | 0;126     |
| 8                        | 56       | 42         | \--       | 0;126     |
| 9                        | 57       | 40         | \--       | 0;127     |
| 0                        | 48       | 41         | \--       | 0;129     |
| \-                       | 45       | 95         | 31        | 0;130     |
| \=                       | 61       | 43         | \---      | 0;131     |
| \[                       | 91       | 123        | 27        | 0;26      |
| \]                       | 93       | 125        | 29        | 0;27      |
|                          | 92       | 124        | 28        | 0;43      |
| ;                        | 59       | 58         | \--       | 0;39      |
| '                        | 39       | 34         | \--       | 0;40      |
| ,                        | 44       | 60         | \--       | 0;51      |
| .                        | 46       | 62         | \--       | 0;52      |
| /                        | 47       | 63         | \--       | 0;53      |
| \`                       | 96       | 126        | \--       | (0;41)    |
| ENTER (keypad)           | 13       | \--        | 10        | (0;166)   |
| / (keypad)               | 47       | 47         | (0;142)   | (0;74)    |
| \* (keypad)              | 42       | (0;144)    | (0;78)    | \--       |
| \- (keypad)              | 45       | 45         | (0;149)   | (0;164)   |
| \+ (keypad)              | 43       | 43         | (0;150)   | (0;55)    |
| 5 (keypad)               | (0;76)   | 53         | (0;143)   | \--       |

## Resources

- [Wikipedia: ANSI escape code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code)
- [Build your own Command Line with ANSI escape codes](http://www.lihaoyi.com/post/BuildyourownCommandLinewithANSIescapecodes.html)
- [ascii-table: ANSI Escape sequences](http://ascii-table.com/ansi-escape-sequences.php)
- [bluesock: ansi codes](https://bluesock.org/~willkg/dev/ansi.html)
- [bash-hackers: Terminal Codes (ANSI/VT100) introduction](http://wiki.bash-hackers.org/scripting/terminalcodes)
- [XTerm Control Sequences](https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html)