ANSI Escape Codes

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2023-11-19T10:50:27Z

ANSI.md

ANSI Escape Sequences

Standard escape codes are prefixed with Escape:

Ctrl-Key: ^[

Octal: \033

Unicode: \u001b

Hexadecimal: \x1B

Decimal: 27

Followed by the command, somtimes delimited by opening square bracket ([), known as a Control Sequence Introducer (CSI), optionally followed by arguments and the command itself.

Arguments are delimeted by semi colon (;).

For example:

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

Sequences

ESC - sequence starting with ESC (\x1B)

CSI - Control Sequence Introducer: sequence starting with ESC [ or CSI (\x9B)

DCS - Device Control String: sequence starting with ESC P or DCS (\x90)

OSC - Operating System Command: sequence starting with ESC ] or OSC (\x9D)

Any whitespaces between sequences and arguments should be ignored. They are present for improved readability.

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 character
DEL | 127 | 177 | 0x7F | <none> | <none> | Delete character

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
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 up
ESC[#G | moves cursor to column #
ESC[6n | request cursor position (reports as ESC[#;#R)
ESC M | moves cursor one line up, scrolling if needed
ESC 7 | save cursor position (DEC)
ESC 8 | restores the cursor to the last saved position (DEC)
ESC[s | save cursor position (SCO)
ESC[u | restores the cursor to the last saved position (SCO)

Note: Some sequences, like saving and restoring cursors, are private sequences and are not standardized. While some terminal emulators (i.e. xterm and derived) support both SCO and DEC sequences, they are likely to have different functionality. It is therefore recommended to use DEC sequences.

Erase Functions

ESC Code Sequence | Description
ESC[J | erase in display (same as ESC[0J)
ESC[0J | erase from cursor until end of screen
ESC[1J | erase from cursor to beginning of screen
ESC[2J | erase entire screen
ESC[3J | erase saved lines
ESC[K | erase in line (same as ESC[0K)
ESC[0K | erase from cursor to end of line
ESC[1K | erase start of line to the cursor
ESC[2K | erase the entire line

Note: Erasing the line won't move the cursor, meaning that the cursor will stay at the last position it was at before the line was erased. You can use \r after erasing the line, to return the cursor to the start of the current line.

Colors / Graphics Mode

ESC Code Sequence | Reset Sequence | Description
ESC[1;34;{...}m | | Set graphics modes for cell, separated by semicolon (;).
ESC[0m | | reset all modes (styles and colors)
ESC[1m | ESC[22m | set bold mode.
ESC[2m | ESC[22m | set dim/faint mode.
ESC[3m | ESC[23m | set italic mode.
ESC[4m | ESC[24m | set underline mode.
ESC[5m | ESC[25m | set blinking mode
ESC[7m | ESC[27m | set inverse/reverse mode
ESC[8m | ESC[28m | set hidden/invisible mode
ESC[9m | ESC[29m | set strikethrough mode.

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

Note: Both dim and bold modes are reset with the ESC[22m sequence. The ESC[21m sequence is a non-specified sequence for double underline mode and only work in some terminals and is reset with ESC[24m.

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
Default | 39 | 49
Reset | 0 | 0

Note: the Reset color is the reset code that resets all colors and text effects, Use Default color to reset colors only.

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:

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

Terminals that support the aixterm specification provides bright versions of the ISO colors, without the need to use the bold modifier:

Color Name | Foreground Color Code | Background Color Code
Bright Black | 90 | 100
Bright Red | 91 | 101
Bright Green | 92 | 102
Bright Yellow | 93 | 103
Bright Blue | 94 | 104
Bright Magenta | 95 | 105
Bright Cyan | 96 | 106
Bright White | 97 | 107

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:

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 (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 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

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

Build your own Command Line with ANSI escape codes

ascii-table: ANSI Escape sequences

bluesock: ansi codes

bash-hackers: Terminal Codes (ANSI/VT100) introduction

XTerm Control Sequences

VT100 – Various terminal manuals

xterm.js – Supported Terminal Sequences