# Working Directory (OSC 7)

> Tell the terminal which directory the shell is in.

- **Sequence:** `OSC 7 ; Pt ST`
- **ECMA-48:** [§8.3.89 OSC – Operating System Command, p. 51](https://archive.org/details/ecma-48-5th-edition-june-1991/page/n64/mode/1up)

A shell sends `OSC 7 ; Pt ST` from its prompt, with its working directory as
a `file:` URL, `file://host/path`, with the host name so that the terminal can
tell a directory on another machine from its own. A terminal uses it to
open a new tab or window in the same directory, and to show it in a title.

Apple's Terminal, VTE and many others use it, but it is not xterm's, and a
default xterm ignores it
([the OSC numbers it knows](https://github.com/ThomasDickey/xterm-snapshots/blob/xterm-411a/misc.c#L3476-L3504)).
The cases follow xterm.

libghostty-vt keeps the last one it was sent, as it was sent, and tells its
host through the `PWD_CHANGED` callback. It takes two other ways of saying
the same thing as well: iTerm2's `OSC 1337 ; CurrentDir=path ST` and
ConEmu's `OSC 9 ; 9 ; path ST` (see [OSC 9 ; 9](https://control-codes.page/osc/conemu-cwd/index.html.md)). The `pwd` line in a case checks what it
kept, and the case that checks for nothing is a known difference.

## Support

| Terminal | Version | Support | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VT220 | [manual](https://vt100.net/docs/vt220-rm/), 2nd ed., 1984 | No | OSC is not among the controls it recognizes ([§4.2](https://vt100.net/docs/vt220-rm/chapter4.html#S4.2)) |
| VT510 | [manual](https://vt100.net/docs/vt510-rm/), 1st ed., 1993 | No | ignores an OSC string ([chapter 4](https://vt100.net/docs/vt510-rm/chapter4.html)) |
| xterm | patch 412, [xterm-411a](https://github.com/ThomasDickey/xterm-snapshots/tree/xterm-411a) | No |  |
| libghostty-vt | [0f171f6](https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty/tree/0f171f650a1cbbd6df4a2573b6b0c7de57cc6d90) | Yes | OSC7-2: keeps it and tells the host through `PWD_CHANGED` |
| Konsole | 26.11.70, [a24c3d71](https://invent.kde.org/utilities/konsole/-/tree/a24c3d71be3684f24d030aa2dbe9bd723d985233) | Yes |  |
| ConEmu | build 230724, its [documentation](https://conemu.github.io/en/AnsiEscapeCodes.html) | No | not in ConEmu's list, which has `OSC 9 ; 9` instead, [ANSI escape codes](https://conemu.github.io/en/AnsiEscapeCodes.html) |

## Validation

### OSC7-1: Nothing changes on screen

Input, one step per line:

```text
A
\e]7;file://host/home/user\a
B
```

Expected screen:

```text
|AB____|
cursor 1,3
reply none
```

### OSC7-2: A default xterm keeps nothing

*A known difference: libghostty-vt does not pass this case.*

Input, one step per line:

```text
\e]7;file://host/home/user\a
```

Expected screen:

```text
|______|
pwd ""
```

### OSC7-3: An empty one clears it

Input, one step per line:

```text
\e]7;file://host/home/user\a
\e]7;\a
```

Expected screen:

```text
|______|
pwd ""
```

---

This is the Markdown version of <https://control-codes.page/osc/cwd/>. On that page every validation case runs live in libghostty-vt, the terminal emulation core of Ghostty, compiled to WebAssembly.

The validation cases are written in the notation described in <https://control-codes.page/notation/index.html.md>.