OSC 22 Change Pointer Shape
Change the shape of the mouse pointer while it is over the terminal.
OSC 22 ; Pt ST
- ECMA-48
- §8.3.89 OSC – Operating System Command, p. 51
- Specification
- Mouse pointer shapes, kitty documentation
- xterm
- Operating System Commands
OSC 22 ; Pt ST sets the shape of the mouse pointer over the terminal to Pt, so that a program can show a hand over a link or a watch while it is busy. It is xterm’s, and xterm takes Pt as a name from the X cursor font: left_ptr for an arrow, hand2, watch, xterm for the I-beam, and so on. A name it does not know, or none at all, gives the I-beam, its default (xtermSetupPointer, LookupCursorShape).
kitty extended it in its Mouse pointer shapes document, which uses the CSS cursor names (default, pointer, wait, text, …) rather than X’s, adds a stack, OSC 22 ; > name ST to push and OSC 22 ; < ST to pop, and lets a program ask, with OSC 22 ; ? names ST, which shapes the terminal has and which is current.
libghostty-vt keeps a shape its host can read and draw. It accepts the CSS names, and the X names that have a CSS equivalent: watch is wait, left_ptr is default, xterm is text. An empty Pt puts back text. It ignores a name it does not know, rather than falling back as xterm does, and it does not have kitty’s stack or queries. The cases follow a default xterm, and give each shape by its CSS name, which is what a case’s pointer line checks; the X cursors xterm sets are given by their CSS equivalents. Those where a name is one only libghostty-vt knows, or neither does, are known differences.
Support
| Terminal | Version | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| VT220 | manual, 2nd ed., 1984 | No | OSC is not among the controls it recognizes (§4.2) |
| VT510 | manual, 1st ed., 1993 | No | ignores an OSC string (chapter 4) |
| xterm | patch 412, xterm-411a | Yes | X cursor font names; an unknown name gives the I-beam |
| libghostty-vt | 0f171f6 | Partly | CSS names and X names with a CSS equivalent; ignores unknown names; no stack or queries (OSC22-5, OSC22-6) |
| Konsole | 26.11.70, a24c3d71 | Partly | CSS names and Qt’s, not X’s hand2 or watch; an unknown name resets it; no stack or queries |
| kitty | 0.49.2, its documentation | Yes | CSS names, a stack and queries: Mouse pointer shapes |
| ConEmu | build 230724, its documentation | No | not in its ANSI escape codes |
Validation
OSC22-1: The I-beam to begin with
A
|A_____|
pointer text
OSC22-2: An X cursor name
\e]22;watch\e\\
|______|
pointer wait
OSC22-3: Another
\e]22;left_ptr\e\\
|______|
pointer default
OSC22-4: Empty puts back the I-beam
\e]22;watch\e\\
\e]22;\e\\
|______|
pointer text
OSC22-5: A CSS name, which xterm does not know
\e]22;watch\e\\
\e]22;pointer\e\\ # not an X cursor: the I-beam
|______|
pointer text
OSC22-6: A name neither knows
\e]22;watch\e\\
\e]22;nosuch\e\\
|______|
pointer text
OSC22-7: kitty’s query is not answered
\e]22;?__current__\e\\
|______|
reply none