Skip to content

Cursor horizontal absolute (CHA)

Category: cursor · Baseline: modern · Tags: ECMA-48 Standard · Specification ↗

ESC [ N G
CHA moves the cursor to an absolute column on the current row. The sequence is ESC [ N G where N is the 1-based column number (default 1). Unlike CUP, this only changes the horizontal position, leaving the row unchanged.
How this is testedautomated
Write "ABCDE" then send \x1b[3G (CHA), verify cursor column is 2 (0-based).

The same probe runs against headless backends (via Termless) and real terminal apps (via a daemon launched in each terminal). This lets us distinguish parser correctness from rendering correctness.

Analysis2026-04-06

Supported by all 12 tested terminals — universal adoption. Part of the Modern TUI baseline.

Supported by 13 of 14 backends (93%)

Terminal Applications

TerminalVersionSupportNotes
iTerm23.6.9✓ yes
Ghostty1.3.1✓ yes
VS Code✓ yes
Warp✓ yes
Cursor✓ yes
Terminal.app✓ yes

Headless Backends

Parser correctness only — a means the parser accepts the sequence.

BackendVersionSupportNotes
Alacritty0.26.0✓ yes
Kitty0.40.0✓ yes
vt100.js0.2.1✓ yes
vterm0.2.0✓ yes
WezTerm0.1.0-fork.5✓ yes
xterm.js5.5.0✓ yes