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Cursor back (CUB)

Category: cursor · Baseline: core · Tags: ECMA-48 Standard, VT100 · Specification ↗

ESC [ N D
CUB moves the cursor back (left) by N columns. The sequence is ESC [ N D (default N=1). The cursor stops at the left edge of the screen and does not wrap to the previous line.
How this is testedautomated
Write "ABC" then send \x1b[2D (CUB 2), verify cursor column is 1 (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 Core TUI baseline.

Supported by 10 of 14 backends (71%)

Terminal Applications

TerminalVersionSupportNotes
iTerm23.6.9✓ yes
Ghostty1.3.1✓ yes
VS Code✗ no
Warp✗ no
Cursor✗ no
Terminal.app✗ no

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