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Device status report (DSR 5)

Category: device · Baseline: modern · Tags: ECMA-48 Standard, VT100 · Specification ↗

ESC [ 5 n
DSR 5 queries the terminal's operational status. The query is ESC [ 5 n. The terminal responds with ESC [ 0 n to indicate it is functioning normally. This is a basic health check that also serves as a synchronization point — applications can send DSR 5 and wait for the response to ensure all previous output has been processed.
How this is testedautomated
Send \x1b[5n (DSR 5), verify response contains 0n (device OK).

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 10 of 14 backends (71%)

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
vt100.js0.2.1✓ yesNo output stream — pure TypeScript emulator
vterm0.2.0✓ yes
Alacritty0.26.0~ partialHeadless mode has no output stream for DSR responses
Kitty0.40.0~ partialHeadless mode has no output stream for DSR responses
WezTerm0.1.0-fork.5~ partialHeadless mode has no output stream for DSR responses
xterm.js5.5.0~ partialHeadless mode has no output stream for DSR responses