Features›Erase›Erase character (ECH)

Erase character (ECH)

Category: erase · Baseline: core · Tags: ECMA-48 Standard · Specification ↗

ESC [ N X

ECH replaces N characters at the cursor position with blank spaces. The sequence is ESC [ N X (default N=1). Unlike delete (DCH), erase does not shift subsequent characters — it overwrites in place. The cursor position is not changed.

How this is testedautomated
Write "ABCDE", move to col 1, send \x1b[3X (ECH 3), verify first 3 cells are blank and "D" remains at col 3.

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 11 of 12 terminals (92%). Not supported by: vt100.js. Part of the Core TUI baseline. Notes: vt100.js: ECH (erase character) not implemented in vt100.js baseline emulator.

Supported by 12 of 14 backends (86%)

Terminal Applications

Terminal	Version	Support	Notes
iTerm2	3.6.9	✓ yes
Ghostty	1.3.1	✓ yes
VS Code		✓ yes
Warp		✓ yes
Cursor		✓ yes
Terminal.app		✓ yes

Headless Backends

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

Backend	Version	Support	Notes
Alacritty	0.26.0	✓ yes
Kitty	0.40.0	✓ yes
vterm	0.2.0	✓ yes
WezTerm	0.1.0-fork.5	✓ yes
xterm.js	5.5.0	✓ yes
vt100.js	0.2.1	✗ no	ECH (erase character) not implemented in vt100.js baseline emulator

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