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Erase scrollback (ED 3)

Category: erase · Baseline: core · Tags: Xterm Extensions · Specification ↗

ESC [ 3 J
ED 3 clears the scrollback buffer. The sequence is ESC [ 3 J. An xterm extension not part of ECMA-48. Applications may use this for security purposes (clearing sensitive output from scrollback after a password prompt) or to implement a "clear" command that truly clears all terminal history.
How this is testedautomated
Write 30 lines to fill scrollback, send \x1b[3J (ED 3), verify total line count is at most screen height.

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 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