Features›Extensions›Reset highlight background (OSC 117)

Reset highlight background (OSC 117)

Category: extensions · Baseline: rich · Tags: Operating System Commands (OSC), Xterm Extensions · Specification ↗

ESC ] 117 BEL

OSC 117 resets the selection highlight background color to the terminal's default. The sequence is ESC ] 117 BEL. The highlight background is set via OSC 17. Terminals that support customizable selection colors use this to restore the default appearance. Support is limited to xterm and terminals with full xterm color protocol compatibility.

How this is testedautomated
Send OSC 117 BEL and verify the terminal remains responsive (sequence consumed without error).

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 4 tested terminals — universal adoption. Part of the Rich TUI baseline.

Supported by 14 of 14 backends (100%)

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
vt100.js	0.2.1	✓ yes
vterm	0.2.0	✓ yes
WezTerm	0.1.0-fork.5	✓ yes
xterm.js	5.5.0	✓ yes

← Back to matrix · extensions features