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TERM env variable

Category: device · Baseline: core

$TERM (environment variable)
The TERM environment variable identifies the terminal type for terminfo/termcap lookup. It is set by the terminal emulator at startup and is the oldest and most widely supported mechanism for terminal self-identification. Applications use TERM to load capability databases and decide which escape sequences are safe to emit. Common values include xterm-256color, screen-256color, tmux-256color, xterm-kitty, wezterm, foot, and ghostty. Some terminals expose a custom value to enable terminfo entries that describe their extensions; others choose a generic value like xterm-256color to maximize compatibility with software that only ships with a small terminfo database.
How this is testedmanual
Manual verification required — no automated probe available.

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.

Supported by 0 of 14 backends (0%)

Terminal Applications

TerminalVersionSupportNotes
iTerm23.6.9? unknown
Ghostty1.3.1? unknown
Terminal.app2.15? unknown
Kitty0.46.2? unknown
VS Code1.113.0? unknown
Warp0.2026.03.18.08.24.03? unknown
Cursor2.6.21? unknown

Headless Backends

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

BackendVersionSupportNotes
Alacritty0.26.0? unknown
vt100.js0.2.1? unknown
vterm0.2.0? unknown
WezTerm0.1.0-fork.5? unknown
xterm.js5.5.0? unknown