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Kitty keyboard: REPORT_EVENTS (flag 2) โ€‹

Category: extensions ยท Tags: Kitty ยท Specification โ†—

Flag 2 enables key release and repeat event reporting. Without this flag, terminals only report key press events. With it, the terminal sends event-type sub-parameters: 1=press, 2=repeat, 3=release. Essential for games, keyboard-driven UIs that need to track held keys, and applications that distinguish tap from hold.
How this is tested: Push keyboard mode with flags 1+2 (CSI > 3 u), query flags, verify bit 2 is set.
Analysis2026-03-29

Supported by 9 of 13 terminals (69%). Not supported by: Terminal.app, Cursor, vt100.js, xterm.js. Part of the Rich TUI baseline. Notes: vt100.js: Not implemented โ€” pure TypeScript emulator; xterm.js: Kitty keyboard protocol not implemented in xterm.js.

Supported by 9 of 18 backends (50%)

Terminal Applications โ€‹

TerminalVersionSupportNotes
iTerm23.6.9โœ“ yes
cmuxโœ“ yes
Ghostty1.3.1โœ“ yes
Kitty0.46.2โœ“ yes
VS Code1.113.0โœ“ yes
Warp0.2026.03.18.08.24.03โœ“ yes
Cursor2.6.21โœ— noNo kitty keyboard response
Terminal.app2.15โœ— noNo kitty keyboard response

Headless Backends โ€‹

Parser correctness only โ€” a โœ“ means the parser accepts the sequence.

BackendVersionSupportNotes
Alacritty0.26.0โœ“ yes
vterm0.2.0โœ“ yes
WezTerm0.1.0-fork.5โœ“ yes
vt100.js0.2.1โœ— noNot implemented โ€” pure TypeScript emulator
xterm.js5.5.0? unknownKitty keyboard protocol not implemented in xterm.js
xterm.js6.0.0? unknownKitty keyboard protocol not implemented in xterm.js
xterm.js5.4.0? unknownKitty keyboard protocol not implemented in xterm.js
xterm.js6.1.0-beta.195? unknownKitty keyboard protocol not implemented in xterm.js

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