Skip to content

Reset highlight foreground (OSC 119)

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

ESC ] 119 BEL
OSC 119 resets the selection highlight foreground color to the terminal's default. The sequence is ESC ] 119 BEL. The highlight foreground is set via OSC 19. Like OSC 117, this is part of the xterm extended color reset protocol. Support is primarily in xterm itself, with partial adoption in other terminals that implement the full xterm color management suite.
How this is testedpartial
Send OSC 119 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 3 tested terminals — universal adoption. Part of the Rich TUI baseline.

Supported by 5 of 14 backends (36%)

Terminal Applications

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