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OSC 52 clipboard read
OSC 52 clipboard read queries the current clipboard content. The sequence
ESC ] 52 ; c ; ? BEL requests the terminal to respond with the clipboard data base64-encoded. Fewer terminals support read than write — clipboard read is a security-sensitive operation since a malicious program could silently exfiltrate clipboard contents (passwords, tokens). Terminals that support it often require explicit user opt-in.How this is tested: Set clipboard via OSC 52, then query with
OSC 52;c;? BEL. Check for response containing the data.Analysis2026-03-29
Supported by 6 of 13 terminals (46%). Part of the Rich TUI baseline. Notes: Kitty: OSC 52 clipboard read not exposed via Python batch bridge; vt100.js: Not implemented — pure TypeScript emulator.
Supported by 4 of 18 backends (22%)
Terminal Applications
| Terminal | Version | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| iTerm2 | 3.6.9 | ✓ yes | |
| VS Code | 1.113.0 | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor | 2.6.21 | ✓ yes | |
| cmux | ✗ no | No OSC 52 read response | |
| Ghostty | 1.3.1 | ✗ no | No OSC 52 read response |
| Kitty | 0.46.2 | ✗ no | OSC 52 clipboard read not exposed via Python batch bridge |
| Warp | 0.2026.03.18.08.24.03 | ✗ no | No OSC 52 read response |
| Terminal.app | 2.15 | ✗ no | No OSC 52 read response |
Headless Backends
Parser correctness only — a ✓ means the parser accepts the sequence.
| Backend | Version | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| vterm | 0.2.0 | ✓ yes | |
| Alacritty | 0.26.0 | ~ partial | OSC 52 clipboard read not exposed in headless mode |
| WezTerm | 0.1.0-fork.5 | ~ partial | OSC 52 clipboard read not exposed in headless mode |
| vt100.js | 0.2.1 | ✗ no | Not implemented — pure TypeScript emulator |
| xterm.js | 5.5.0 | ? unknown | |
| xterm.js | 6.0.0 | ? unknown | |
| xterm.js | 5.4.0 | ? unknown | |
| xterm.js | 6.1.0-beta.195 | ? unknown |