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Reverse video (DECSCNM)

Category: modes · Tags: DEC Private Modes, VT510 · Specification ↗

DECSCNM (Screen Mode) swaps the default foreground and background colors for the entire screen. Enable with ESC [ ? 5 h, disable with ESC [ ? 5 l. This is a global mode that affects all displayed content, distinct from SGR 7 which only affects individual character cells.

Supported by 3 of 6 backends (50%)

Support Matrix

BackendVersionSupportNotes
Ghostty1.3.1✓ yes
vt1000.1.0✓ yes
WezTerm0.1.0-fork.5✓ yes
Alacritty0.26.0~ partialNot exposed via alacritty_terminal API
Kitty0.40.0~ partialNot exposed via Python batch bridge
xterm.js5.5.0~ partialParser handles DECSCNM but headless mode doesn't expose the state

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