OSC 7501
lastmod 2026-11-03created 2026-11-031 edits
OSC 7501, a terminal protocol for communicating program status
About
- OSC 7501 is a new escape sequence specification that lets a program tell the terminal directly about its idle, running, needs-user-input, completed, and failed states and the reasons for them
- Instead of guessing the status from the screen or the window title, the program reports its own status, and unlike a separate socket API, it can be delivered over the existing pty, including through SSH or containers
- Uses a key=value format in which only state is required to convey progress, the action needed from the user, and messages, and expresses the status of multiple subtasks at once with hierarchical IDs
- Can be integrated with POSIX sh alone, with no need for an SDK, sockets, environment variables, or JSON
- A general-purpose specification not tied to any particular GUI or AI task: the program communicates its status, and the terminal decides how to display it