SCP/RCP

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Standard

SCP (Save Cursor Position) and RCP (Restore Cursor Position) are CSI sequences originating from ANSI.SYS that save and restore the cursor position.

Syntax

CSI s         SCP — Save Cursor Position
CSI u         RCP — Restore Cursor Position

Formal syntax

SCP = 0x1b, "[", "s" ;
RCP = 0x1b, "[", "u" ;

Description

• SCP (CSI s) — Saves the current cursor position (row and column).
• RCP (CSI u) — Restores the cursor to the position previously saved by SCP.

These sequences originated in MS-DOS ANSI.SYS and save only the cursor position — not character attributes, character sets, or other terminal state. This is in contrast to DECSC/DECRC (ESC 7 / ESC 8), which saves a more complete snapshot of terminal state.

Conflict with DECSLRM

CSI s is also used for DECSLRM (Set Left and Right Margins) when left/right margin mode (DECLRMM, mode 69) is enabled. When DECLRMM is set, CSI s with parameters sets the left and right margins rather than saving the cursor. The parameterless form CSI s (no arguments) can be ambiguous in this context, so applications needing both left/right margins and cursor save/restore should use DECSC/DECRC instead.

note

Because DECSC/DECRC saves more state and avoids the DECSLRM conflict, it is generally preferred over SCP/RCP. SCP/RCP remains widely supported for compatibility with ANSI.SYS-era software.

Examples

printf '\e[s'            # Save cursor position
printf '\e[10;20H'       # Move cursor elsewhere
printf 'Hello'
printf '\e[u'            # Restore cursor to saved position

Specifications

Specification	Section
XTerm ctlseqs	—

Terminal support

Terminal	Support	Version	Notes
Terminal Emulators
Alacritty	✓	0.1.0	Implemented via save_cursor_position/restore_cursor_position
Bobcat	✓	0.9.0	Supported via TerminalCtrl library
contour	✓	v0.1.0	ANSI.SYS style via SCOSC (CSI s) and ANSISYSSC (CSI u)
foot	✓	Yes	SCP (s) at csi.c:1250-1252, RCP (u) at csi.c:1254-1256
Ghostty	✓	v1.0.0	Both ANSI.SYS (CSI s/u) and DEC (ESC 7/8) variants
iTerm2	✓	Yes	ANSICSI_SCP/RCP and VT100CSI_DECSC/DECRC tokens handled via saveCursor/restoreCursor
Kitty	✓	Yes	SCP/RCP (CSI s/u) ANSI.SYS style implemented in vt-parser.c:1258-1305
Konsole	✓	Yes	ANSI.SYS style CSI s/u save/restore cursor at src/Vt102Emulation.cpp:2031-2032
mintty	✓	Yes	SCOSC/SCORC (CSI s/u) at lines 3401-3404, uses save_cursor/restore_cursor functions
mlterm	✓	rel-2_9_0	ANSI.SYS style (CSI s/u) at vt_parser.c:5879-5890,5972-5975; Also supports DEC style (ESC 7/8)
PuTTY	✓	0.45
Rio	✓	v0.0.3
rxvt-unicode	✓	1.2	Uses CSI s/u (ANSI.SYS), not DEC DECSC/DECRC
st	✓	0.1	ANSI.SYS variant using CSI s/u, not DEC DECSC/DECRC (ESC 7/8)
terminology	✓	v0.1.0	Implemented as CSI s/u (SCOSC/SCORC)
VT100	✗	No
VTE	✓	Yes	Implemented as SCOSC/SCORC for CSI s/u compatibility (not the ECMA-48 SCP)
WezTerm	✓	Yes	SCP/RCP (ANSI.SYS style) implemented as Cursor::SaveCursor and Cursor::RestoreCursor, with ambiguity resolution for DECSLRM
Windows Terminal	✓	Yes	ANSI.SYS cursor restore (CSI u) implemented at OutputStateMachineEngine.cpp:546 as ANSISYSRC_CursorRestore. Note: CSI s can be ANSISYSSC or DECSLRM depending on DECLRMM mode.
xterm	✓	xterm-406	Only available when DECLRMM disabled
xterm.js	✓	2.3.0	CSI s/u (ANSI.SYS style) and ESC 7/8 (DEC style) both supported
Multiplexers
cy	✓	v0.1.0
GNU Screen	✓	v.4.2.0
tmux	✓	1.6	SCP (CSI s) and RCP (CSI u) for ANSI.SYS-style cursor save/restore
tuios	~	v0.0.15	CSI s (save) supported, but CSI u (restore) not implemented. Use ESC 7/ESC 8 instead.
Zellij	✓	v0.10.0	ANSI.SYS variant (CSI s/u), not DEC variant (ESC 7/8)

See also

• DECSC/DECRC — Save/Restore Cursor — DEC version that saves more state
• DECSLRM — Set Left and Right Margins — Shares the CSI s sequence