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XTPUSHCOLORS / XTPOPCOLORS / XTREPORTCOLORS ​

SequencesCSI [Pm] # P (push) · CSI [Pm] # Q (pop) · CSI # R (report)
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Description ​

xterm's color-stack mechanism for programs that want to temporarily change the palette and atomically restore it on exit, even after the user has made their own runtime adjustments. Three operations:

  • CSI # P — XTPUSHCOLORS: snapshot the current palette (OSC 4 0–255) plus the named slots (fg / bg / cursor, plus Otty's OSC 5 / 17 / 19 extras) and push it onto a per-session stack. Up to 10 entries; the oldest is FIFO-evicted on overflow.
  • CSI # Q — XTPOPCOLORS: restore the top of the stack (or a named slot via CSI Pm # Q).
  • CSI # R — XTREPORTCOLORS: reply over the PTY with CSI ? <depth> # Q so the program can verify the stack height.

A non-zero Pm names a specific slot (1–10) instead of using the anonymous stack — useful for nested setups where the inner layer doesn't want to disturb the outer's saved state.

Why prefer this over OSC 104 / 110-119 ​

The reset OSCs (OSC 104 / 110-119) restore to the configured default, which means they overwrite any user-applied runtime tweaks too. XTPOPCOLORS restores to the runtime value at the matching push, leaving outer-layer changes intact. Concretely:

user: printf '\e]4;1;#ff0000\e\\'      # custom red

program: printf '\e[#P'                 # snapshot the custom red
         printf '\e]4;1;#00ff00\e\\'    # work with green
         …
         printf '\e[#Q'                 # back to the custom red
                                          (NOT the config default!)

OSC 104 in the same scenario would snap red→config-default, clobbering the user's preference.

Example ​

bash
# Tiny "scoped theme" pattern
printf '\e[#P'                            # save
printf '\e]10;#ffeebb\e\\'                # fg
printf '\e]11;#1a1b26\e\\'                # bg
printf '\e]17;#33467c\e\\'                # selection bg (kitty/xterm)

# … run debugger / tutorial / wizard …

printf '\e[#Q'                            # restore everything atomically

# Capture stack depth (reply lands on shell stdin)
printf '\e[#R'

# Drive both interactively + see the depth change in real time:
otty features try change-color

Notes ​

  • The stack is per session (Otty pane). New panes inherit nothing.
  • Each push snapshots the full palette plus the named-color slots, so OSC 5 / 17 / 19 extras are saved and restored alongside the standard colors.
  • Cost: ~1 KiB per stack entry × max 10 entries = under 11 KiB per session even when full.

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