DCS Sixel — Inline raster graphics (ESC P q … ESC \)

Embed pixel images in the terminal stream using the Sixel device-control payload.

Byte forms

Every common string-literal form so you can paste-and-search either direction.

\\x1b[\x1bPq <sixel data> \x1b\\

\\033[\033Pq … \033\\

\\e[\eP q … \e\\

ESC [ESC P q DATA ESC \

hex1b 50 71 ... 1b 5c

Description

Sixel is a DEC-era inline pixel graphics format (DEC VT240/VT340) revived by modern terminals. The frame begins with the Device Control String introducer `\x1bP` (DCS), an optional parameter run, the `q` final byte that selects Sixel mode, then a payload of `?`..`~` printable characters where each byte encodes a 6-pixel-tall vertical slice (hence 'sixel'). The frame ends with the String Terminator — either `\x1b\\` (ST, spec-correct) or `\x07` (BEL, widely accepted). `libsixel`, `chafa`, `viu`, `timg`, `ranger`-style image previews, `kitten icat --transfer-mode=stream` (Sixel fallback for Kitty's native protocol), and `mpv --vo=sixel` all emit this sequence. Terminal support varies: xterm needs `+sb` compile and `-ti vt340`, mintty + foot + wezterm + iTerm2 + Windows Terminal Canary + ghostty work out of the box, kitty + alacritty + macOS Terminal do not (Kitty has its own better protocol).

Spec citation: DEC VT340 Programmer Reference / xterm-ctlseqs (DCS Ps; Ps; Ps q)

Examples

bash

# A 12x6 magenta block via the Sixel raw payload\nprintf '\033Pq#0;2;100;0;100#0~~\033\\'

python

import sys; sys.stdout.write('\x1bPq#0;2;100;0;100#0~~\x1b\\')

fmt.Print("\x1bPq#0;2;100;0;100#0~~\x1b\\")

javascript

process.stdout.write('\x1bPq#0;2;100;0;100#0~~\x1b\\')

printf("\x1bPq#0;2;100;0;100#0~~\x1b\\");

Terminal support

xterm: partial
Linux console (fbcon): no
macOS Terminal.app: no
iTerm2: yes
Windows Terminal: partial
cmd.exe / ConPTY: no
kitty: no
alacritty: no
WezTerm: yes
Ghostty: yes
GNOME Terminal: partial
Konsole: yes
tmux: no
GNU screen: no

xterm	Linux console (fbcon)	macOS Terminal.app	iTerm2	Windows Terminal	cmd.exe / ConPTY	kitty	alacritty	WezTerm	Ghostty	GNOME Terminal	Konsole	tmux	GNU screen
partial	no	no	yes	partial	no	no	no	yes	yes	partial	yes	no	no

Related sequences

In the family cookbook

DCS cookbook · 2. Pictures inside the stream — Sixel and Kitty graphics