DECSTR side-effects — exactly which modes `\x1b[!p` resets

Byte forms

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

Description

Companion reference to decstr-soft-reset — same byte sequence (\x1b[!p), expanded into the full side-effect manifest from DEC VT510 RM §8.4.1. Use this page when the question is 'will DECSTR clobber my X?' rather than 'how do I emit a soft reset?'.

DECSTR does NOT touch: - screen contents (main or alt — survives) - scrollback buffer (survives) - alt-screen saved snapshot (survives) - window title / icon name (set via OSC 0/2 — survives) - character set definitions in G0..G3 (definitions survive; the active GL/GR pointers reset — see below) - macro definitions (DECDMAC entries survive — see dcs-decdmac) - user keys (DECUDK entries survive — see dcs-decudk) - cursor position (preserved at the cell it was on)

DECSTR DOES reset, to the listed default: - IRM (Insert / Replace mode, \x1b[4h/l) → Replace - DECOM (Origin Mode, ?6h/l — see dec-origin-mode) → Off (absolute) - DECAWM (Auto-Wrap Mode, ?7h/l — see dec-line-wrap) → On - DECNRCM (National Replacement Char Mode, ?42h/l) → Off - DECNKM (Numeric / Application Keypad — see deckpam-deckpnm) → Numeric - KAM (Keyboard Action Mode, \x1b[2h/l) → Unlocked - DECSCA (Select Character Protection — see decsca) → All chars unprotected - DECSCNM (Screen Mode reverse video, ?5h/l — see decscnm) → Normal (off) - DECTCEM (Text Cursor Enable, ?25h/l — see cursor-visibility) → On (cursor visible) - DECCKM (Cursor Keys Mode, ?1h/l) → Normal - DECRLM (Right-to-Left Mode, ?34h/l) → Off - DECSCUSR (Cursor Shape — see dec-cursor-shape) → implementation default (usually blinking block, \x1b[0 q) - DECSTBM (Top/Bottom Margins — see decstbm) → Full screen (rows 1 .. height) - DECSLRM (Left/Right Margins — see decslrm) → Full screen (cols 1 .. width), only when DECLRMM is on - SGR (all character attributes — colour, bold, italic, etc.) → Default (\x1b[0m) - DECSC saved cursor state → Cleared (popped to empty) - GL / GR mappings → GL → G0, GR → G2 (canonical defaults) - Selective erase state → Disabled

Vendor divergence to know about when shipping DECSTR-emitting code: - xterm, kitty, alacritty, wezterm, ghostty, konsole: match the spec table exactly. - iTerm2: does not reset DECSCUSR — the cursor shape persists across \x1b[!p. If you need to also restore cursor shape, send \x1b[0 q explicitly after DECSTR. - Windows Terminal: pre-1.20 builds do not reset DECSLRM. Modern builds match spec. - Linux console (kernel vt): treats DECSTR as RIS-lite on older kernels — clears screen and scrollback too. Don't rely on scrollback survival. - macOS Terminal: silently ignores the DECSCA reset (selective erase protection persists). - cmd.exe / ConPTY: implements partially; SGR + DECTCEM reset, most others ignored.

When to reach for DECSTR vs RIS: DECSTR preserves user-visible screen + scrollback; RIS (see ris-reset) wipes them. For 'I just exited a TUI in unknown state — recover gracefully without losing context' → DECSTR. For 'user typed reset because their terminal is wedged' → RIS (which is what the reset shell command actually emits via terminfo rs1).

Defensive pattern when shipping a TUI that wants to leave the terminal pristine on exit: ``` startup: snapshot via DECRQSS what we care about (SGR, cursor shape, margins, mouse modes) exit (defer / signal handler): emit \x1b[!p # soft reset clears most state emit \x1b[0 q # force cursor shape (iTerm2 fallback) emit \x1b[?1l\x1b> # cursor keys + keypad normalised (extra safety) emit \x1b[?25h # cursor visible (paranoia — DECSTR already does this) ```

Spec citation: DEC VT510 RM §8.4.1 (DECSTR side-effect table) / xterm-ctlseqs

Examples

# Soft reset — preserves screen + scrollback. Side-effects as listed above.\nprintf '\\033[!p'

# Probe DECSCUSR after DECSTR to verify cursor-shape reset (catches iTerm2).\nimport sys\nsys.stdout.write('\\x1b[!p\\x1bP$q q\\x1b\\\\')\nsys.stdout.flush()

// Defensive exit: soft reset + explicit cursor shape + visible cursor.\nfunc restoreTerminal() {\n    fmt.Print(\"\\x1b[!p\")    // DECSTR\n    fmt.Print(\"\\x1b[0 q\")   // cursor shape -> default (iTerm2)\n    fmt.Print(\"\\x1b[?25h\")  // cursor visible (paranoia)\n}

// On Node TUI exit, leave terminal pristine for the user's shell.\nprocess.on('exit', () => {\n  process.stdout.write('\\x1b[!p\\x1b[0 q\\x1b[?25h');\n});

/* DECSTR keeps screen but you may want to also clear scroll-region\n * since DECSTBM resets to full-screen. */\nprintf(\"\\x1b[!p\");\nprintf(\"\\x1b[H\");  /* cursor home — DECSTR leaves it where it was */\nfflush(stdout);

Terminal support

xterm

yes

Linux console (fbcon)

partial

macOS Terminal.app

partial

iTerm2

partial

Windows Terminal

partial

cmd.exe / ConPTY

partial

kitty

yes

alacritty

yes

WezTerm

yes

Ghostty

yes

GNOME Terminal

yes

Konsole

yes

tmux

yes

GNU screen

yes

Related sequences

• DECSTR — Soft terminal reset
• RIS — Reset to Initial State (full terminal reset)
• DECSCA — Select character protection attribute (CSI Ps " q)
• DECSCUSR — Cursor shape
• DECSTBM — Set Top/Bottom Margins (CSI r)
• DECSLRM — Set left and right margins (CSI Pl ; Pr s)
• DECOM ?6 — Origin mode (clip cursor addressing to scroll region)
• DECKPAM / DECKPNM — Keypad application / numeric mode (ESC = / ESC >)