starred/terminal
1
0
Fork 0
mirror of https://github.com/microsoft/terminal.git synced 2026-02-04 05:35:20 +00:00
Code Issues 19.0k Packages Projects Releases 20 Wiki Activity

Show info message box when terminal is paused #17620

New Issue
Open
opened 2026-01-31 05:47:57 +00:00 by claunia · 11 comments
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:47:57 +00:00
Owner
Copy Link

Originally created by @silverqx on GitHub (Jun 2, 2022).

Would be nice to have some type of info message box that informs that the current terminal tab is paused.

Eg. KDE Konsole has this info box:

pause_info_box

Originally created by @silverqx on GitHub (Jun 2, 2022). Would be nice to have some type of info message box that informs that the current terminal tab is paused. Eg. KDE Konsole has this info box: ![pause_info_box](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/86900/171637842-e02393ce-efc6-45fd-b0a5-a123d882bf33.png)
claunia added the Issue-FeatureHelp WantedProduct-TerminalArea-TerminalControl labels 2026-01-31 05:47:57 +00:00
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:47:58 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@naikrovek commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2022):

I don't think the suspension of the foreground process is a terminal thing, but a shell thing (Bash, specifically). My understanding is that Terminal doesn't know what CTRL+S means, it just gives that to the shell it's attached to, unless it is specifically bound to some action in Terminal. So, unless bash can tell the terminal emulator that the foreground process is suspended, I don't know how this would be possible.

@naikrovek commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2022): I don't think the suspension of the foreground process is a terminal thing, but a shell thing (Bash, specifically). My understanding is that Terminal doesn't know what CTRL+S means, it just gives that to the shell it's attached to, unless it is specifically bound to some action in Terminal. So, unless bash can tell the terminal emulator that the foreground process is suspended, I don't know how this would be possible.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:47:58 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@KalleOlaviNiemitalo commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2022):

This is about suspending output (Ctrl+S, XOFF, termios::c_cc[VSTOP]), not about suspending a process (Ctrl+Z, SIGTSTP, termios::c_cc[VSUSP]).

The console host suspends output if you press the Pause key (see InputBuffer::_HandleConsoleSuspensionEvents), but Ctrl+S does not currently have the same effect (https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/809). The terminal could be made to show an info message about this, but it doesn't seem very necessary because pressing almost any key resumes output anyway.

If you see Ctrl+S suspend output from Windows Terminal, then that's handled by an application or by the tty driver of a remote computer, and AFAIK there is no standard way for an application to tell the terminal that it handled the Ctrl+S keypress in this way; neither in the Win32 console API nor over a serial connection.

I don't know how KDE Konsole is implemented but I suspect that it monitors TIOCPKT_STOP and TIOCPKT_START events from a pseudoterminal device. Does that work also if you run ssh from Konsole?

@KalleOlaviNiemitalo commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2022): This is about suspending output (Ctrl+S, XOFF, termios::c_cc[VSTOP]), not about suspending a process (Ctrl+Z, SIGTSTP, termios::c_cc[VSUSP]). The console host suspends output if you press the Pause key (see [InputBuffer::_HandleConsoleSuspensionEvents](https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/blob/39c71d642179403d52b04a03de7014820ab85657/src/host/inputBuffer.cpp#L844-L848)), but Ctrl+S does not currently have the same effect (<https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/809>). The terminal could be made to show an info message about this, but it doesn't seem very necessary because pressing almost any key resumes output anyway. If you see Ctrl+S suspend output from Windows Terminal, then that's handled by an application or by the tty driver of a remote computer, and AFAIK there is no standard way for an application to tell the terminal that it handled the Ctrl+S keypress in this way; neither in the Win32 console API nor over a serial connection. I don't know how KDE Konsole is implemented but I suspect that it monitors TIOCPKT_STOP and TIOCPKT_START events from a pseudoterminal device. Does that work also if you run ssh from Konsole?
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:47:58 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@silverqx commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2022):

I'm not using it over ssh that is an extreme case, but I'm using it heavily when I'm compiling something or invoking clang-tidy or clazy and want to pause it because I need to free CPU.

I have tried it now and it works the same way in Konsole and in the wterm, so eg. if some script forks 10 processes eg. clang-tidy (invoked by run-clang-tidy.py) or clang++14 during compilation and you press CTRL+s in Konsole or Pause in wterm, then all that 10 processes are still running and finish, but no new processes will be spawned.
After unpause the execution continues and a new clang-tidy or clang++-14 processes will be spawned.

Another example that I have tried, eg. if I pause during cmake configure then everything that is currently executed finishes and nothing new is executed (many things are happening during the cmake configure step), when I unpause the rest of the output is replayed to the console and configuration continues, practically the same what I described in the paragraph above.

It looks like it only pauses a direct child and because of it the Konsole's message states that the Output was suspended.

In wterm and also in Konsole the rest of the output during this suspension is recorded and after unpause is printed to the console or replayed.

@KalleOlaviNiemitalo You are right on windows you can unpaused by any key, but it doesn't matter how it is paused or unpaused by which keys, problem is that when I pause then I don't have any visual feedback that the output is or was paused.

@silverqx commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2022): I'm not using it over ssh that is an extreme case, but I'm using it heavily when I'm compiling something or invoking clang-tidy or clazy and want to pause it because I need to free CPU. I have tried it now and **it works the same way in Konsole and in the wterm**, so eg. if some script forks 10 processes eg. `clang-tidy` (invoked by `run-clang-tidy.py`) or `clang++14` during compilation and you press `CTRL+s` in Konsole or `Pause` in wterm, then all that 10 processes are still running and finish, but no new processes will be spawned. After unpause the execution continues and a new `clang-tidy` or `clang++-14` processes will be spawned. Another example that I have tried, eg. if I pause during `cmake` configure then everything that is currently executed finishes and nothing new is executed (many things are happening during the cmake configure step), when I unpause the rest of the output is replayed to the console and configuration continues, practically the same what I described in the paragraph above. It looks like it only pauses a direct child and because of it the Konsole's message states that **the Output was suspended**. In wterm and also in Konsole the rest of the output during this suspension is recorded and after unpause is printed to the console or replayed. @KalleOlaviNiemitalo You are right on windows you can unpaused by any key, but it doesn't matter how it is paused or unpaused by which keys, problem is that when I pause then **I don't have any visual feedback that the output is or was paused**.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:47:58 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Jun 6, 2022):

This is a cool idea, for sure, but we'd need some way for the Terminal to be able to detect that the output was suspended. If someone can figure out how to do that, then I'm all for it. I'm not sure that WSL (or ssh.exe) expose that information, however. I'm pretty sure this would end up requiring a much larger change to how signaling is done on Windows 😅

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Jun 6, 2022): This is a cool idea, for sure, but we'd need some way for the Terminal to be able to detect that the output was suspended. If someone can figure out how to do that, then I'm all for it. I'm not sure that WSL (or ssh.exe) expose that information, however. I'm pretty sure this would end up requiring a much larger change to how signaling is done on Windows 😅 <!-- Cunningham's law footnote: I suspect I'm wrong here, and I'd love to be proven wrong. -->
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:47:59 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@KalleOlaviNiemitalo commented on GitHub (Jun 6, 2022):

https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4254#section-6.8 SSH_MSG_CHANNEL_REQUEST "xon-xoff" is a way for an SSH server to ask the SSH client to handle Ctrl+S and Ctrl+Q from the terminal. I imagine the SSH client could then tell the terminal (perhaps via the console API, if you still dared to extend that) that it has done so. https://github.com/PowerShell/openssh-portable/ does not contain the "xon-xoff" string though, not even at the SSH server side.

But if this issue is only about the Pause key for which the console host already has a flag, then showing an info bar for that should be easier than doing the same for flow control with a remote computer.

@KalleOlaviNiemitalo commented on GitHub (Jun 6, 2022): <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4254#section-6.8> SSH_MSG_CHANNEL_REQUEST "xon-xoff" is a way for an SSH server to ask the SSH client to handle Ctrl+S and Ctrl+Q from the terminal. I imagine the SSH client could then tell the terminal (perhaps via the console API, if you still dared to extend that) that it has done so. <https://github.com/PowerShell/openssh-portable/> does not contain the "xon-xoff" string though, not even at the SSH server side. But if this issue is only about the Pause key for which the console host already has a flag, then showing an info bar for that should be easier than doing the same for flow control with a remote computer.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:47:59 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@silverqx commented on GitHub (Jun 7, 2022):

The wiki page about Software flow control and XON/XOFF codes.

For me is enough to detect the Pause and CTRL+S keys for pause and CTRL+Q for resume, or it can stay like it is now, so every key press resumes.

I have looked how the Konsole is doing it and it simply detects key presses in the Vt102Emulation::sendKeyEvent() handler. Main connect() is here, signals emited here and events handled in the Session::updateFlowControlState(). The XON/XOFF are sent from the event handler using the flowControlEnabled() it internally calls the Pty::flowControlEnabled().

The same can be done in wterm, I don't know if wterm uses XON/XOFF to pause the terminal but it doesn't matter. wterm already has code that is catching the PAUSE key press, much can be found by searching the pause word on GitHub here.
The code handling the pause for wterm is in the InputBuffer::_HandleConsoleSuspensionEvents().

@silverqx commented on GitHub (Jun 7, 2022): The wiki page about [`Software flow control`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_flow_control) and `XON/XOFF` codes. For me is enough to detect the Pause and CTRL+S keys for pause and CTRL+Q for resume, or it can stay like it is now, so every key press resumes. I have looked how the Konsole is doing it and it simply detects key presses in the [`Vt102Emulation::sendKeyEvent()`](https://github.com/KDE/konsole/blob/master/src/Vt102Emulation.cpp#L1806) handler. Main `connect()` is [here](https://github.com/KDE/konsole/blob/master/src/session/Session.cpp#L128), signals emited [here](https://github.com/KDE/konsole/blob/master/src/Vt102Emulation.cpp#L1834) and events handled in the [`Session::updateFlowControlState()`](https://github.com/KDE/konsole/blob/master/src/session/Session.cpp#L686). The `XON/XOFF` are sent from the event handler using the `flowControlEnabled()` it internally calls the [`Pty::flowControlEnabled()`](https://github.com/KDE/konsole/blob/master/src/Pty.cpp#L151). The same can be done in wterm, I don't know if wterm uses `XON/XOFF` to pause the terminal but it doesn't matter. wterm already has code that is catching the `PAUSE` key press, much can be found by searching the **pause** word on GitHub [here](https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/search?p=1&q=pause). The code handling the pause for `wterm` is in the [`InputBuffer::_HandleConsoleSuspensionEvents()`](https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/blob/main/src/host/inputBuffer.cpp#L824).
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:47:59 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@silverqx commented on GitHub (Jun 7, 2022):

I see that more of you are writing that will be needed to detect that the terminal is suspended, this is already done in the wterm, wterm is already pausing the terminal, and nothing new code is required, he is already pausing and unpausing the terminal output!

I personally believe that only one code that is needed to write, are methods to display and hide the info box during the pause and unpause. 😎

@silverqx commented on GitHub (Jun 7, 2022): I see that more of you are writing that will be needed to detect that the terminal is suspended, this is already done in the wterm, wterm is already pausing the terminal, and nothing new code is required, he is already pausing and unpausing the terminal output! I personally believe that only one code that is needed to write, are methods to display and hide the info box during the pause and unpause. 😎
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:48:00 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Dec 5, 2022):

<off topic showerthought> @Tyriar this might make an interesting Quick Tip for the vscode terminal, if there's a good way of wiring that up. IK when I was first getting the commandline ropes I'd definitely instinctively Ctrl+S in vim and be super confused when it stopped working.

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Dec 5, 2022): \<off topic showerthought> @Tyriar this might make an interesting Quick Tip for the vscode terminal, if there's a good way of wiring that up. IK when I was first getting the commandline ropes I'd definitely instinctively Ctrl+S in vim and be super confused when it stopped working.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:48:00 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@Tyriar commented on GitHub (Dec 6, 2022):

Now that you say that, by default we support ctrl+s but ctrl+q has an override so this will essentially brick terminals in vscode 🙈. I think this would be better as a "status" on the terminal tab which changes the icon/color of the tab

@Tyriar commented on GitHub (Dec 6, 2022): Now that you say that, by default we support ctrl+s but ctrl+q has an override so this will essentially brick terminals in vscode 🙈. I think this would be better as a "status" on the terminal tab which changes the icon/color of the tab
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:48:01 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@tomlm commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2025):

it would be amazing if you could turn off this behavior with a ansi style code. If I have built a console application I can't use CTRL+S to trigger a save. Super weird.

@tomlm commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2025): it would be amazing if you could turn off this behavior with a ansi style code. If I have built a console application I can't use CTRL+S to trigger a save. Super weird.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 05:48:01 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@DHowett commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2025):

it would be amazing if you could turn off this behavior with a ansi style code. If I have built a console application I can't use CTRL+S to trigger a save. Super weird.

You absolutely can. I see right now that PowerShell receives Ctrl+S without pausing...

Image (it's bound to fwd-i-search by default!)

... and so does Edit ...

Image

... which suggests that there is an input mode that makes it possible.

If you're writing a cross-platform application that runs on Linux, you will need to configure your tty in a different (but ultimately quite similar) way.

@DHowett commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2025): > it would be amazing if you could turn off this behavior with a ansi style code. If I have built a console application I can't use CTRL+S to trigger a save. Super weird. You absolutely can. I see right now that PowerShell receives <kbd>Ctrl+S</kbd> without pausing... <img width="259" height="90" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1f54eeca-b111-4410-869f-7f2e41f33163" /> (it's bound to fwd-i-search by default!) ... and so does Edit ... <img width="414" height="324" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1e575206-fc2d-41bd-a132-1589a35c44b4" /> ... which suggests that there is an input mode that makes it possible. If you're writing a cross-platform application that runs on Linux, you will need to configure your tty in a different (but ultimately quite similar) way.
Sign in to join this conversation.
No Branch/Tag Specified
Branches Tags
Labels
Clear labels
⛺ Reserved
A11yCO
A11yMAS
A11ySev1
A11ySev2
A11ySev3
A11yTTValidated
A11yUsable
A11yVoiceAccess
A11yWCAG
Area-Accessibility
Area-AtlasEngine
Area-AzureShell
Area-Build
Area-Build
Area-Chat
Area-CmdPal
Area-CodeHealth
Area-Commandline
Area-CookedRead
Area-DefApp
Area-Extensibility
Area-Fonts
Area-GroupPolicy
Area-i18n
Area-Input
Area-Interaction
Area-Interop
Area-Localization
Area-Output
Area-Performance
Area-Portable
Area-Quality
Area-Remoting
Area-Rendering
Area-Schema
Area-Server
Area-Settings
Area-SettingsUI
Area-ShellExtension
Area-ShellExtension
Area-ShellExtension
Area-Suggestions
Area-Suggestions
Area-TerminalConnection
Area-TerminalControl
Area-Theming
Area-UserInterface
Area-VT
Area-Windowing
Area-WPFControl
AutoMerge
Blocking-Ingestion
Culprit-Centennial
Culprit-WinUI
Disability-All
Disability-Blind
Disability-LowVision
Disability-Mobility
External-Blocked-WinUI3
Fixed
Gathering-Data
good first issue
HCL-E+D
HCL-WindowsTerminal
Help Wanted
Impact-Compatibility
Impact-Compliance
Impact-Correctness
Impact-Visual
In-PR
InclusionBacklog
InclusionBacklog-Windows TerminalWin32
InclusionCommitted-202206
Issue-Bug
Issue-Docs
Issue-Feature
Issue-Feature
Issue-Question
Issue-Samples
Issue-Scenario
Issue-Task
Needs-Attention
Needs-Author-Feedback
Needs-Bisect
Needs-Discussion
Needs-Repro
Needs-Tag-Fix
Needs-Tag-Fix
Needs-Triage
No-Recent-Activity
Priority-0
Priority-1
Priority-2
Priority-3
Product-Cmd.exe
Product-Colortool
Product-Colortool
Product-Colortool
Product-Conhost
Product-Conpty
Product-Meta
Product-Powershell
Product-Terminal
Product-WSL
pull-request
Mirrored from GitHub Pull Request
 Resolution-Answered
Resolution-By-Design
Resolution-Duplicate
Resolution-External
Resolution-Fix-Available
Resolution-Fix-Committed
Resolution-No-Repro
Resolution-Won't-Fix
Severity-Blocking
Severity-Crash
Severity-DataLoss
spam
this-will-be-a-breaking-change
Tracking-External
WindowsTerminal_Win32
Work-Item
zAskModeBug
zInbox-Bug
No Label Area-TerminalControl Help Wanted Issue-Feature Product-Terminal
Milestone
No items
No Milestone
Projects
Clear projects
No project
Assignees
Clear assignees
claunia
No Assignees
1 Participants
Notifications
Due Date
No due date set.
Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference: starred/terminal#17620
Delete Branch "%!s()"

Deleting a branch is permanent. Although the deleted branch may continue to exist for a short time before it actually gets removed, it CANNOT be undone in most cases. Continue?