$ Linux Command

System

tput

Query and modify terminal capabilities.

terminalterminfodisplaycursorcolor

Additional Notes

tput uses the terminal capability database (terminfo) to query terminal characteristics and control terminal output. It can move the cursor, change text attributes (bold, underline, reverse video, colors), clear the screen, and query terminal features like the number of columns and rows.

It is commonly used in shell scripts to produce formatted and colored output without hard-coding escape sequences. The behavior depends on the $TERM environment variable. If the terminal type is not recognized, tput may produce incorrect or empty output.

Syntax

tput [options] capability [parameters]

Capabilities

  • clear: Clear the screen.
  • cols: Number of columns in the terminal.
  • lines: Number of lines in the terminal.
  • bold: Start bold text.
  • sgr0: Reset all attributes.
  • setaf N: Set foreground color (0-7 or 0-255).
  • setab N: Set background color.
  • rev: Start reverse video.
  • smul: Start underline mode.
  • rmul: End underline mode.
  • cup Y X: Move cursor to row Y, column X (0-based).
  • bel: Ring the terminal bell.
  • sc: Save cursor position.
  • rc: Restore cursor position.
  • civis: Hide cursor.
  • cnorm: Show normal cursor.

Parameters

  • options: Flags that change how tput behaves.
  • target: Optional file, device, interface, user, service, or command target when the command supports one.

Common Options

  • -T type: Use the terminfo entry for type instead of the current $TERM.
  • -S: Read capabilities from stdin for batch processing.
  • -x: Allow extended capabilities that are not part of the standard terminfo.

Examples

tput cols

Print the number of columns in the terminal.

tput cup 10 20

Move the cursor to row 10, column 20.

echo "$(tput bold)Important$(tput sgr0) message"

Print bold text and reset attributes.

echo "$(tput setaf 2)Green text$(tput sgr0)"

Print green text.

tput clear

Clear the terminal screen.

Practical Notes

  • tput depends on the terminfo database. If a terminal type is missing, install the ncurses-term package.
  • Use sgr0 to reset all text attributes; rmso or rmul reset only individual attributes.
  • For 256-color terminals, use colors 0-255 with setaf/setab.
  • Always reset attributes after applying them, or the terminal state may bleed into subsequent output.
  • The infocmp command can show the full terminfo entry for a terminal type.