tput

Query and set terminal capabilities

TLDR

Set bold text

$ tput bold

Set foreground color (0-7: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white)

$ tput setaf [2]

Set background color

$ tput setab [4]

Reset all attributes to default

$ tput sgr0

Clear the screen

$ tput clear

Get terminal width in columns

$ tput cols

Get terminal height in lines

$ tput lines

Move cursor to row and column

$ tput cup [5] [10]

SYNOPSIS

tput [-T type] capname [parameters...]

tput queries the terminfo database to output terminal-dependent capabilities. It provides a portable way to control terminal features like colors, cursor positioning, and text attributes without hardcoding escape sequences.
The command uses the $TERM environment variable to determine the terminal type and looks up the appropriate escape sequences. This makes scripts portable across different terminal emulators.
Color numbers 0-7 represent basic colors: black (0), red (1), green (2), yellow (3), blue (4), magenta (5), cyan (6), white (7). Extended color terminals support 256 colors (0-255).
Common usage in scripts combines capabilities: $(tput bold)$(tput setaf 1)Error$(tput sgr0) prints "Error" in bold red, then resets.

PARAMETERS

-T type

Specify terminal type; defaults to $TERM environment variable

-S

Read capabilities from stdin, allowing multiple operations

-V

Print ncurses version and exit

COMMON CAPABILITIES

bold

Enable bold mode

dim

Enable half-bright/dim mode

smul / rmul

Start/end underline mode

rev

Enable reverse video mode

blink

Enable blinking text

smso / rmso

Start/end standout mode

sgr0

Reset all attributes to default

setaf n

Set foreground color (0-7 or 0-255)

setab n

Set background color

clear

Clear screen and move cursor home

cup row col

Move cursor to position

cols

Print number of columns

lines

Print number of lines

sc / rc

Save/restore cursor position

civis / cnorm

Hide/show cursor

CAVEATS

Capabilities vary by terminal type; not all terminals support all features. Always reset attributes with sgr0 after use to avoid affecting subsequent output. The -T option should match the actual terminal for correct behavior.

HISTORY

tput was introduced in System V Unix in the early 1980s as part of the terminfo system, which replaced the older termcap. The ncurses implementation provides the tput command on most Linux systems today. It was designed to abstract terminal-specific escape codes behind a consistent interface.