Get terminal size in pixels using escape sequence (works on Linux and msys2/mingw)

escape_sequence_terminal_size.py

import sys
import termios
import tty

def get_text_area_size():
    # Save the terminal's original settings
    fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
    original_attributes = termios.tcgetattr(fd)

    try:
        # Set the terminal to raw mode
        tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())

        # Query the text area size
        print("\x1b[14t", end="", flush=True)

        # Read the response (format: "\x1b[4;height;widtht")
        response = ""
        while True:
            char = sys.stdin.read(1)
            response += char
            if char == "t":
                break

        # Parse the response to extract height and width
        if response:
            return tuple(map(int, response[:-2].split(';')[1:]))
        else:
            return None
    finally:
        # Restore the terminal's original settings
        termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, original_attributes)

# Example usage
text_area_size = get_text_area_size()
if text_area_size:
    print(f"Text area size is {text_area_size[0]} rows by {text_area_size[1]} columns")
else:
    print("Failed to get text area size")

This should work fine instead of regex i think.

        if response:
            return response[:-2].split(';')[1:]
        else:
            return None

@GiorgosXou Ah, you're right :) Updated it and tested, works.

@secemp9 it's actually [:-1] not [:-2], my fault sorry. 😅

and to ensure comprehensive coverage, I recommend including the alternative method as well. (for future visitors)

...
else: # ... https://stackoverflow.com/a/43947507/11465149
    buf = array.array('H', [0, 0, 0, 0])
    fcntl.ioctl(1, termios.TIOCGWINSZ, buf)
    return (buf[3], buf[2])

Back link - stackoverflow Q&A

Back link - stackoverflow Q&A

Thanks :) appreciate that you cited the source