# Working Directory (OSC 7)
> Tell the terminal which directory the shell is in.
- **Sequence:** `OSC 7 ; Pt ST`
- **ECMA-48:** [§8.3.89 OSC – Operating System Command, p. 51](https://archive.org/details/ecma-48-5th-edition-june-1991/page/n64/mode/1up)
A shell sends `OSC 7 ; Pt ST` from its prompt, with its working directory as
a `file:` URL, `file://host/path`, with the host name so that the terminal can
tell a directory on another machine from its own. A terminal uses it to
open a new tab or window in the same directory, and to show it in a title.
Apple's Terminal, VTE and many others use it, but it is not xterm's, and a
default xterm ignores it
([the OSC numbers it knows](https://github.com/ThomasDickey/xterm-snapshots/blob/xterm-411a/misc.c#L3476-L3504)).
The cases follow xterm.
libghostty-vt keeps the last one it was sent, as it was sent, and tells its
host through the `PWD_CHANGED` callback. It takes two other ways of saying
the same thing as well: iTerm2's `OSC 1337 ; CurrentDir=path ST` and
ConEmu's `OSC 9 ; 9 ; path ST` (see [ConEmu's extensions](https://control-codes.page/osc/conemu/index.html.md)). The `pwd` line in a case checks what it
kept, and the case that checks for nothing is a known difference.
## Validation
### OSC7-1: Nothing changes on screen
Input, one step per line:
```text
A
\e]7;file://host/home/user\a
B
```
Expected screen:
```text
|AB____|
cursor 1,3
reply none
```
### OSC7-2: A default xterm keeps nothing
*A known difference: libghostty-vt does not pass this case.*
Input, one step per line:
```text
\e]7;file://host/home/user\a
```
Expected screen:
```text
|______|
pwd ""
```
### OSC7-3: An empty one clears it
Input, one step per line:
```text
\e]7;file://host/home/user\a
\e]7;\a
```
Expected screen:
```text
|______|
pwd ""
```
---
This is the Markdown version of . On that page every validation case runs live in libghostty-vt, the terminal emulation core of Ghostty, compiled to WebAssembly.
The validation cases are written in the notation described in .