Cursor Styles
Block, beam, underline. Blinking or steady. Your cursor, your call.
Questions this answers
- How to change terminal cursor style macOS
- Terminal cursor blinking too fast how to adjust
- Block vs beam cursor terminal preference
- Change cursor color in terminal emulator
How it works
Chau7 supports block, beam (line), and underline cursor shapes, switchable from preferences or via standard ANSI escape sequences. Applications like Vim, Neovim, and Zsh vi-mode can request cursor shape changes at runtime and Chau7 responds correctly, switching between insert-mode beam and normal-mode block automatically.
Blink rate is adjustable from a steady non-blinking cursor up to a fast blink, with a continuous slider rather than fixed presets. Cursor color can be set independently from the theme palette, giving you a distinct visual anchor point in dense terminal output. Per-profile cursor settings mean your SSH session can use a different style from your local shell for instant visual context.
Why it matters
The cursor is the single most-watched element on screen during terminal work. Getting its shape, blink rate, and color right matters more than most developers realize. Chau7 lets you configure cursor style, color, and blink behavior per-profile, so insert mode can look different from normal mode if you use Vim.
Frequently asked questions
Does the cursor change shape for Vim insert mode?
Yes. Chau7 responds to standard ANSI cursor shape escape sequences, so Vim, Neovim, and Zsh vi-mode can switch between block and beam cursors automatically.
Can I disable cursor blinking entirely?
Yes. Set the blink rate slider to zero for a steady, non-blinking cursor.
Can different profiles use different cursor styles?
Yes. Each profile stores its own cursor shape, blink rate, and color independently.