Hyperlinks
URLs in your terminal are actually clickable. OSC 8 hyperlinks make CLI output interactive.
Questions this answers
- How to make terminal URLs clickable on macOS
- OSC 8 hyperlink support in terminal emulators
- Terminal does not recognize URLs as clickable links
- How to open links from terminal output without copy-pasting
How it works
Chau7 runs a URL detection regex over terminal output in real time, identifying http://, https://, file://, and other common URL schemes. Detected URLs are rendered with a subtle underline and become clickable: Cmd+click opens the URL in the default browser, and a hover tooltip shows the full URL for truncated or wrapped links.
For programs that want richer control over hyperlinks, Chau7 supports the OSC 8 hyperlink protocol. This allows CLI tools to emit escape sequences that associate a URL with arbitrary display text, similar to an HTML anchor tag. For example, a compiler can output an error message where the file path is a hyperlink that opens the file in your editor at the correct line number.
Both auto-detected URLs and OSC 8 hyperlinks are accessible via keyboard navigation. A shortcut cycles through all links in the visible terminal, highlighting each one. Pressing Enter opens the highlighted link. This makes link navigation possible without reaching for the mouse.
Why it matters
Modern CLI tools output URLs constantly: links to documentation, CI builds, pull requests, file paths. In most terminals, you have to manually copy-paste them into a browser. Chau7 supports OSC 8 hyperlinks, making URLs clickable. It also detects plain URLs in terminal output and makes those clickable too.
Frequently asked questions
Which URL schemes does auto-detection recognize?
Chau7 detects http, https, file, ssh, and ftp URLs by default. The detection pattern is configurable in settings for users who need to recognize custom schemes.
Do OSC 8 hyperlinks work inside tmux?
Yes, provided your tmux version supports OSC 8 passthrough (tmux 3.4+). Chau7 correctly renders hyperlinks passed through tmux, screen, and other multiplexers that forward OSC 8 sequences.