CSI CNL / CPL — Cursor Next / Previous Line

CNL (final 'E') moves the cursor down Pn lines (default 1) AND to column 1; CPL (final 'F') moves up Pn lines and to column 1. They combine a vertical move with a carriage return, unlike CUU/CUD which preserve the column.

aka: CNL · CPL · cursor next line · cursor previous line · ESC [ E · ESC [ F

frame

CSI introducer: \x1b[ ESC [ (0x1B 0x5B)

terminator (none): ST · BEL

parameters / subcommands

id	name	bytes (ST)	meaning
cnl	CNL — Cursor Next Line (E)	\x1b[2E	CSI Pn E moves the cursor down Pn lines and to the first column (default Pn = 1).
cpl	CPL — Cursor Preceding Line (F)	\x1b[2F	CSI Pn F moves the cursor up Pn lines and to the first column (default Pn = 1).

gotchas

The distinguishing feature vs CUU/CUD is the implicit carriage return to column 1; if you want to keep the column, use CUU/CUD instead.
Like the relative moves, CNL/CPL clamp at the page edges and do not scroll.
A Pn of 0 is treated as 1.
CNL is NOT the same as emitting CR+LF: CNL clamps without scrolling, while LF at the bottom margin scrolls.

provenance

source: https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html
version: xterm ctlseqs, patch #410, 2026/04/19
retrieved: 2026-05-29 · updated: 2026-05-29T00:00:00Z

per-fact attribution:

#summary — https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html xterm ctlseqs: CSI Ps E = Cursor Next Line Ps (CNL); CSI Ps F = Cursor Preceding Line Ps (CPL). Both move to column 1 of the target line. Default Ps = 1.
ext.params — https://ecma-international.org/publications-and-standards/standards/ecma-48/ ECMA-48 defines CNL (final 'E') and CPL (final 'F') as line moves that also reset the active column to 1.

agent: curl -H 'accept: application/json' wire.phall.io/terminal-csi/cnl or /terminal-csi/cnl.json

CSI CNL / CPL — Cursor Next / Previous Line

frame

parameters / subcommands

gotchas

provenance

see also