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\uD83E\uDD14 Problem

Terminal Many terminal apps adopt utilize the Windows-native Console Host (conhost.exe) executable for implementation.
Under Windows 10, the conhost.exe exhibits a bug that limits ACLI Shell functionality.
In this environment, conhost.exe incorrectly interprets a critical VT100 control sequence as a VT52 sequence, which breaks the ACLI Shell interactive renderer. As a result, terminal apps that rely on conhost.exe executable under Windows 10 fail to function as designed.

The issue is rectified in the conhost.exe implementation shipped with Windows 11 as well as when running apps in Windows Terminal and other VT100-compliant terminal emulators (e.g., ConEmu, CMDER, Alacritty, and WezTerm) in capable of running on Windows 10.

\uD83C\uDF31 Solution

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Windows terminal compatibility

Windows Version

Terminal App

ACLI Version

DescriptionSolution

Windows 10

In ACLI 10.6, set the WT_SESSION variable

Setting WT_session variable enables non-Windows terminal emulators on Windows 10 for ACLI v10.6 and earlier.

Windows 10

ACLI v11

The WT_SESSION variable is not required, when using one of these terminals:

  • Windows Terminal

  • WezTerm

  • Alacritty

  • ConEmu

  • CMDER

Windows 11

ACLI v11

No constraints on the choice of terminal, including the legacy Windows console (conhost.exe).

ACLI v10.6 and earlier
How to fix the conhost.exe interpreting of VT100 control sequence

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Console Host (conhost.exe)

10.6.0 and earlier

Do not use!

Windows 10

Windows Terminal

10.6.0 and earlier

No special setup required

Windows 10

Any other VT100-compliant terminal

(WezTerm, Alacritty, ConEmu, CMDER, etc)

10.6.0 and earlier

Manually set WT_SESSION=1 (see below)

Windows 10

Windows Terminal, WezTerm, Alacritty, ConEmu, CMDER

11.0.0 and later

No special setup required

Windows 10

Any VT100-compliant terminal not listed above

11.0.0 and later

Manually set WT_SESSION=1 (see below)

Windows 11

Any terminal

11.0.0 and later

No special setup required

Applying the WT_SESSION workaround when indicated by the above table:

  1. Open the environment variables settings on your system.

  2. Create a new environment variable named WT_SESSION and set its value to any non-empty string (e.g., 1).

  3. Save the changes, and restart your terminal application.

  4. Launch the ACLI shell.

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To ensure the best experience with the ACLI shell, it is recommended to use a fully VT100-compliant terminal emulator or upgrade to Windows 11 or to use Microsoft’s Windows Terminal.

ACLI 11.0.0
How to fix the conhost.exe interpreting of VT100 control sequence

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Other terminal applications

The supported terminal emulators on Windows 10 are:

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