Editing ANSI escape code (section)

==== 8-bit ====
{{seealso|Web colors#Web-safe colors}}
As [[8-bit color|256-color]] lookup tables became common on graphic cards, escape sequences were added to select from a pre-defined set of 256 colors:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.faq.html#color_by_number |title=XTerm FAQ: Can I set a color by its number? |author-first=Thomas E. |author-last=Dickey |accessdate=March 28, 2025}}</ref>
 ESC[38;5;{{angbr|n}}m Select foreground color      where n is a number from the table below
 ESC[48;5;{{angbr|n}}m Select background color
   0-  7:  standard colors (as in ESC [ 30–37 m)
   8- 15:  high intensity colors (as in ESC [ 90–97 m)
  16-231:  6 × 6 × 6 cube (216 colors): 16 + 36 × r + 6 × g + b (0 ≤ r, g, b ≤ 5)
 232-255:  grayscale from dark to light in 24 steps

The colors displayed by these values vary across terminal/emulator implementations as the recognized ECMA-48 and ITU's T.416 specifications do not define a specific color palette for this lookup table. While it is common to use the above formula for the color palette, in particular the algorithm and choice of colors for the 16-231 cube values differs between implementations. The color palette and algorithm used by XTerm is specified below as a sample.<ref name="ECMA-48" /><ref name="T.416" />

The [[ITU]]'s T.416 Information technology - Open Document Architecture (ODA) and interchange format: Character content architectures<ref name="T.416">{{cite web |url=https://www.itu.int/rec/dologin_pub.asp?lang=e&id=T-REC-T.416-199303-I!!PDF-E&type=items |title=T.416 Information technology - Open Document Architecture (ODA) and interchange format: Character content architectures}}</ref> uses ":" as separator characters instead:
 ESC[38:5:{{angbr|n}}m Select foreground color      where n is a number from the table below
 ESC[48:5:{{angbr|n}}m Select background color<!--
def fg(triad): return 'ffffff' if (triad[2:4] < 'a0') else '000000'
standards = ('000000 800000 008000 808000 000080 800080 008080 c0c0c0 ' +
             '808080 ff0000 00ff00 ffff00 0000ff ff00ff 00ffff ffffff').split(' ')
rgbs  = '00 5f 87 af d7 ff'.split(' ')
greys = '08 12 1c 26 30 3a 44 4e 58 62 6c 76 80 8a 94 9e a8 b2 bc c6 d0 da e4 ee'.split(' ')
fgs   = '000000 ffffff'.split(' ')
code = 0
outs = [[] for i in range(3)]
out  = '\n| style="color:#%s;background:#%s;" title="#%s" |%s'
for i in range(len(standards)):
 if (i == len(standards) / 2.0): outs[0].append('\n| style="width:1em;"| ')
 triad = standards[i]
 outs[0].append(out % (fgs[i < len(standards) / 2], triad, triad,
                code if (code > 9) else ' %d&nbsp;' % code))
 code += 1
for   r in range(len(rgbs)):
 for  g in range(len(rgbs)):
  for b in range(len(rgbs)):
   triad = rgbs[r] + rgbs[g] + rgbs[b]
   outs[1].append(out % (fgs[g < len(rgbs) / 2], triad, triad, code))
   code += 1
 outs[1].append('\n|-\n')
for i in range(len(greys)):
 triad = greys[i] * 3
 outs[2].append(out % (fgs[i < len(greys) / 2], triad, triad, code))
 code += 1
file_out = open(__file__[:__file__.rfind('.')] + '.htm', 'w')
file_out.write('''\
{| table class="collapsible" style="text-align:center;font-size:80%%;width:100%%;background:#f6f6f6;cursor:default;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"
|-
! colspan="36" | 256-color mode — foreground: ESC[38;5;#m &nbsp; background: ESC[48;5;#m
|-
| colspan="18" | Standard colors
| colspan="18" | High-intensity colors
|-
| colspan="36" |
{| style="width:100%%;text-align:center;font-weight:bold;"
|-
%s
|-
|}
|-
| colspan="36" | 216 colors
|-
%s
|-
| colspan="36" | Grayscale colors
|-
| colspan="36" |
{| style="width:100%%;text-align:center;font-weight:bold;"
|-
%s
|-
|}
|}''' %
 (''.join(outs[0]), ''.join(outs[1]), ''.join(outs[2])))
file_out.close()
-->
{{anchor|256_color_table}}
{| class="collapsible" style="text-align:center;font-size:80%;width:100%;background:#f6f6f6;cursor:default;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"
|-
! colspan="36" | 256-color mode — foreground: ESC[38;5;#m &nbsp; background: ESC[48;5;#m
|-

| colspan="18" | Standard colors
| colspan="18" | High-intensity colors

|-
| colspan="36" |
{| style="width:100%;text-align:center;font-weight:bold;"
|-
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#000000;" title="#000000" |&nbsp;0&nbsp;
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#800000;" title="#800000" |&nbsp;1&nbsp;
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#008000;" title="#008000" |&nbsp;2&nbsp;
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#808000;" title="#808000" |&nbsp;3&nbsp;
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#000080;" title="#000080" |&nbsp;4&nbsp;
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#800080;" title="#800080" |&nbsp;5&nbsp;
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#008080;" title="#008080" |&nbsp;6&nbsp;
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#c0c0c0;" title="#c0c0c0" |&nbsp;7&nbsp;
| style="width:1em;" |
| style="color:#000000;background:#808080;" title="#808080" |&nbsp;8&nbsp;
| style="color:#000000;background:#ff0000;" title="#ff0000" |&nbsp;9&nbsp;
| style="color:#000000;background:#00ff00;" title="#00ff00" |10
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffff00;" title="#ffff00" |11
| style="color:#000000;background:#0000ff;" title="#0000ff" |12
| style="color:#000000;background:#ff00ff;" title="#ff00ff" |13
| style="color:#000000;background:#00ffff;" title="#00ffff" |14
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffffff;" title="#ffffff" |15
|}
|-
| colspan="36" |216 colors
|-
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#000000;" title="#000000" |16
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#00005f;" title="#00005f" |17
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#000087;" title="#000087" |18
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#0000af;" title="#0000af" |19
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#0000d7;" title="#0000d7" |20
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#0000ff;" title="#0000ff" |21
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#005f00;" title="#005f00" |22
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#005f5f;" title="#005f5f" |23
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#005f87;" title="#005f87" |24
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#005faf;" title="#005faf" |25
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#005fd7;" title="#005fd7" |26
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#005fff;" title="#005fff" |27
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#008700;" title="#008700" |28
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#00875f;" title="#00875f" |29
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#008787;" title="#008787" |30
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#0087af;" title="#0087af" |31
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#0087d7;" title="#0087d7" |32
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#0087ff;" title="#0087ff" |33
| style="color:#000000;background:#00af00;" title="#00af00" |34
| style="color:#000000;background:#00af5f;" title="#00af5f" |35
| style="color:#000000;background:#00af87;" title="#00af87" |36
| style="color:#000000;background:#00afaf;" title="#00afaf" |37
| style="color:#000000;background:#00afd7;" title="#00afd7" |38
| style="color:#000000;background:#00afff;" title="#00afff" |39
| style="color:#000000;background:#00d700;" title="#00d700" |40
| style="color:#000000;background:#00d75f;" title="#00d75f" |41
| style="color:#000000;background:#00d787;" title="#00d787" |42
| style="color:#000000;background:#00d7af;" title="#00d7af" |43
| style="color:#000000;background:#00d7d7;" title="#00d7d7" |44
| style="color:#000000;background:#00d7ff;" title="#00d7ff" |45
| style="color:#000000;background:#00ff00;" title="#00ff00" |46
| style="color:#000000;background:#00ff5f;" title="#00ff5f" |47
| style="color:#000000;background:#00ff87;" title="#00ff87" |48
| style="color:#000000;background:#00ffaf;" title="#00ffaf" |49
| style="color:#000000;background:#00ffd7;" title="#00ffd7" |50
| style="color:#000000;background:#00ffff;" title="#00ffff" |51
|-
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f0000;" title="#5f0000" |52
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f005f;" title="#5f005f" |53
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f0087;" title="#5f0087" |54
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f00af;" title="#5f00af" |55
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f00d7;" title="#5f00d7" |56
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f00ff;" title="#5f00ff" |57
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f5f00;" title="#5f5f00" |58
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f5f5f;" title="#5f5f5f" |59
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f5f87;" title="#5f5f87" |60
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f5faf;" title="#5f5faf" |61
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f5fd7;" title="#5f5fd7" |62
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f5fff;" title="#5f5fff" |63
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f8700;" title="#5f8700" |64
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f875f;" title="#5f875f" |65
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f8787;" title="#5f8787" |66
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f87af;" title="#5f87af" |67
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f87d7;" title="#5f87d7" |68
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#5f87ff;" title="#5f87ff" |69
| style="color:#000000;background:#5faf00;" title="#5faf00" |70
| style="color:#000000;background:#5faf5f;" title="#5faf5f" |71
| style="color:#000000;background:#5faf87;" title="#5faf87" |72
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fafaf;" title="#5fafaf" |73
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fafd7;" title="#5fafd7" |74
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fafff;" title="#5fafff" |75
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fd700;" title="#5fd700" |76
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fd75f;" title="#5fd75f" |77
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fd787;" title="#5fd787" |78
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fd7af;" title="#5fd7af" |79
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fd7d7;" title="#5fd7d7" |80
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fd7ff;" title="#5fd7ff" |81
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fff00;" title="#5fff00" |82
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fff5f;" title="#5fff5f" |83
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fff87;" title="#5fff87" |84
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fffaf;" title="#5fffaf" |85
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fffd7;" title="#5fffd7" |86
| style="color:#000000;background:#5fffff;" title="#5fffff" |87
|-
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#870000;" title="#870000" |88
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#87005f;" title="#87005f" |89
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#870087;" title="#870087" |90
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#8700af;" title="#8700af" |91
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#8700d7;" title="#8700d7" |92
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#8700ff;" title="#8700ff" |93
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#875f00;" title="#875f00" |94
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#875f5f;" title="#875f5f" |95
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#875f87;" title="#875f87" |96
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#875faf;" title="#875faf" |97
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#875fd7;" title="#875fd7" |98
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#875fff;" title="#875fff" |99
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#878700;" title="#878700" |100
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#87875f;" title="#87875f" |101
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#878787;" title="#878787" |102
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#8787af;" title="#8787af" |103
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#8787d7;" title="#8787d7" |104
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#8787ff;" title="#8787ff" |105
| style="color:#000000;background:#87af00;" title="#87af00" |106
| style="color:#000000;background:#87af5f;" title="#87af5f" |107
| style="color:#000000;background:#87af87;" title="#87af87" |108
| style="color:#000000;background:#87afaf;" title="#87afaf" |109
| style="color:#000000;background:#87afd7;" title="#87afd7" |110
| style="color:#000000;background:#87afff;" title="#87afff" |111
| style="color:#000000;background:#87d700;" title="#87d700" |112
| style="color:#000000;background:#87d75f;" title="#87d75f" |113
| style="color:#000000;background:#87d787;" title="#87d787" |114
| style="color:#000000;background:#87d7af;" title="#87d7af" |115
| style="color:#000000;background:#87d7d7;" title="#87d7d7" |116
| style="color:#000000;background:#87d7ff;" title="#87d7ff" |117
| style="color:#000000;background:#87ff00;" title="#87ff00" |118
| style="color:#000000;background:#87ff5f;" title="#87ff5f" |119
| style="color:#000000;background:#87ff87;" title="#87ff87" |120
| style="color:#000000;background:#87ffaf;" title="#87ffaf" |121
| style="color:#000000;background:#87ffd7;" title="#87ffd7" |122
| style="color:#000000;background:#87ffff;" title="#87ffff" |123
|-
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af0000;" title="#af0000" |124
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af005f;" title="#af005f" |125
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af0087;" title="#af0087" |126
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af00af;" title="#af00af" |127
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af00d7;" title="#af00d7" |128
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af00ff;" title="#af00ff" |129
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af5f00;" title="#af5f00" |130
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af5f5f;" title="#af5f5f" |131
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af5f87;" title="#af5f87" |132
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af5faf;" title="#af5faf" |133
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af5fd7;" title="#af5fd7" |134
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af5fff;" title="#af5fff" |135
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af8700;" title="#af8700" |136
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af875f;" title="#af875f" |137
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af8787;" title="#af8787" |138
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af87af;" title="#af87af" |139
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af87d7;" title="#af87d7" |140
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#af87ff;" title="#af87ff" |141
| style="color:#000000;background:#afaf00;" title="#afaf00" |142
| style="color:#000000;background:#afaf5f;" title="#afaf5f" |143
| style="color:#000000;background:#afaf87;" title="#afaf87" |144
| style="color:#000000;background:#afafaf;" title="#afafaf" |145
| style="color:#000000;background:#afafd7;" title="#afafd7" |146
| style="color:#000000;background:#afafff;" title="#afafff" |147
| style="color:#000000;background:#afd700;" title="#afd700" |148
| style="color:#000000;background:#afd75f;" title="#afd75f" |149
| style="color:#000000;background:#afd787;" title="#afd787" |150
| style="color:#000000;background:#afd7af;" title="#afd7af" |151
| style="color:#000000;background:#afd7d7;" title="#afd7d7" |152
| style="color:#000000;background:#afd7ff;" title="#afd7ff" |153
| style="color:#000000;background:#afff00;" title="#afff00" |154
| style="color:#000000;background:#afff5f;" title="#afff5f" |155
| style="color:#000000;background:#afff87;" title="#afff87" |156
| style="color:#000000;background:#afffaf;" title="#afffaf" |157
| style="color:#000000;background:#afffd7;" title="#afffd7" |158
| style="color:#000000;background:#afffff;" title="#afffff" |159
|-
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d70000;" title="#d70000" |160
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d7005f;" title="#d7005f" |161
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d70087;" title="#d70087" |162
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d700af;" title="#d700af" |163
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d700d7;" title="#d700d7" |164
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d700ff;" title="#d700ff" |165
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d75f00;" title="#d75f00" |166
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d75f5f;" title="#d75f5f" |167
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d75f87;" title="#d75f87" |168
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d75faf;" title="#d75faf" |169
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d75fd7;" title="#d75fd7" |170
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d75fff;" title="#d75fff" |171
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d78700;" title="#d78700" |172
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d7875f;" title="#d7875f" |173
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d78787;" title="#d78787" |174
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d787af;" title="#d787af" |175
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d787d7;" title="#d787d7" |176
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#d787ff;" title="#d787ff" |177
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7af00;" title="#d7af00" |178
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7af5f;" title="#d7af5f" |179
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7af87;" title="#d7af87" |180
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7afaf;" title="#d7afaf" |181
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7afd7;" title="#d7afd7" |182
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7afff;" title="#d7afff" |183
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7d700;" title="#d7d700" |184
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7d75f;" title="#d7d75f" |185
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7d787;" title="#d7d787" |186
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7d7af;" title="#d7d7af" |187
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7d7d7;" title="#d7d7d7" |188
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7d7ff;" title="#d7d7ff" |189
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7ff00;" title="#d7ff00" |190
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7ff5f;" title="#d7ff5f" |191
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7ff87;" title="#d7ff87" |192
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7ffaf;" title="#d7ffaf" |193
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7ffd7;" title="#d7ffd7" |194
| style="color:#000000;background:#d7ffff;" title="#d7ffff" |195
|-
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff0000;" title="#ff0000" |196
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff005f;" title="#ff005f" |197
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff0087;" title="#ff0087" |198
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff00af;" title="#ff00af" |199
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff00d7;" title="#ff00d7" |200
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff00ff;" title="#ff00ff" |201
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff5f00;" title="#ff5f00" |202
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff5f5f;" title="#ff5f5f" |203
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff5f87;" title="#ff5f87" |204
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff5faf;" title="#ff5faf" |205
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff5fd7;" title="#ff5fd7" |206
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff5fff;" title="#ff5fff" |207
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff8700;" title="#ff8700" |208
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff875f;" title="#ff875f" |209
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff8787;" title="#ff8787" |210
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff87af;" title="#ff87af" |211
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff87d7;" title="#ff87d7" |212
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#ff87ff;" title="#ff87ff" |213
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffaf00;" title="#ffaf00" |214
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffaf5f;" title="#ffaf5f" |215
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffaf87;" title="#ffaf87" |216
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffafaf;" title="#ffafaf" |217
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffafd7;" title="#ffafd7" |218
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffafff;" title="#ffafff" |219
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffd700;" title="#ffd700" |220
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffd75f;" title="#ffd75f" |221
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffd787;" title="#ffd787" |222
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffd7af;" title="#ffd7af" |223
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffd7d7;" title="#ffd7d7" |224
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffd7ff;" title="#ffd7ff" |225
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffff00;" title="#ffff00" |226
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffff5f;" title="#ffff5f" |227
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffff87;" title="#ffff87" |228
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffffaf;" title="#ffffaf" |229
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffffd7;" title="#ffffd7" |230
| style="color:#000000;background:#ffffff;" title="#ffffff" |231
|-

|-
| colspan="36" |Grayscale colors
|-
| colspan="36" |
{| style="width:100%;text-align:center;font-weight:bold;"
|-
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#080808;" title="#080808" |232
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#121212;" title="#121212" |233
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#1c1c1c;" title="#1c1c1c" |234
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#262626;" title="#262626" |235
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#303030;" title="#303030" |236
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#3a3a3a;" title="#3a3a3a" |237
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#444444;" title="#444444" |238
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#4e4e4e;" title="#4e4e4e" |239
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#585858;" title="#585858" |240
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#626262;" title="#626262" |241
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#6c6c6c;" title="#6c6c6c" |242
| style="color:#ffffff;background:#767676;" title="#767676" |243
| style="color:#000000;background:#808080;" title="#808080" |244
| style="color:#000000;background:#8a8a8a;" title="#8a8a8a" |245
| style="color:#000000;background:#949494;" title="#949494" |246
| style="color:#000000;background:#9e9e9e;" title="#9e9e9e" |247
| style="color:#000000;background:#a8a8a8;" title="#a8a8a8" |248
| style="color:#000000;background:#b2b2b2;" title="#b2b2b2" |249
| style="color:#000000;background:#bcbcbc;" title="#bcbcbc" |250
| style="color:#000000;background:#c6c6c6;" title="#c6c6c6" |251
| style="color:#000000;background:#d0d0d0;" title="#d0d0d0" |252
| style="color:#000000;background:#dadada;" title="#dadada" |253
| style="color:#000000;background:#e4e4e4;" title="#e4e4e4" |254
| style="color:#000000;background:#eeeeee;" title="#eeeeee" |255
|}
|}


To calculate the RGB Value of a code in the 6 x 6 x 6 color cube, the following code can be used:
<syntaxhighlight lang="python" line>
# print a list of the 256-color red/green/blue values used by xterm.
#
# reference:
# https://github.com/ThomasDickey/ncurses-snapshots/blob/master/test/xterm-16color.dat
# https://github.com/ThomasDickey/xterm-snapshots/blob/master/XTerm-col.ad
# https://github.com/ThomasDickey/xterm-snapshots/blob/master/256colres.pl

print("colors 0-16 correspond to the ANSI and aixterm naming")
for code in range(0, 16):
    if code > 8:
        level = 255
    elif code == 7:
        level = 229
    else:
        level = 205
    r = 127 if code == 8 else level if (code & 1) != 0 else 92 if code == 12 else 0
    g = 127 if code == 8 else level if (code & 2) != 0 else 92 if code == 12 else 0
    b = 127 if code == 8 else 238 if code == 4 else level if (code & 4) != 0 else 0
    print(f"{code:3d}: {r:02X} {g:02X} {b:02X}")

print("colors 16-231 are a 6x6x6 color cube")
for red in range(0, 6):
    for green in range(0, 6):
        for blue in range(0, 6):
            code = 16 + (red * 36) + (green * 6) + blue
            r = red   * 40 + 55 if red   != 0 else 0
            g = green * 40 + 55 if green != 0 else 0
            b = blue  * 40 + 55 if blue  != 0 else 0
            print(f"{code:3d}: {r:02X} {g:02X} {b:02X}")

print("colors 232-255 are a grayscale ramp, intentionally leaving out black and white")
code = 232
for gray in range(0, 24):
    level = gray * 10 + 8
    code = 232 + gray
    print(f"{code:3d}: {level:02X} {level:02X} {level:02X}")
</syntaxhighlight>

There has also been a similar but incompatible 88-color encoding using the same escape sequence, seen in {{code|rxvt}} and {{code|xterm-88color}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses.faq.html#xterm_256color |title=Ncurses FAQ: Why not make "xterm" equated to "xterm-256color"? |author-first=Thomas E. |author-last=Dickey |accessdate=March 28, 2025}}</ref>  It uses a 4×4×4 color cube.