[Bug]: OSC 52 clipboard copying fails when window/block not focused

[robottwo]

Describe the bug

Wave Terminal's OSC 52 (clipboard) implementation requires both window and block focus, which breaks application-initiated clipboard copying when the terminal doesn't have focus. This causes issues with tools like OpenCode/Claude Code that use OSC 52 for programmatic clipboard operations.

To Reproduce

1. Open Wave Terminal
2. Run a terminal application that uses OSC 52 to copy text (e.g., OpenCode, tmux with OSC 52 enabled, Neovim with clipboard integration)
3. Trigger a copy operation from the application
4. The copy fails silently if Wave Terminal window or the specific block doesn't have focus

Example test:

printf '\033]52;c;%s\a' "$(echo -n 'test copy' | base64)"

This works in iTerm2, Alacritty, kitty, and other terminals regardless of focus state, but fails in Wave Terminal when the window/block isn't focused.

Expected behavior

OSC 52 clipboard writes should succeed regardless of terminal focus state. The security model for OSC 52 is already well-established:

• Most terminals allow writes without focus (standard behavior)
• Reads (query with ?) are blocked for security (which Wave correctly does)
• Size limits prevent abuse (Wave has appropriate 75KB limit)

This is particularly important for:

• AI coding assistants (OpenCode, Cursor, etc.) that copy code snippets
• Terminal multiplexers (tmux, screen) with clipboard integration
• Remote editing workflows (Vim/Neovim over SSH)

Code Reference

The focus check is in frontend/app/view/term/termwrap.ts:

function handleOsc52Command(data: string, blockId: string, loaded: boolean, termWrap: TermWrap): boolean {
    if (!loaded) {
        return true;
    }
    const isBlockFocused = termWrap.nodeModel ? globalStore.get(termWrap.nodeModel.isFocused) : false;
    if (!document.hasFocus() || !isBlockFocused) {
        console.log("OSC 52: rejected, window or block not focused");
        return true;  // ← This rejects valid clipboard operations
    }
    // ... rest of implementation is correct
}

Suggested Fix

Remove the focus check for OSC 52 writes. The existing size limits and query blocking provide adequate security:

function handleOsc52Command(data: string, blockId: string, loaded: boolean, termWrap: TermWrap): boolean {
    if (!loaded) {
        return true;
    }
    // Remove: if (!document.hasFocus() || !isBlockFocused) check
    
    // Keep all existing validation (size limits, query blocking, etc.)
    // ...
}

Desktop

• OS: macOS 15.2
• Wave Terminal: v0.13.1 (but affects all versions with OSC 52 support)
• Also affects: Linux, Windows

Related

• Clipboard shortcuts do not work on Linux #206 (clipboard shortcuts on Linux) - may share root cause
• Standard terminal behavior reference: https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html#h3-Operating-System-Commands

[sawka]

thanks for the issue. allowing any terminal to clobber the system clipboard at anytime feels like a security issue to me (say you're about to paste and something overwrites your clipboard a split second before you do), so i'm not comfortable making that the default behavior (i'll do some more research to confirm the defaults in other terminals though -- if they all do what you say, then i'll just make the switch).

that being said, i dont want to stand in your way if that's what you want. i can add a global setting to override the focus check for the next release.

the other way i could solve this is with a visual overlay, something like: "terminal wants to write to the system clipboard: [first line of text]" and then you can click that to complete the copy. would this work for you, or would you prefer it to be completely automatic with no interaction?

[robottwo]

Visual overlay might be fine, especially if it has an option for “always allow.”

The problem is that some apps, like Open Code, take over the mouse behavior as well, so you can’t copy using the OS’s copy functionality. Roughly, without this feature there is effectively no way to copy from those apps.

If you want to reproduce yourself, install Open Code, give it any prompt, and then highlight some text with the mouse.

It will immediately deselect the text and say something like “copied to clipboard,” but actually it didn’t.

[sawka]

ah, i haven't tested with opencode. will install and try it out