hty send

Deliver input to a running session’s PTY, exactly as if a user had typed it. You can send plain text, symbolic key names, raw bytes, or a sequenced combination of all three.

The <session> argument accepts a session name, a full UUID, or a unique UUID prefix. If only one session is running, you can omit it.

Reference

hty send [SESSION] --text "..." | --raw-text "..." | --key NAME | --seq "..." | --bytes-hex HEX

Send input to a session. Exactly one of --text, --raw-text, --key,
--seq, --bytes-hex is required.

Flags:
  --text STRING        UTF-8 text with C-style escapes (\n \t \r \\ \e).
  --raw-text STRING    UTF-8 bytes sent verbatim. No escape processing —
                       `\n` stays as literal backslash-n. Use this when
                       you want to type source code or other content that
                       contains backslashes you don't want interpreted.
                       Prefer over --text when shell quoting gets hairy.
  --key NAME           Named key with optional modifiers.
                       Supports ctrl-, alt-/meta-, shift- prefixes,
                       function keys (f1-f12), and combinations like
                       ctrl-alt-f or shift-up. Run `hty keys` for details.
  --seq STRING         Send a sequence of keys, text, and delays in one call.
                       Quoted strings are text, durations (e.g. 200ms, 1s)
                       are pauses, and bare words are key names.
                       Example: --seq '"hello" 200ms enter 500ms "world"'
  --bytes-hex HEX      Raw bytes encoded as hex.

Delay flags (optional, combine with any mode above):
  --delay-before DUR   Sleep before sending (e.g. 200ms, 1s).
  --delay-after DUR    Sleep after sending.
  --delay-char DUR     Send text character-by-character with a delay
                       between each. Only works with --text, --raw-text,
                       or --seq.

Wait + snapshot flags (fuse send + wait + snapshot into one round-trip):
  --snapshot           Include the post-action snapshot in the response.
                       Combines with --json and --ansi like `hty snapshot`.
  --wait-duration DUR  Sleep DUR after sending, then snapshot. Requires
                       --snapshot (otherwise use --delay-after).
  --wait-until-idle [MS]
                       Block until the screen has been quiet for MS
                       milliseconds (default 100). The idle window is
                       measured from the moment this op begins on the
                       server, so a session that was already quiet
                       before the send won't trip the check immediately.
  --wait-until-text STR    Block until STR appears in the rendered buffer.
  --wait-until-regex RE    Block until RE (POSIX extended) matches.
  --wait-until-exit        Block until the child process exits.
  --timeout DUR        Cap on any --wait-until-* (default 30s; 0 = none).
  --json               With --snapshot, emit `{ok, matched, elapsed_ms,
                       snapshot, ...}` instead of the plain buffer.
  --ansi               With --snapshot, print the styled ANSI rendering
                       instead of the plain buffer.

Examples

# Type into an insert-mode editor
hty send my-session --text "ihello world"
 
# Confirm a yes/no prompt
hty send my-session --text "y\n"
 
# Press Escape
hty send my-session --key esc
 
# Send Ctrl-C
hty send my-session --key ctrl-c
 
# Type text, then press enter after 200ms
hty send my-session --seq '"hello" 200ms enter'
 
# Send raw bytes (the up-arrow escape sequence)
hty send my-session --bytes-hex "1b5b41"