Is there a way to prohibit clicking on URL ?

[mergar]

Unfortunately I didn't find a suitable action on https://xtermjs.org/docs/api/terminal/interfaces/iterminaloptions/

Is it possible to use a code sequence (with a custom script/output) or via xterm.js settings to prevent the terminal from doing anything with the URL on left-click and display it as plain text (which can be copied to the clipboard)?

I would like to avoid accidentally opening the URL with an accidental click on it. Thanks

[Tongering]

Two independent link sources here, and they behave differently — which is probably why the setting was easy to miss.

A quick way to tell which one you are hitting: their defaults differ. OSC 8 links always show a confirm() prompt first; if a link opens with no prompt at all, it is the addon.

1. OSC 8 hyperlinks

These come from the program in the terminal (OSC 8 ; ; <uri> ST … OSC 8 ; ; ST) and are handled by the built-in provider. They route through the linkHandler option on ITerminalOptions:

const term = new Terminal({
  linkHandler: { activate: () => { /* do nothing */ } }
});

The default is not an immediate open — with no linkHandler set, activating one goes through a
confirm() prompt first:

function defaultActivate(e, uri) {
  const answer = confirm(`Do you want to navigate to ${uri}?\n\nWARNING: This link could potentially be dangerous`);
  if (answer) { window.open()... }
}

So with only OSC 8 links you already get asked; the no-op activate above additionally removes
that prompt.

2. URLs detected by @xterm/addon-web-links

A separate code path that does not consult linkHandler. If the addon is loaded, its default handler opens directly, without asking:

function handleLink(event, uri) {
  const newWindow = window.open();
  ...
  newWindow.location.href = uri;
}

To stop that, pass your own handler — or don't load the addon:

term.loadAddon(new WebLinksAddon(() => { /* do nothing */ }));

Neither source needs a modifier key: hover alone picks up the link and a plain left click activates
it (Linkifier._handleMouseUp), so both are easy to trigger by accident.

About "display it as plain text"

Neither handler removes the decoration. The built-in OSC 8 provider is always registered, so those cells keep their underline and pointer cursor and stay hoverable — they just stop doing anything on click. The web-links addon is the opposite: without loading it, matching text is never decorated.

If you would rather keep the affordance and change the action, activate is a reasonable place to copy instead:

linkHandler: { activate: (event, uri) => navigator.clipboard.writeText(uri) }