diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 9cae3e3edaba..d9a20da95636 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -239,11 +239,11 @@ checksum = "22ec99545bb0ed0ea7bb9b8e1e9122ea386ff8a48c0922e43f36d45ab09e0e80"
 [[package]]
 name = "crossterm"
 version = "0.28.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "829d955a0bb380ef178a640b91779e3987da38c9aea133b20614cfed8cdea9c6"
+source = "git+https://github.com/bash/crossterm?branch=parse-osc#a9b1c10bfface5f7db53b41ae901c151fd25c6a9"
 dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
  "crossterm_winapi",
+ "document-features",
  "filedescriptor",
  "futures-core",
  "libc",
@@ -289,6 +289,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "document-features"
+version = "0.2.10"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cb6969eaabd2421f8a2775cfd2471a2b634372b4a25d41e3bd647b79912850a0"
+dependencies = [
+ "litrs",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "dunce"
 version = "1.0.5"
@@ -1393,6 +1402,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "signal-hook-tokio",
  "smallvec",
  "tempfile",
+ "terminal-colorsaurus",
  "termini",
  "thiserror 2.0.3",
  "tokio",
@@ -1794,6 +1804,12 @@ version = "0.7.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "643cb0b8d4fcc284004d5fd0d67ccf61dfffadb7f75e1e71bc420f4688a3a704"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "litrs"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b4ce301924b7887e9d637144fdade93f9dfff9b60981d4ac161db09720d39aa5"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lock_api"
 version = "0.4.12"
@@ -2378,6 +2394,14 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.59.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "terminal-colorsaurus"
+version = "0.4.7"
+source = "git+https://github.com/bash/terminal-colorsaurus?branch=parse-utils#317dcd9b09f4f55c4c664f0a7fe9557bf60792ae"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "termini"
 version = "1.0.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 753be4b462c4..4a16f56e0c32 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -52,3 +52,7 @@ repository = "https://github.com/helix-editor/helix"
 homepage = "https://helix-editor.com"
 license = "MPL-2.0"
 rust-version = "1.76"
+
+[patch.crates-io]
+crossterm = { git = "https://github.com/bash/crossterm", branch = "parse-osc" }
+terminal-colorsaurus = { git = "https://github.com/bash/terminal-colorsaurus", branch = "parse-utils" }
diff --git a/helix-term/Cargo.toml b/helix-term/Cargo.toml
index fb9d48babffe..f86f1e2ee4f3 100644
--- a/helix-term/Cargo.toml
+++ b/helix-term/Cargo.toml
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ tokio-stream = "0.1"
 futures-util = { version = "0.3", features = ["std", "async-await"], default-features = false }
 arc-swap = { version = "1.7.1" }
 termini = "1"
+terminal-colorsaurus = { version = "0.4.7", default-features = false }
 
 # Logging
 fern = "0.7"
diff --git a/helix-term/src/application.rs b/helix-term/src/application.rs
index a567815fcaa6..c7e12a1629ff 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/application.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/application.rs
@@ -642,6 +642,16 @@ impl Application {
         };
         // Handle key events
         let should_redraw = match event.unwrap() {
+            CrosstermEvent::OscString(osc_string) => {
+                if let Some(color_string) = osc_string.strip_prefix(b"11;") {
+                    if let Some(color) = terminal_colorsaurus::parse::xparsecolor(color_string) {
+                        let is_light = color.perceived_lightness() >= 50;
+                        self.editor.set_status(format!("is_light = {}", is_light))
+                    }
+                }
+
+                true
+            }
             CrosstermEvent::Resize(width, height) => {
                 self.terminal
                     .resize(Rect::new(0, 0, width, height))
diff --git a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
index 5179be4f4e1c..3008825eca53 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
@@ -1332,6 +1332,7 @@ impl Component for EditorView {
         };
 
         match event {
+            Event::Noop => EventResult::Consumed(None),
             Event::Paste(contents) => {
                 self.handle_non_key_input(&mut cx);
                 cx.count = cx.editor.count;
diff --git a/helix-tui/src/backend/crossterm.rs b/helix-tui/src/backend/crossterm.rs
index e8947ee0861f..b5653977a8b3 100644
--- a/helix-tui/src/backend/crossterm.rs
+++ b/helix-tui/src/backend/crossterm.rs
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ where
                 )
             )?;
         }
+        execute!(self.buffer, QueryBackgroundColor)?;
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -462,3 +463,25 @@ impl Command for SetUnderlineColor {
         ))
     }
 }
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct QueryBackgroundColor;
+
+impl crossterm::Command for QueryBackgroundColor {
+    fn write_ansi(&self, f: &mut impl fmt::Write) -> fmt::Result {
+        f.write_str("\x1b]11;?\x07")
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    fn execute_winapi(&self) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+        Err(std::io::Error::new(
+            std::io::ErrorKind::Other,
+            "QueryBackgroundColor not supported by winapi.",
+        ))
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    fn is_ansi_code_supported(&self) -> bool {
+        true
+    }
+}
diff --git a/helix-view/src/input.rs b/helix-view/src/input.rs
index 5f5067eac9f8..e28564550376 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/input.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/input.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ pub enum Event {
     Paste(String),
     Resize(u16, u16),
     IdleTimeout,
+    Noop,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, PartialOrd, PartialEq, Eq, Clone, Copy, Hash)]
@@ -441,6 +442,7 @@ impl From<crossterm::event::Event> for Event {
             crossterm::event::Event::FocusGained => Self::FocusGained,
             crossterm::event::Event::FocusLost => Self::FocusLost,
             crossterm::event::Event::Paste(s) => Self::Paste(s),
+            crossterm::event::Event::OscString(_s) => Self::Noop,
         }
     }
 }