window:get_selection_text_for_pane(pane)

{{since('20210404-112810-b63a949d')}}

Returns the text that is currently selected within the specified pane within the specified window. This is the same text that would be copied to the clipboard if the CopyTo action were to be performed.

Why isn't this simply a method of the pane object? The reason is that the selection is an attribute of the containing window, and a given pane can potentially be mapped into multiple windows.

This example logs the current selection when a CTRL+SHIFT+E is pressed:

local wezterm = require 'wezterm'

wezterm.on('log-selection', function(window, pane)
  local sel = window:get_selection_text_for_pane(pane)
  wezterm.log_info('selection is: ' .. sel)
end)

return {
  keys = {
    {
      key = 'E',
      mods = 'CTRL',
      action = wezterm.action.EmitEvent 'log-selection',
    },
  },
}