Ctrl+Alt+L is broken after upgrading to Python 3.13

[danielzgtg]

Bug report

Bug description:

1. Open python3 for the REPL
2. Run anything like 1+2
3. Press Ctrl + Alt + L

Expended behavior from Python 3.12

The screen should be cleared with only ">>>" remaining, and the scrollbar should indicate no history.

Actual behavior on Python 3.13+

Nothing happens, and the "3" is still there.

Tested on Python 3.13.3 (main, Apr 8 2025, 19:55:40) [GCC 14.2.0] on linux and Python 3.15.0a0 (heads/main:57fef27cfc, May 25 2025, 13:55:21) [GCC 14.2.0] on linux

Note that Ctrl + L still works, but it is designed to not clear history.

CPython versions tested on:

3.13

Operating systems tested on:

Linux

[donBarbos]

I made commit and I'm ready to send PR if the core team agrees because I'm not sure it can be accepted, although it seems backwards compatible

[danielzgtg]

@donBarbos No, it should not only clear the screen. See Python 3.12 and man bash:

clear-display (M-C-l)

Clear the screen and, if possible, the terminal's scrollback buffer, then redraw the current line, leaving the current line at the top of the screen.

clear-screen (C-l)

Clear the screen, then redraw the current line, leaving the current line at the top of the screen. With an argument, refresh the current line without clearing the screen.

The behavior of these two should be different. It was a bug in Python 3.12 and below that made them the same (perhaps it's C-l that needs fixing). I'm only asking for M-C-l because I'm used to it working before. If these are going to be the same, we can support only C-l the way Node.js and PowerShell do it.