diff --git a/include/ghostty/vt/terminal.h b/include/ghostty/vt/terminal.h
index b22e8aedc..b03653129 100644
--- a/include/ghostty/vt/terminal.h
+++ b/include/ghostty/vt/terminal.h
@@ -191,6 +191,21 @@ typedef enum GHOSTTY_ENUM_TYPED {
 
   /** Scroll by a delta amount (up is negative). */
   GHOSTTY_SCROLL_VIEWPORT_DELTA,
+
+  /**
+   * Scroll to an absolute row offset from the top of the scrollable
+   * area. Row 0 is the top of the scrollback and the requested row
+   * becomes the first visible row of the viewport. The value is
+   * clamped so the viewport never scrolls beyond the top of the
+   * active area. If the terminal has no scrollback (e.g. the
+   * alternate screen is active), the viewport always remains on the
+   * active area.
+   *
+   * This is the same row space as the offset field of
+   * GhosttyTerminalScrollbar, so a scrollbar position obtained from
+   * GHOSTTY_TERMINAL_DATA_SCROLLBAR round-trips cleanly.
+   */
+  GHOSTTY_SCROLL_VIEWPORT_ROW,
   GHOSTTY_SCROLL_VIEWPORT_MAX_VALUE = GHOSTTY_ENUM_MAX_VALUE,
 } GhosttyTerminalScrollViewportTag;
 
@@ -203,6 +218,9 @@ typedef union {
   /** Scroll delta (only used with GHOSTTY_SCROLL_VIEWPORT_DELTA). Up is negative. */
   intptr_t delta;
 
+  /** Absolute row offset (only used with GHOSTTY_SCROLL_VIEWPORT_ROW). */
+  size_t row;
+
   /** Padding for ABI compatibility. Do not use. */
   uint64_t _padding[2];
 } GhosttyTerminalScrollViewportValue;
@@ -767,9 +785,16 @@ typedef enum GHOSTTY_ENUM_TYPED {
   /**
    * Scrollbar state for the terminal viewport.
    *
-   * This may be expensive to calculate depending on where the viewport
-   * is (arbitrary pins are expensive). The caller should take care to only
-   * call this as needed and not too frequently.
+   * This is amortized O(1): the total is maintained incrementally as
+   * the terminal is modified and the viewport offset is cached. The
+   * first read after the viewport moves to an arbitrary position that
+   * isn't an absolute row (e.g. scrolling to a selection) may cost
+   * O(pages) to compute the offset, after which it is cached again.
+   *
+   * There is intentionally no change notification for scroll state.
+   * Callers building scrollbars should poll this once per frame or
+   * per write batch and diff the result to detect changes; this is
+   * what Ghostty's own renderer does.
    *
    * Output type: GhosttyTerminalScrollbar *
    */
@@ -1120,7 +1145,10 @@ GHOSTTY_API void ghostty_terminal_vt_write(GhosttyTerminal terminal,
  * Scrolls the terminal's viewport according to the given behavior.
  * When using GHOSTTY_SCROLL_VIEWPORT_DELTA, set the delta field in
  * the value union to specify the number of rows to scroll (negative
- * for up, positive for down). For other behaviors, the value is ignored.
+ * for up, positive for down). When using GHOSTTY_SCROLL_VIEWPORT_ROW,
+ * set the row field to the absolute row offset from the top of the
+ * scrollable area (the same row space as the offset field of
+ * GhosttyTerminalScrollbar). For other behaviors, the value is ignored.
  *
  * @param terminal The terminal handle (may be NULL, in which case this is a no-op)
  * @param behavior The scroll behavior as a tagged union
diff --git a/src/terminal/PageList.zig b/src/terminal/PageList.zig
index c2e50a080..7562286e8 100644
--- a/src/terminal/PageList.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/PageList.zig
@@ -3012,9 +3012,11 @@ pub const Scrollbar = struct {
 
 /// Return the scrollbar state for this PageList.
 ///
-/// This may be expensive to calculate depending on where the viewport
-/// is (arbitrary pins are expensive). The caller should take care to only
-/// call this as needed and not too frequently.
+/// This is amortized O(1): the total is maintained incrementally and
+/// the viewport offset is cached. The first call after the viewport
+/// moves to an arbitrary pin (e.g. scrolling to a selection) may cost
+/// O(pages) to compute the offset, after which it is cached again.
+/// See viewportRowOffset for more details.
 pub fn scrollbar(self: *PageList) Scrollbar {
     // If we have no scrollback, special case no scrollbar.
     // We need to do this because the way PageList works is that
diff --git a/src/terminal/Terminal.zig b/src/terminal/Terminal.zig
index 0a5fa0249..30a1c93fd 100644
--- a/src/terminal/Terminal.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/Terminal.zig
@@ -1739,10 +1739,18 @@ pub const ScrollViewport = union(Tag) {
     /// Scroll by some delta amount, up is negative.
     delta: isize,
 
+    /// Scroll to the given absolute row offset from the top of the
+    /// scrollable area. A value of zero is the top row. The requested
+    /// row becomes the first visible row of the viewport, clamped so
+    /// the viewport never scrolls beyond the top of the active area.
+    /// This is the same row space as PageList.Scrollbar offset.
+    row: usize,
+
     pub const Tag = lib.Enum(lib.target, &.{
         "top",
         "bottom",
         "delta",
+        "row",
     });
 
     const c_union = lib.TaggedUnion(
@@ -1763,6 +1771,7 @@ pub fn scrollViewport(self: *Terminal, behavior: ScrollViewport) void {
         .top => .{ .top = {} },
         .bottom => .{ .active = {} },
         .delta => |delta| .{ .delta_row = delta },
+        .row => |row| .{ .row = row },
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/terminal/c/terminal.zig b/src/terminal/c/terminal.zig
index 0bacbc068..5cad1aaa8 100644
--- a/src/terminal/c/terminal.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/c/terminal.zig
@@ -543,6 +543,7 @@ pub fn scroll_viewport(
         .top => .top,
         .bottom => .bottom,
         .delta => .{ .delta = behavior.value.delta },
+        .row => .{ .row = behavior.value.row },
     });
 }
 
@@ -997,8 +998,105 @@ test "scroll_viewport" {
     }
 }
 
+test "scroll_viewport row" {
+    var t: Terminal = null;
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, new(
+        &lib.alloc.test_allocator,
+        &t,
+        .{
+            .cols = 5,
+            .rows = 2,
+            .max_scrollback = 10_000,
+        },
+    ));
+    defer free(t);
+
+    const zt = t.?.terminal;
+
+    // Write 4 rows so that rows "1" and "2" are pushed into scrollback:
+    // total rows is 4, viewport length is 2.
+    vt_write(t, "1\r\n2\r\n3\r\n4", 10);
+
+    var viewport_active: bool = false;
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, get(t, .viewport_active, @ptrCast(&viewport_active)));
+    try testing.expect(viewport_active);
+
+    // Row 0 is the top of the scrollback.
+    scroll_viewport(t, .{ .tag = .row, .value = .{ .row = 0 } });
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, get(t, .viewport_active, @ptrCast(&viewport_active)));
+    try testing.expect(!viewport_active);
+    {
+        const str = try zt.plainString(testing.allocator);
+        defer testing.allocator.free(str);
+        try testing.expectEqualStrings("1\n2", str);
+    }
+
+    // An absolute row within the scrollback becomes the first visible
+    // row and round-trips through the scrollbar offset.
+    scroll_viewport(t, .{ .tag = .row, .value = .{ .row = 1 } });
+    {
+        const str = try zt.plainString(testing.allocator);
+        defer testing.allocator.free(str);
+        try testing.expectEqualStrings("2\n3", str);
+    }
+    var scrollbar_data: TerminalScrollbar = undefined;
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, get(t, .scrollbar, @ptrCast(&scrollbar_data)));
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u64, 4), scrollbar_data.total);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u64, 1), scrollbar_data.offset);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u64, 2), scrollbar_data.len);
+
+    // A row past the end clamps to the active area.
+    scroll_viewport(t, .{ .tag = .row, .value = .{ .row = 9999 } });
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, get(t, .viewport_active, @ptrCast(&viewport_active)));
+    try testing.expect(viewport_active);
+    {
+        const str = try zt.plainString(testing.allocator);
+        defer testing.allocator.free(str);
+        try testing.expectEqualStrings("3\n4", str);
+    }
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, get(t, .scrollbar, @ptrCast(&scrollbar_data)));
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u64, 2), scrollbar_data.offset);
+}
+
+test "scroll_viewport row alt screen" {
+    var t: Terminal = null;
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, new(
+        &lib.alloc.test_allocator,
+        &t,
+        .{
+            .cols = 5,
+            .rows = 2,
+            .max_scrollback = 10_000,
+        },
+    ));
+    defer free(t);
+
+    // Enter the alternate screen, which has no scrollback.
+    vt_write(t, "\x1b[?1049h", 8);
+    var screen: TerminalScreen = undefined;
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, get(t, .active_screen, @ptrCast(&screen)));
+    try testing.expectEqual(TerminalScreen.alternate, screen);
+
+    // Scrolling to any row keeps the viewport on the active area.
+    var viewport_active: bool = false;
+    scroll_viewport(t, .{ .tag = .row, .value = .{ .row = 0 } });
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, get(t, .viewport_active, @ptrCast(&viewport_active)));
+    try testing.expect(viewport_active);
+    scroll_viewport(t, .{ .tag = .row, .value = .{ .row = 9999 } });
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, get(t, .viewport_active, @ptrCast(&viewport_active)));
+    try testing.expect(viewport_active);
+
+    // With no scrollback the scrollbar covers exactly the active area.
+    var scrollbar_data: TerminalScrollbar = undefined;
+    try testing.expectEqual(Result.success, get(t, .scrollbar, @ptrCast(&scrollbar_data)));
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u64, 2), scrollbar_data.total);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u64, 0), scrollbar_data.offset);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u64, 2), scrollbar_data.len);
+}
+
 test "scroll_viewport null" {
     scroll_viewport(null, .{ .tag = .top, .value = undefined });
+    scroll_viewport(null, .{ .tag = .row, .value = .{ .row = 1 } });
 }
 
 test "reset" {