tmux - terminal multiplexer
tmux [-2lCquvV] [-c shell-command] [-f file] [-L socket-name] [-S socket-path] [command [flags]
TMUX(1) General Commands Manual TMUX(1)
NAME
tmux - terminal multiplexer
SYNOPSIS
tmux [-2lCquvV] [-c shell-command] [-f file] [-L socket-name] [-S
socket-path] [command [flags]
DESCRIPTION
tmux is a terminal multiplexer: it enables a number of terminals to be
created, accessed, and controlled from a single screen. tmux may be
detached from a screen and continue running in the background, then
later reattached.
When tmux is started it creates a new session with a single window and
displays it on screen. A status line at the bottom of the screen shows
information on the current session and is used to enter interactive
commands.
A session is a single collection of pseudoterminals under the manage-
ment of . Each session has one or more windows linked to it. A window
occupies the entire screen and may be split into rectangular panes,
each of which is a separate pseudo terminal (the pty(7) manual page
documents the technical details of pseudo terminals). Any number of
tmux instances may connect to the same session, and any number of win-
dows may be present in the same session. Once all sessions are killed,
tmux exits.
Each session is persistent and will survive accidental disconnection
(such as ssh(1) connection timeout) or intentional detaching (with the
`C-b' d key strokes). tmux may be reattached using:
Dl $ tmux attach
In , a session is displayed on screen by a client and all sessions are
managed by a single server. The server and each client are separate
processes which communicate through a socket in /tmp.
The options are as follows:
-2 Force tmux to assume the terminal supports 256 colours.
-C Start in control mode (see the CONTROL MODE section). Given
twice ( -CC ) disables echo.
-c shell-command
Execute shell-command using the default shell. If necessary,
the tmux server will be started to retrieve the default-shell
option. This option is for compatibility with sh(1) when tmux
is used as a login shell.
-f file
Specify an alternative configuration file. By default, tmux
loads the system configuration file from /etc/tmux.conf, if
present, then looks for a user configuration file at
~/.tmux.conf.
The configuration file is a set of tmux commands which are exe-
cuted in sequence when the server is first started. tmux loads
configuration files once when the server process has started.
The source-file command may be used to load a file later.
tmux shows any error messages from commands in configuration
files in the first session created, and continues to process the
rest of the configuration file.
-L socket-name
tmux stores the server socket in a directory under TMUX_TMPDIR,
TMPDIR if it is unset, or /tmp if both are unset. The default
socket is named default. This option allows a different socket
name to be specified, allowing several independent tmux servers
to be run. Unlike -S a full path is not necessary: the sockets
are all created in the same directory.
If the socket is accidentally removed, the SIGUSR1 signal may be
sent to the tmux server process to recreate it.
-l Behave as a login shell. This flag currently has no effect and
is for compatibility with other shells when using tmux as a
login shell.
-q Set the quiet server option to prevent the server sending vari-
ous informational messages.
-S socket-path
Specify a full alternative path to the server socket. If -S is
specified, the default socket directory is not used and any -L
flag is ignored.
-u tmux attempts to guess if the terminal is likely to support
UTF-8 by checking the first of the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE and LANG
environment variables to be set for the string "UTF-8". This is
not always correct: the -u flag explicitly informs tmux that
UTF-8 is supported.
If the server is started from a client passed -u or where UTF-8
is detected, the utf8 and status-utf8 options are enabled in the
global window and session options respectively.
-v Request verbose logging. This option may be specified multiple
times for increasing verbosity. Log messages will be saved into
tmux-client-PID.log and tmux-server-PID.log files in the current
directory, where PID is the PID of the server or client process.
-V Report the tmux version.
command [flags]
This specifies one of a set of commands used to control , as
described in the following sections. If no commands are speci-
fied, the new-session command is assumed.
KEY BINDINGS
tmux may be controlled from an attached client by using a key combina-
tion of a prefix key, `C-b' (Ctrl-b) by default, followed by a command
key.
The default command key bindings are:
C-b Send the prefix key (C-b) through to the application.
C-o Rotate the panes in the current window forwards.
C-z Suspend the tmux client.
! Break the current pane out of the window.
" Split the current pane into two, top and bottom.
# List all paste buffers.
$ Rename the current session.
% Split the current pane into two, left and right.
& Kill the current window.
Prompt for a window index to select.
, Rename the current window.
- Delete the most recently copied buffer of text.
Prompt for an index to move the current window.
0 to 9 Select windows 0 to 9.
: Enter the tmux command prompt.
; Move to the previously active pane.
= Choose which buffer to paste interactively from a list.
? List all key bindings.
D Choose a client to detach.
[ Enter copy mode to copy text or view the history.
] Paste the most recently copied buffer of text.
c Create a new window.
d Detach the current client.
f Prompt to search for text in open windows.
i Display some information about the current window.
l Move to the previously selected window.
n Change to the next window.
o Select the next pane in the current window.
p Change to the previous window.
q Briefly display pane indexes.
r Force redraw of the attached client.
s Select a new session for the attached client interactively.
L Switch the attached client back to the last session.
t Show the time.
w Choose the current window interactively.
x Kill the current pane.
{ Swap the current pane with the previous pane.
} Swap the current pane with the next pane.
~ Show previous messages from , if any.
Page Up
Enter copy mode and scroll one page up.
Up, Down
Left, Right
Change to the pane above, below, to the left, or to the right of
the current pane.
M-1 to M-5
Arrange panes in one of the five preset layouts: even-horizon-
tal, even-vertical, main-horizontal, main-vertical, or tiled.
M-n Move to the next window with a bell or activity marker.
M-o Rotate the panes in the current window backwards.
M-p Move to the previous window with a bell or activity marker.
C-Up, C-Down
C-Left, C-Right
Resize the current pane in steps of one cell.
M-Up, M-Down
M-Left, M-Right
Resize the current pane in steps of five cells.
Key bindings may be changed with the bind-key and unbind-key
commands.
COMMANDS
This section contains a list of the commands supported by . Most com-
mands accept the optional -t argument with one of target-client, tar-
get-session target-window, or target-pane. These specify the client,
session, window or pane which a command should affect. target-client
is the name of the pty(7) file to which the client is connected, for
example either of /dev/ttyp1 or ttyp1 for the client attached to
/dev/ttyp1. If no client is specified, the current client is chosen,
if possible, or an error is reported. Clients may be listed with the
list-clients command.
target-session is the session id prefixed with a $, the name of a ses-
sion (as listed by the list-sessions command), or the name of a client
with the same syntax as target-client, in which case the session
attached to the client is used. When looking for the session name,
tmux initially searches for an exact match; if none is found, the ses-
sion names are checked for any for which target-session is a prefix or
for which it matches as an fnmatch(3) pattern. If a single match is
found, it is used as the target session; multiple matches produce an
error. If a session is omitted, the current session is used if avail-
able; if no current session is available, the most recently used is
chosen.
target-window specifies a window in the form session:.IRwindow. ses-
sion follows the same rules as for target-session, and window is looked
for in order: as a window index, for example mysession:1; as a window
ID, such as @1; as an exact window name, such as mysession:mywindow;
then as an fnmatch(3) pattern or the start of a window name, such as
mysession:mywin* or mysession:mywin. An empty window name specifies
the next unused index if appropriate (for example the new-window and
link-window commands) otherwise the current window in session is cho-
sen. The special character `!' uses the last (previously current)
window, `^' selects the highest numbered window, `$' selects the lowest
numbered window, and `+' and `-' select the next window or the previous
window by number. When the argument does not contain a colon, tmux
first attempts to parse it as window; if that fails, an attempt is made
to match a session.
target-pane takes a similar form to target-window but with the optional
addition of a period followed by a pane index, for example: myses-
sion:mywindow.1. If the pane index is omitted, the currently active
pane in the specified window is used. If neither a colon nor period
appears, tmux first attempts to use the argument as a pane index; if
that fails, it is looked up as for target-window. A `+' or `-' indi-
cate the next or previous pane index, respectively. One of the strings
top, bottom, left, right, top-left, top-right, bottom-left or bottom-
right may be used instead of a pane index.
The special characters `+' and `-' may be followed by an offset, for
example:
select-window -t:+2
When dealing with a session that doesn't contain sequential window
indexes, they will be correctly skipped.
tmux also gives each pane created in a server an identifier consisting
of a `%' and a number, starting from zero. A pane's identifier is
unique for the life of the tmux server and is passed to the child
process of the pane in the TMUX_PANE environment variable. It may be
used alone to target a pane or the window containing it.
shell-command arguments are sh(1) commands. These must be passed as a
single item, which typically means quoting them, for example:
new-window 'vi /etc/passwd'
command [arguments] refers to a tmux command, passed with the command
and arguments separately, for example:
bind-key F1 set-window-option force-width 81
Or if using sh(1):
$ tmux bind-key F1 set-window-option force-width 81
Multiple commands may be specified together as part of a commandse-
quence. Each command should be separated by spaces and a semicolon;
commands are executed sequentially from left to right and lines ending
with a backslash continue on to the next line, except when escaped by
another backslash. A literal semicolon may be included by escaping it
with a backslash (for example, when specifying a command sequence to
bind-key ).
Example tmux commands include:
refresh-client -t/dev/ttyp2
rename-session -tfirst newname
set-window-option -t:0 monitor-activity on
new-window ; split-window -d
bind-key R source-file ~/.tmux.conf \; \
display-message "source-file done"
Or from sh(1):
$ tmux kill-window -t :1
$ tmux new-window \; split-window -d
$ tmux new-session -d 'vi /etc/passwd' \; split-window -d \; attach
CLIENTS AND SESSIONS
The tmux server manages clients, sessions, windows and panes. Clients
are attached to sessions to interact with them, either when they are
created with the new-session command, or later with the attach-session
command. Each session has one or more windows linked into it. Windows
may be linked to multiple sessions and are made up of one or more
panes, each of which contains a pseudo terminal. Commands for creat-
ing, linking and otherwise manipulating windows are covered in the WIN-
DOWS AND PANES section.
The following commands are available to manage clients and sessions:
attach-session [-dr] [-c working-directory] [-t target-session]
D1 (alias: attach ) If run from outside , create a new client in
the current terminal and attach it to target-session. If used
from inside, switch the current client. If -d is specified, any
other clients attached to the session are detached. -r signi-
fies the client is read-only (only keys bound to the detach-
client or switch-client commands have any effect)
If no server is started, attach-session will attempt to start
it; this will fail unless sessions are created in the configura-
tion file.
The target-session rules for attach-session are slightly
adjusted: if tmux needs to select the most recently used ses-
sion, it will prefer the most recently used unattached session.
-c will set the session working directory (used for new windows)
to working-directory.
detach-client [-P] [-a] [-s target-session] [-t target-client]
D1 (alias: detach ) Detach the current client if bound to a key,
the client specified with -t, or all clients currently attached
to the session specified by -s. The -a option kills all but the
client given with -t. If -P is given, send SIGHUP to the parent
process of the client, typically causing it to exit.
has-session [Fl t target-session]
D1 (alias: has ) Report an error and exit with 1 if the speci-
fied session does not exist. If it does exist, exit with 0.
kill-server
Kill the tmux server and clients and destroy all sessions.
kill-session [-a] [-t target-session]
Destroy the given session, closing any windows linked to it and
no other sessions, and detaching all clients attached to it. If
-a is given, all sessions but the specified one is killed.
list-clients [-F format] [-t target-session]
D1 (alias: lsc ) List all clients attached to the server. For
the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section. If target-
session is specified, list only clients connected to that ses-
sion.
list-commands
D1 (alias: lscm ) List the syntax of all commands supported by .
list-sessions [Fl F format]
D1 (alias: ls ) List all sessions managed by the server. For
the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
lock-client [Fl t target-client]
D1 (alias: lockc ) Lock target-client, see the lock-server com-
mand.
lock-session [Fl t target-session]
D1 (alias: locks ) Lock all clients attached to target-session.
new-session [-AdDP] [-c start-directory] [-F format] [-n window-name]
[-s session-name] [-t target-session] [-x width] [-y height] [shell-
command]
D1 (alias: new ) Create a new session with name session-name.
The new session is attached to the current terminal unless -d is
given. window-name and shell-command are the name of and shell
command to execute in the initial window. If -d is used, -x and
-y specify the size of the initial window (80 by 24 if not
given).
If run from a terminal, any termios(3) special characters are
saved and used for new windows in the new session.
The -A flag makes new-session behave like attach-session if ses-
sion-name already exists; in the case, -D behaves like -d to
attach-session.
If -t is given, the new session is grouped with target-session.
This means they share the same set of windows - all windows from
target-session are linked to the new session and any subsequent
new windows or windows being closed are applied to both ses-
sions. The current and previous window and any session options
remain independent and either session may be killed without
affecting the other. Giving -n or shell-command are invalid if
-t is used.
The -P option prints information about the new session after it
has been created. By default, it uses the format `#{ses-
sion_name}:' but a different format may be specified with -F.
refresh-client [-S] [-t target-client]
D1 (alias: refresh ) Refresh the current client if bound to a
key, or a single client if one is given with -t. If -S is spec-
ified, only update the client's status bar.
rename-session [-t target-session] new-name
D1 (alias: rename ) Rename the session to new-name.
show-messages [-IJT] [-t target-client]
D1 (alias: showmsgs ) Show client messages or server informa-
tion. Any messages displayed on the status line are saved in a
per-client message log, up to a maximum of the limit set by the
message-limit session option for the session attached to that
client. With -t, display the log for target-client. -I, -J and
-T show debugging information about the running server, jobs and
terminals.
source-file path
D1 (alias: source ) Execute commands from path.
start-server
D1 (alias: start ) Start the tmux server, if not already run-
ning, without creating any sessions.
suspend-client [-t target-client]
D1 (alias: suspendc ) Suspend a client by sending SIGTSTP (tty
stop).
switch-client [-lnpr] [-c target-client] [-t target-session]
D1 (alias: switchc ) Switch the current session for client tar-
get-client to target-session. If -l, -n or -p is used, the
client is moved to the last, next or previous session respec-
tively. -r toggles whether a client is read-only (see the
attach-session command).
WINDOWS AND PANES
A tmux window may be in one of several modes. The default permits
direct access to the terminal attached to the window. The other is
copy mode, which permits a section of a window or its history to be
copied to a pastebuffer for later insertion into another window. This
mode is entered with the copy-mode command, bound to `[' by default.
It is also entered when a command that produces output, such as list-
keys, is executed from a key binding.
The keys available depend on whether emacs or vi mode is selected (see
the mode-keys option). The following keys are supported as appropriate
for the mode: It .B "Function" Ta Sy "vi" Ta Sy "emacs" It "Back to
indentation" Ta "^" Ta "M-m" It "Bottom of history" Ta "G" Ta "M-<" It
"Clear selection" Ta "Escape" Ta "C-g" It "Copy selection" Ta "Enter"
Ta "M-w" It "Cursor down" Ta "j" Ta "Down" It "Cursor left" Ta "h" Ta
"Left" It "Cursor right" Ta "l" Ta "Right" It "Cursor to bottom line"
Ta "L" Ta "" It "Cursor to middle line" Ta "M" Ta "M-r" It "Cursor to
top line" Ta "H" Ta "M-R" It "Cursor up" Ta "k" Ta "Up" It "Delete
entire line" Ta "d" Ta "C-u" It "Delete/Copy to end of line" Ta "D" Ta
"C-k" It "End of line" Ta "$" Ta "C-e" It "Go to line" Ta ":" Ta "g" It
"Half page down" Ta "C-d" Ta "M-Down" It "Half page up" Ta "C-u" Ta "M-
Up" It "Jump forward" Ta "f" Ta "f" It "Jump to forward" Ta "t" Ta ""
It "Jump backward" Ta "F" Ta "F" It "Jump to backward" Ta "T" Ta "" It
"Jump again" Ta ";" Ta ";" It "Jump again in reverse" Ta "," Ta "," It
"Next page" Ta "C-f" Ta "Page down" It "Next space" Ta "W" Ta "" It
"Next space, end of word" Ta "E" Ta "" It "Next word" Ta "w" Ta "" It
"Next word end" Ta "e" Ta "M-f" It "Other end of selection" Ta "o" Ta
"" It "Paste buffer" Ta "p" Ta "C-y" It "Previous page" Ta "C-b" Ta
"Page up" It "Previous word" Ta "b" Ta "M-b" It "Previous space" Ta "B"
Ta "" It "Quit mode" Ta "q" Ta "Escape" It "Rectangle toggle" Ta "v" Ta
"R" It "Scroll down" Ta "C-Down or C-e" Ta "C-Down" It "Scroll up" Ta
"C-Up or C-y" Ta "C-Up" It "Search again" Ta "n" Ta "n" It "Search
again in reverse" Ta "N" Ta "N" It "Search backward" Ta "?" Ta "C-r" It
"Search forward" Ta "/" Ta "C-s" It "Start of line" Ta "0" Ta "C-a" It
"Start selection" Ta "Space" Ta "C-Space" It "Top of history" Ta "g" Ta
"M->" It "Transpose characters" Ta "" Ta "C-t"
The next and previous word keys use space and the `-', `_' and `@'
characters as word delimiters by default, but this can be adjusted by
setting the word-separators session option. Next word moves to the
start of the next word, next word end to the end of the next word and
previous word to the start of the previous word. The three next and
previous space keys work similarly but use a space alone as the word
separator.
The jump commands enable quick movement within a line. For instance,
typing `f' followed by `/' will move the cursor to the next `/' charac-
ter on the current line. A `;' will then jump to the next occurrence.
Commands in copy mode may be prefaced by an optional repeat count.
With vi key bindings, a prefix is entered using the number keys; with
emacs, the Alt (meta) key and a number begins prefix entry. For exam-
ple, to move the cursor forward by ten words, use `M-1' 0 M-f in emacs
mode, and `10w' in vi.
When copying the selection, the repeat count indicates the buffer index
to replace, if used.
Mode key bindings are defined in a set of named tables: vi-edit and
emacs-edit for keys used when line editing at the command prompt; vi-
choice and emacs-choice for keys used when choosing from lists (such as
produced by the choose-window command); and vi-copy and emacs-copy used
in copy mode. The tables may be viewed with the list-keys command and
keys modified or removed with bind-key and unbind-key. One command
accepts an argument, copy-pipe, which copies the selection and pipes it
to a command. For example the following will bind `C-q' to copy the
selection into /tmp as well as the paste buffer:
bind-key -temacs-copy C-q copy-pipe "cat >/tmp/out"
The paste buffer key pastes the first line from the top paste buffer on
the stack.
The synopsis for the copy-mode command is:
copy-mode [-u] [-t target-pane]
Enter copy mode. The -u option scrolls one page up.
Each window displayed by tmux may be split into one or more
panes; each pane takes up a certain area of the display and is a
separate terminal. A window may be split into panes using the
split-window command. Windows may be split horizontally (with
the -h flag) or vertically. Panes may be resized with the
resize-pane command (bound to `C-up', `C-down' `C-left' and `C-
right' by default), the current pane may be changed with the
select-pane command and the rotate-window and swap-pane commands
may be used to swap panes without changing their position.
Panes are numbered beginning from zero in the order they are
created.
A number of preset layouts are available. These may be selected
with the select-layout command or cycled with next-layout (bound
to `Space' by default); once a layout is chosen, panes within it
may be moved and resized as normal.
The following layouts are supported:
even-horizontal
Panes are spread out evenly from left to right across the win-
dow.
even-vertical
Panes are spread evenly from top to bottom.
main-horizontal
A large (main) pane is shown at the top of the window and the
remaining panes are spread from left to right in the leftover
space at the bottom. Use the main-pane-height window option to
specify the height of the top pane.
main-vertical
Similar to main-horizontal but the large pane is placed on the
left and the others spread from top to bottom along the right.
See the main-pane-width window option.
tiled Panes are spread out as evenly as possible over the window in
both rows and columns.
In addition, select-layout may be used to apply a previously
used layout - the list-windows command displays the layout of
each window in a form suitable for use with select-layout. For
example:
$ tmux list-windows
0: ksh [159x48]
layout: bb62,159x48,0,0{79x48,0,0,79x48,80,0}
$ tmux select-layout bb62,159x48,0,0{79x48,0,0,79x48,80,0}
tmux automatically adjusts the size of the layout for the cur-
rent window size. Note that a layout cannot be applied to a
window with more panes than that from which the layout was orig-
inally defined.
Commands related to windows and panes are as follows:
break-pane [-dP] [-F format] [-t target-pane]
D1 (alias: breakp ) Break target-pane off from its containing
window to make it the only pane in a new window. If -d is
given, the new window does not become the current window. The
-P option prints information about the new window after it has
been created. By default, it uses the format `#{ses-
sion_name}:#{window_index}' but a different format may be speci-
fied with -F.
capture-pane [-aepPq] [-b buffer-index] [-E end-line] [-S start-line]
[-t target-pane]
D1 (alias: capturep ) Capture the contents of a pane. If -p is
given, the output goes to stdout, otherwise to the buffer speci-
fied with -b or a new buffer if omitted. If -a is given, the
alternate screen is used, and the history is not accessible. If
no alternate screen exists, an error will be returned unless -q
is given. If -e is given, the output includes escape sequences
for text and background attributes. -C also escapes non-print-
able characters as octal \xxx. -J joins wrapped lines and pre-
serves trailing spaces at each line's end. -P captures only any
output that the pane has received that is the beginning of an
as-yet incomplete escape sequence.
-S and -E specify the starting and ending line numbers, zero is
the first line of the visible pane and negative numbers are
lines in the history. The default is to capture only the visi-
ble contents of the pane.
choose-client [-F format] [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into client choice mode, allowing a client to be
selected interactively from a list. After a client is chosen,
`%%' is replaced by the client pty(7) path in template and the
result executed as a command. If template is not given,
"detach-client -t '%%'" is used. For the meaning of the -F
flag, see the FORMATS section. This command works only if at
least one client is attached.
choose-list [-l items] [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into list choice mode, allowing items to be
selected. items can be a comma-separated list to display more
than one item. If an item has spaces, that entry must be
quoted. After an item is chosen, `%%' is replaced by the chosen
item in the template and the result is executed as a command.
If template is not given, "run-shell '%%'" is used. items also
accepts format specifiers. For the meaning of this see the FOR-
MATS section. This command works only if at least one client is
attached.
choose-session [-F format] [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into session choice mode, where a session may be
selected interactively from a list. When one is chosen, `%%' is
replaced by the session name in template and the result executed
as a command. If template is not given, "switch-client -t '%%'"
is used. For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS sec-
tion. This command works only if at least one client is
attached.
choose-tree [-suw] [-b session-template] [-c window-template] [-S for-
mat] [-W format] [-t target-window]
Put a window into tree choice mode, where either sessions or
windows may be selected interactively from a list. By default,
windows belonging to a session are indented to show their rela-
tionship to a session.
Note that the choose-window and choose-session commands are
wrappers around choose-tree.
If -s is given, will show sessions. If -w is given, will show
windows.
By default, the tree is collapsed and sessions must be expanded
to windows with the right arrow key. The -u option will start
with all sessions expanded instead.
If -b is given, will override the default session command. Note
that `%%' can be used and will be replaced with the session
name. The default option if not specified is "switch-client -t
'%%'". If -c is given, will override the default window com-
mand. Like -b, `%%' can be used and will be replaced with the
session name and window index. When a window is chosen from the
list, the session command is run before the window command.
If -S is given will display the specified format instead of the
default session format. If -W is given will display the speci-
fied format instead of the default window format. For the mean-
ing of the -s and -w options, see the FORMATS section.
This command works only if at least one client is attached.
choose-window [-F format] [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into window choice mode, where a window may be cho-
sen interactively from a list. After a window is selected, `%%'
is replaced by the session name and window index in template and
the result executed as a command. If template is not given,
"select-window -t '%%'" is used. For the meaning of the -F
flag, see the FORMATS section. This command works only if at
least one client is attached.
display-panes [Fl t target-client]
D1 (alias: displayp) Display a visible indicator of each pane
shown by target-client. See the display-panes-time, display-
panes-colour, and display-panes-active-colour session options.
While the indicator is on screen, a pane may be selected with
the `0' to `9' keys.
find-window [-CNT] [-F format] [-t target-window] match-string
D1 (alias: findw ) Search for the fnmatch(3) pattern match-
string in window names, titles, and visible content (but not
history). The flags control matching behavior: -C matches only
visible window contents, -N matches only the window name and -T
matches only the window title. The default is -CNT. If only
one window is matched, it'll be automatically selected, other-
wise a choice list is shown. For the meaning of the -F flag,
see the FORMATS section. This command works only if at least
one client is attached.
join-pane [-bdhv] [-l size | -p percentage] [-s src-pane] [-t dst-
pane]
D1 (alias: joinp ) Like split-window, but instead of splitting
dst-pane and creating a new pane, split it and move src-pane
into the space. This can be used to reverse break-pane. The -b
option causes src-pane to be joined to left of or above dst-
pane.
kill-pane [-a] [-t target-pane]
D1 (alias: killp ) Destroy the given pane. If no panes remain
in the containing window, it is also destroyed. The -a option
kills all but the pane given with -t.
kill-window [-a] [-t target-window]
D1 (alias: killw ) Kill the current window or the window at tar-
get-window, removing it from any sessions to which it is linked.
The -a option kills all but the window given with -t.
last-pane [Fl t target-window]
D1 (alias: lastp ) Select the last (previously selected) pane.
last-window [Fl t target-session]
D1 (alias: last ) Select the last (previously selected) window.
If no target-session is specified, select the last window of the
current session.
link-window [-dk] [-s src-window] [-t dst-window]
D1 (alias: linkw ) Link the window at src-window to the speci-
fied dst-window. If dst-window is specified and no such window
exists, the src-window is linked there. If -k is given and dst-
window exists, it is killed, otherwise an error is generated.
If -d is given, the newly linked window is not selected.
list-panes [-as] [-F format] [-t target]
D1 (alias: lsp ) If -a is given, target is ignored and all panes
on the server are listed. If -s is given, target is a session
(or the current session). If neither is given, target is a win-
dow (or the current window). For the meaning of the -F flag,
see the FORMATS section.
list-windows [-a] [-F format] [-t target-session]
D1 (alias: lsw ) If -a is given, list all windows on the server.
Otherwise, list windows in the current session or in target-ses-
sion. For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
move-pane [-bdhv] [-l size | -p percentage] [-s src-pane] [-t dst-
pane]
D1 (alias: movep ) Like join-pane, but src-pane and dst-pane may
belong to the same window.
move-window [-rdk] [-s src-window] [-t dst-window]
D1 (alias: movew ) This is similar to link-window, except the
window at src-window is moved to dst-window. With -r, all win-
dows in the session are renumbered in sequential order, respect-
ing the base-index option.
new-window [-adkP] [-c start-directory] [-F format] [-n window-name]
[-t target-window] [shell-command]
D1 (alias: neww ) Create a new window. With -a, the new window
is inserted at the next index up from the specified target-win-
dow, moving windows up if necessary, otherwise target-window is
the new window location.
If -d is given, the session does not make the new window the
current window. target-window represents the window to be cre-
ated; if the target already exists an error is shown, unless the
-k flag is used, in which case it is destroyed. shell-command
is the command to execute. If shell-command is not specified,
the value of the default-command option is used. -c specifies
the working directory in which the new window is created.
When the shell command completes, the window closes. See the
remain-on-exit option to change this behaviour.
The TERM environment variable must be set to ``screen'' for all
programs running inside . New windows will automatically have
``TERM=screen'' added to their environment, but care must be
taken not to reset this in shell start-up files.
The -P option prints information about the new window after it
has been created. By default, it uses the format `#{ses-
sion_name}:#{window_index}' but a different format may be speci-
fied with -F.
next-layout [Fl t target-window]
D1 (alias: nextl ) Move a window to the next layout and rear-
range the panes to fit.
next-window [-a] [-t target-session]
D1 (alias: next ) Move to the next window in the session. If -a
is used, move to the next window with an alert.
pipe-pane [-o] [-t target-pane] [shell-command]
D1 (alias: pipep ) Pipe any output sent by the program in tar-
get-pane to a shell command. A pane may only be piped to one
command at a time, any existing pipe is closed before shell-com-
mand is executed. The shell-command string may contain the spe-
cial character sequences supported by the status-left option.
If no shell-command is given, the current pipe (if any) is
closed.
The -o option only opens a new pipe if no previous pipe exists,
allowing a pipe to be toggled with a single key, for example:
bind-key C-p pipe-pane -o 'cat >>~/output.#I-#P'
previous-layout [-t target-window]
D1 (alias: prevl ) Move to the previous layout in the session.
previous-window [-a] [-t target-session]
D1 (alias: prev ) Move to the previous window in the session.
With -a, move to the previous window with an alert.
rename-window [-t target-window] new-name
D1 (alias: renamew ) Rename the current window, or the window at
target-window if specified, to new-name.
resize-pane [-DLRUZ] [-t target-pane] [-x width] [-y height] [adjust-
ment]
D1 (alias: resizep ) Resize a pane, up, down, left or right by
adjustment with -U, -D, -L or -R, or to an absolute size with -x
or -y. The adjustment is given in lines or cells (the default
is 1).
With -Z, the active pane is toggled between zoomed (occupying
the whole of the window) and unzoomed (its normal position in
the layout).
respawn-pane [-k] [-t target-pane] [shell-command]
D1 (alias: respawnp ) Reactivate a pane in which the command has
exited (see the remain-on-exit window option). If shell-command
is not given, the command used when the pane was created is exe-
cuted. The pane must be already inactive, unless -k is given,
in which case any existing command is killed.
respawn-window [-k] [-t target-window] [shell-command]
D1 (alias: respawnw ) Reactivate a window in which the command
has exited (see the remain-on-exit window option). If shell-
command is not given, the command used when the window was cre-
ated is executed. The window must be already inactive, unless
-k is given, in which case any existing command is killed.
rotate-window [-DU] [-t target-window]
D1 (alias: rotatew ) Rotate the positions of the panes within a
window, either upward (numerically lower) with -U or downward
(numerically higher).
select-layout [-np] [-t target-window] [layout-name]
D1 (alias: selectl ) Choose a specific layout for a window. If
layout-name is not given, the last preset layout used (if any)
is reapplied. -n and -p are equivalent to the next-layout and
previous-layout commands.
select-pane [-lDLRU] [-t target-pane]
D1 (alias: selectp ) Make pane target-pane the active pane in
window target-window. If one of -D, -L, -R, or -U is used,
respectively the pane below, to the left, to the right, or above
the target pane is used. -l is the same as using the last-pane
command.
select-window [-lnpT] [-t target-window]
D1 (alias: selectw ) Select the window at target-window. -l, -n
and -p are equivalent to the last-window, next-window and previ-
ous-window commands. If -T is given and the selected window is
already the current window, the command behaves like last-win-
dow.
split-window [-dhvP] [-c start-directory] [-l size | -p percentage]
[-t target-pane] [shell-command] [-F format]
D1 (alias: splitw ) Create a new pane by splitting target-pane :
-h does a horizontal split and -v a vertical split; if neither
is specified, -v is assumed. The -l and -p options specify the
size of the new pane in lines (for vertical split) or in cells
(for horizontal split), or as a percentage, respectively. All
other options have the same meaning as for the new-window com-
mand.
swap-pane [-dDU] [-s src-pane] [-t dst-pane]
D1 (alias: swapp ) Swap two panes. If -U is used and no source
pane is specified with -s, dst-pane is swapped with the previous
pane (before it numerically); -D swaps with the next pane (after
it numerically). -d instructs tmux not to change the active
pane.
swap-window [-d] [-s src-window] [-t dst-window]
D1 (alias: swapw ) This is similar to link-window, except the
source and destination windows are swapped. It is an error if
no window exists at src-window.
unlink-window [-k] [-t target-window]
D1 (alias: unlinkw ) Unlink target-window. Unless -k is given,
a window may be unlinked only if it is linked to multiple ses-
sions - windows may not be linked to no sessions; if -k is spec-
ified and the window is linked to only one session, it is
unlinked and destroyed.
KEY BINDINGS
tmux allows a command to be bound to most keys, with or without a pre-
fix key. When specifying keys, most represent themselves (for example
`A' to `Z' ) . Ctrl keys may be prefixed with `C-' or `^', and Alt
(meta) with `M-'. In addition, the following special key names are
accepted: Up, Down, Left, Right, BSpace, BTab, DC (Delete), End, Enter,
Escape, F1 to F20, Home, IC (Insert), NPage/PageDown/PgDn,
PPage/PageUp/PgUp, Space, and Tab. Note that to bind the `"' or `''
keys, quotation marks are necessary, for example:
bind-key '"' split-window
bind-key "'" new-window
Commands related to key bindings are as follows:
bind-key [-cnr] [-t key-table] key command [arguments]
D1 (alias: bind ) Bind key key to command. By default (without
-t ) the primary key bindings are modified (those normally acti-
vated with the prefix key); in this case, if -n is specified, it
is not necessary to use the prefix key, command is bound to key
alone. The -r flag indicates this key may repeat, see the
repeat-time option.
If -t is present, key is bound in key-table : the binding for
command mode with -c or for normal mode without. To view the
default bindings and possible commands, see the list-keys com-
mand.
list-keys [Fl t key-table]
D1 (alias: lsk ) List all key bindings. Without -t the primary
key bindings - those executed when preceded by the prefix key -
are printed.
With -t, the key bindings in key-table are listed; this may be
one of: vi-edit, emacs-edit, vi-choice, emacs-choice, vi-copy or
emacs-copy.
send-keys [-lR] [-t target-pane] key ...
D1 (alias: send ) Send a key or keys to a window. Each argument
key is the name of the key (such as `C-a' or `npage' ) to send;
if the string is not recognised as a key, it is sent as a series
of characters. The -l flag disables key name lookup and sends
the keys literally. All arguments are sent sequentially from
first to last. The -R flag causes the terminal state to be
reset.
send-prefix [-2] [-t target-pane]
Send the prefix key, or with -2 the secondary prefix key, to a
window as if it was pressed.
unbind-key [-acn] [-t key-table] key
D1 (alias: unbind ) Unbind the command bound to key. Without -t
the primary key bindings are modified; in this case, if -n is
specified, the command bound to key without a prefix (if any) is
removed. If -a is present, all key bindings are removed.
If -t is present, key in key-table is unbound: the binding for
command mode with -c or for normal mode without.
OPTIONS
The appearance and behaviour of tmux may be modified by changing the
value of various options. There are three types of option: serverop-
tions, sessionoptions and windowoptions.
The tmux server has a set of global options which do not apply to any
particular window or session. These are altered with the set-option -s
command, or displayed with the show-options -s command.
In addition, each individual session may have a set of session options,
and there is a separate set of global session options. Sessions which
do not have a particular option configured inherit the value from the
global session options. Session options are set or unset with the set-
option command and may be listed with the show-options command. The
available server and session options are listed under the set-option
command.
Similarly, a set of window options is attached to each window, and
there is a set of global window options from which any unset options
are inherited. Window options are altered with the set-window-option
command and can be listed with the show-window-options command. All
window options are documented with the set-window-option command.
tmux also supports user options which are prefixed with a `@'. User
options may have any name, so long as they are prefixed with `@', and
be set to any string. For example
$ tmux setw -q @foo "abc123"
$ tmux showw -v @foo
abc123
Commands which set options are as follows:
set-option [-agoqsuw] [-t target-session | Ar target-window] option
value
D1 (alias: set ) Set a window option with -w (equivalent to the
set-window-option command), a server option with -s, otherwise a
session option.
If -g is specified, the global session or window option is set.
The -u flag unsets an option, so a session inherits the option
from the global options. It is not possible to unset a global
option.
The -o flag prevents setting an option that is already set.
The -q flag suppresses the informational message (as if the
quiet server option was set).
With -a, and if the option expects a string or a style, value is
appended to the existing setting. For example:
set -g status-left "foo"
set -ag status-left "bar"
Will result in `foobar'. And:
set -g status-style "bg=red"
set -ag status-style "fg=blue"
Will result in a red background and blue foreground. Without
-a, the result would be the default background and a blue fore-
ground.
Available window options are listed under set-window-option.
value depends on the option and may be a number, a string, or a
flag (on, off, or omitted to toggle).
Available server options are:
buffer-limit number
Set the number of buffers; as new buffers are added to the top
of the stack, old ones are removed from the bottom if necessary
to maintain this maximum length.
escape-time time
Set the time in milliseconds for which tmux waits after an
escape is input to determine if it is part of a function or meta
key sequences. The default is 500 milliseconds.
exit-unattached [on | off]
If enabled, the server will exit when there are no attached
clients.
focus-events [on | off]
When enabled, focus events are requested from the terminal if
supported and passed through to applications running in .
Attached clients should be detached and attached again after
changing this option.
quiet [on | off]
Enable or disable the display of various informational messages
(see also the -q command line flag).
set-clipboard [on | off]
Attempt to set the terminal clipboard content using the
\e]52;...\007 xterm(1) escape sequences. This option is on by
default if there is an Ms entry in the terminfo(5) description
for the client terminal. Note that this feature needs to be
enabled in xterm(1) by setting the resource:
disallowedWindowOps: 20,21,SetXprop
Or changing this property from the xterm(1) interactive menu
when required.
Available session options are:
assume-paste-time milliseconds
If keys are entered faster than one in milliseconds, they are
assumed to have been pasted rather than typed and tmux key bind-
ings are not processed. The default is one millisecond and zero
disables.
base-index index
Set the base index from which an unused index should be searched
when a new window is created. The default is zero.
bell-action [any | none | current]
Set action on window bell. any means a bell in any window
linked to a session causes a bell in the current window of that
session, none means all bells are ignored and current means only
bells in windows other than the current window are ignored.
bell-on-alert [on | off]
If on, ring the terminal bell when an alert occurs.
default-command shell-command
Set the command used for new windows (if not specified when the
window is created) to shell-command, which may be any sh(1) com-
mand. The default is an empty string, which instructs tmux to
create a login shell using the value of the default-shell
option.
default-shell path
Specify the default shell. This is used as the login shell for
new windows when the default-command option is set to empty, and
must be the full path of the executable. When started tmux
tries to set a default value from the first suitable of the
SHELL environment variable, the shell returned by getpwuid(3),
or /bin/sh. This option should be configured when tmux is used
as a login shell.
default-terminal terminal
Set the default terminal for new windows created in this session
- the default value of the TERM environment variable. For tmux
to work correctly, this must be set to `screen' or a derivative
of it.
destroy-unattached [on | off]
If enabled and the session is no longer attached to any clients,
it is destroyed.
detach-on-destroy [on | off]
If on (the default), the client is detached when the session it
is attached to is destroyed. If off, the client is switched to
the most recently active of the remaining sessions.
display-panes-active-colour colour
Set the colour used by the display-panes command to show the
indicator for the active pane.
display-panes-colour colour
Set the colour used by the display-panes command to show the
indicators for inactive panes.
display-panes-time time
Set the time in milliseconds for which the indicators shown by
the display-panes command appear.
display-time time
Set the amount of time for which status line messages and other
on-screen indicators are displayed. time is in milliseconds.
history-limit lines
Set the maximum number of lines held in window history. This
setting applies only to new windows - existing window histories
are not resized and retain the limit at the point they were cre-
ated.
lock-after-time number
Lock the session (like the lock-session command) after number
seconds of inactivity, or the entire server (all sessions) if
the lock-server option is set. The default is not to lock (set
to 0).
lock-command shell-command
Command to run when locking each client. The default is to run
lock(1) with -np.
lock-server [on | off]
If this option is on (the default), instead of each session
locking individually as each has been idle for lock-after-time,
the entire server will lock after all sessions would have
locked. This has no effect as a session option; it must be set
as a global option.
message-command-style style
Set status line message command style, where style is a comma-
separated list of characteristics to be specified.
These may be `bg=colour' to set the background colour,
`fg=colour' to set the foreground colour, and a list of
attributes as specified below.
The colour is one of: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta,
cyan, white, aixterm bright variants (if supported: brightred,
brightgreen, and so on), colour0 to colour255 from the
256-colour set, default, or a hexadecimal RGB string such as
`#ffffff', which chooses the closest match from the default
256-colour set.
The attributes is either none or a comma-delimited list of one
or more of: bright (or bold ), dim, underscore, blink, reverse,
hidden, or italics, to turn an attribute on, or an attribute
prefixed with `no' to turn one off.
Examples are:
fg=yellow,bold,underscore,blink
bg=black,fg=default,noreverse
With the -a flag to the set-option command the new style is
added otherwise the existing style is replaced.
message-limit number
Set the number of error or information messages to save in the
message log for each client. The default is 20.
message-style style
Set status line message style. For how to specify style, see
the message-command-style option.
mouse-resize-pane [on | off]
If on, tmux captures the mouse and allows panes to be resized by
dragging on their borders.
mouse-select-pane [on | off]
If on, tmux captures the mouse and when a window is split into
multiple panes the mouse may be used to select the current pane.
The mouse click is also passed through to the application as
normal.
mouse-select-window [on | off]
If on, clicking the mouse on a window name in the status line
will select that window.
mouse-utf8 [on | off]
If enabled, request mouse input as UTF-8 on UTF-8 terminals.
pane-active-border-style style
Set the pane border style for the currently active pane. For
how to specify style, see the message-command-style option.
Attributes are ignored.
pane-border-style style
Set the pane border style for paneas aside from the active pane.
For how to specify style, see the message-command-style option.
Attributes are ignored.
prefix key
Set the key accepted as a prefix key.
prefix2 key
Set a secondary key accepted as a prefix key.
renumber-windows [on | off]
If on, when a window is closed in a session, automatically
renumber the other windows in numerical order. This respects
the base-index option if it has been set. If off, do not renum-
ber the windows.
repeat-time time
Allow multiple commands to be entered without pressing the pre-
fix-key again in the specified time milliseconds (the default is
500). Whether a key repeats may be set when it is bound using
the -r flag to bind-key. Repeat is enabled for the default keys
bound to the resize-pane command.
set-remain-on-exit [on | off]
Set the remain-on-exit window option for any windows first cre-
ated in this session. When this option is true, windows in
which the running program has exited do not close, instead
remaining open but inactivate. Use the respawn-window command
to reactivate such a window, or the kill-window command to
destroy it.
set-titles [on | off]
Attempt to set the client terminal title using the tsl and fsl
terminfo(5) entries if they exist. tmux automatically sets
these to the \e]2;...\007 sequence if the terminal appears to be
an xterm. This option is off by default. Note that elinks will
only attempt to set the window title if the STY environment
variable is set.
set-titles-string string
String used to set the window title if set-titles is on. Char-
acter sequences are replaced as for the status-left option.
status [on | off]
Show or hide the status line.
status-interval interval
Update the status bar every interval seconds. By default,
updates will occur every 15 seconds. A setting of zero disables
redrawing at interval.
status-justify [left | centre | right]
Set the position of the window list component of the status
line: left, centre or right justified.
status-keys [vi | emacs]
Use vi or emacs-style key bindings in the status line, for exam-
ple at the command prompt. The default is emacs, unless the
VISUAL or EDITOR environment variables are set and contain the
string `vi'.
status-left string
Display string (by default the session name) to the left of the
status bar. string will be passed through strftime(3) and for-
mats (see FORMATS ) will be expanded. It may also contain any
of the following special character sequences:
Character pair Ta Sy Replaced with
"#(shell-command)" Ta "First line of the command's output"
"#[attributes]" Ta "Colour or attribute change"
"##" Ta "A literal"`#'
The #(shell-command) form executes `shell-command' and inserts
the first line of its output. Note that shell commands are only
executed once at the interval specified by the status-interval
option: if the status line is redrawn in the meantime, the pre-
vious result is used. Shell commands are executed with the tmux
global environment set (see the ENVIRONMENT section).
For details on how the names and titles can be set see the NAMES
AND TITLES section. For a list of allowed attributes see the
message-command-style option.
Examples are:
#(sysctl vm.loadavg)
#[fg=yellow,bold]#(apm -l)%%#[default] [#S]
Where appropriate, special character sequences may be prefixed
with a number to specify the maximum length, for example `#24T'.
By default, UTF-8 in string is not interpreted, to enable UTF-8,
use the status-utf8 option.
status-left-length length
Set the maximum length of the left component of the status bar.
The default is 10.
status-left-style style
Set the style of the left part of the status line. For how to
specify style, see the message-command-style option.
status-position [top | bottom]
Set the position of the status line.
status-right string
Display string to the right of the status bar. By default, the
current window title in double quotes, the date and the time are
shown. As with status-left, string will be passed to strf-
time(3), character pairs are replaced, and UTF-8 is dependent on
the status-utf8 option.
status-right-length length
Set the maximum length of the right component of the status bar.
The default is 40.
status-right-style style
Set the style of the right part of the status line. For how to
specify style, see the message-command-style option.
status-style style
Set status line style. For how to specify style, see the mes-
sage-command-style option.
status-utf8 [on | off]
Instruct tmux to treat top-bit-set characters in the status-left
and status-right strings as UTF-8; notably, this is important
for wide characters. This option defaults to off.
terminal-overrides string
Contains a list of entries which override terminal descriptions
read using terminfo(5). string is a comma-separated list of
items each a colon-separated string made up of a terminal type
pattern (matched using fnmatch(3)) and a set of name=value
entries.
For example, to set the `clear' terminfo(5) entry to `\e[H\e[2J'
for all terminal types and the `dch1' entry to `\e[P' for the
`rxvt' terminal type, the option could be set to the string:
"*:clear=\e[H\e[2J,rxvt:dch1=\e[P"
The terminal entry value is passed through strunvis(3) before
interpretation. The default value forcibly corrects the `col-
ors' entry for terminals which support 256 colours:
"*256col*:colors=256,xterm*:XT"
update-environment variables
Set a space-separated string containing a list of environment
variables to be copied into the session environment when a new
session is created or an existing session is attached. Any
variables that do not exist in the source environment are set to
be removed from the session environment (as if -r was given to
the set-environment command). The default is "DISPLAY
SSH_ASKPASS SSH_AUTH_SOCK SSH_AGENT_PID SSH_CONNECTION WINDOWID
XAUTHORITY".
visual-activity [on | off]
If on, display a status line message when activity occurs in a
window for which the monitor-activity window option is enabled.
visual-bell [on | off]
If this option is on, a message is shown on a bell instead of it
being passed through to the terminal (which normally makes a
sound). Also see the bell-action option.
visual-content [on | off]
Like visual-activity, display a message when content is present
in a window for which the monitor-content window option is
enabled.
visual-silence [on | off]
If monitor-silence is enabled, prints a message after the inter-
val has expired on a given window.
word-separators string
Sets the session's conception of what characters are considered
word separators, for the purposes of the next and previous word
commands in copy mode. The default is `' -_@ .
set-window-option [-agoqu] [-t target-window] option value
D1 (alias: setw ) Set a window option. The -a, -g, -o, -q and
-u flags work similarly to the set-option command.
Supported window options are:
aggressive-resize [on | off]
Aggressively resize the chosen window. This means that tmux
will resize the window to the size of the smallest session for
which it is the current window, rather than the smallest session
to which it is attached. The window may resize when the current
window is changed on another sessions; this option is good for
full-screen programs which support SIGWINCH and poor for inter-
active programs such as shells.
allow-rename [on | off]
Allow programs to change the window name using a terminal escape
sequence (\033k...\033\\). The default is on.
alternate-screen [on | off]
This option configures whether programs running inside tmux may
use the terminal alternate screen feature, which allows the
smcup and rmcup terminfo(5) capabilities. The alternate screen
feature preserves the contents of the window when an interactive
application starts and restores it on exit, so that any output
visible before the application starts reappears unchanged after
it exits. The default is on.
automatic-rename [on | off]
Control automatic window renaming. When this setting is
enabled, tmux will rename the window automatically using the
format specified by automatic-rename-format. This flag is auto-
matically disabled for an individual window when a name is spec-
ified at creation with new-window or new-session, or later with
rename-window, or with a terminal escape sequence. It may be
switched off globally with:
set-window-option -g automatic-rename off
automatic-rename-format format
The format (see FORMATS ) used when the automatic-rename option
is enabled.
c0-change-interval interval
c0-change-trigger trigger
These two options configure a simple form of rate limiting for a
pane. If tmux sees more than trigger C0 sequences that modify
the screen (for example, carriage returns, linefeeds or
backspaces) in one millisecond, it will stop updating the pane
immediately and instead redraw it entirely every interval mil-
liseconds. This helps to prevent fast output (such as yes(1))
overwhelming the terminal. The default is a trigger of 250 and
an interval of 100. A trigger of zero disables the rate limit-
ing.
clock-mode-colour colour
Set clock colour.
clock-mode-style [12 | 24]
Set clock hour format.
force-height height
force-width width
Prevent tmux from resizing a window to greater than width or
height. A value of zero restores the default unlimited setting.
main-pane-height height
main-pane-width width
Set the width or height of the main (left or top) pane in the
main-horizontal or main-vertical layouts.
mode-keys [vi | emacs]
Use vi or emacs-style key bindings in copy and choice modes. As
with the status-keys option, the default is emacs, unless VISUAL
or EDITOR contains `vi'.
mode-mouse [on | off | copy-mode]
Mouse state in modes. If on, the mouse may be used to enter
copy mode and copy a selection by dragging, to enter copy mode
and scroll with the mouse wheel, or to select an option in
choice mode. If set to copy-mode, the mouse behaves as set to
on, but cannot be used to enter copy mode.
mode-style style
Set window modes style. For how to specify style, see the mes-
sage-command-style option.
monitor-activity [on | off]
Monitor for activity in the window. Windows with activity are
highlighted in the status line.
monitor-content match-string
Monitor content in the window. When fnmatch(3) pattern match-
string appears in the window, it is highlighted in the status
line.
monitor-silence [interval]
Monitor for silence (no activity) in the window within interval
seconds. Windows that have been silent for the interval are
highlighted in the status line. An interval of zero disables
the monitoring.
other-pane-height height
Set the height of the other panes (not the main pane) in the
main-horizontal layout. If this option is set to 0 (the
default), it will have no effect. If both the main-pane-height
and other-pane-height options are set, the main pane will grow
taller to make the other panes the specified height, but will
never shrink to do so.
other-pane-width width
Like other-pane-height, but set the width of other panes in the
main-vertical layout.
pane-base-index index
Like base-index, but set the starting index for pane numbers.
remain-on-exit [on | off]
A window with this flag set is not destroyed when the program
running in it exits. The window may be reactivated with the
respawn-window command.
synchronize-panes [on | off]
Duplicate input to any pane to all other panes in the same win-
dow (only for panes that are not in any special mode).
utf8 [on | off]
Instructs tmux to expect UTF-8 sequences to appear in this win-
dow.
window-status-activity-style style
Set status line style for windows with an activity alert. For
how to specify style, see the message-command-style option.
window-status-bell-style style
Set status line style for windows with a bell alert. For how to
specify style, see the message-command-style option.
window-status-content-style style
Set status line style for windows with a content alert. For how
to specify style, see the message-command-style option.
window-status-current-format string
Like window-status-format, but is the format used when the win-
dow is the current window.
window-status-current-style style
Set status line style for the currently active window. For how
to specify style, see the message-command-style option.
window-status-format string
Set the format in which the window is displayed in the status
line window list. See the status-left option for details of
special character sequences available. The default is
`#I:#W#F'.
window-status-last-style style
Set status line style for the last active window. For how to
specify style, see the message-command-style option.
window-status-separator string
Sets the separator drawn between windows in the status line.
The default is a single space character.
window-status-style style
Set status line style for a single window. For how to specify
style, see the message-command-style option.
xterm-keys [on | off]
If this option is set, tmux will generate xterm(1)-style func-
tion key sequences; these have a number included to indicate
modifiers such as Shift, Alt or Ctrl. The default is off.
wrap-search [on | off]
If this option is set, searches will wrap around the end of the
pane contents. The default is on.
show-options [-gqsvw] [-t target-session | Ar target-window] [option]
D1 (alias: show ) Show the window options (or a single window
option if given) with -w (equivalent to show-window-options ),
the server options with -s, otherwise the session options for
target session . Global session or window options are listed if
-g is used. -v shows only the option value, not the name. If
-q is set, no error will be returned if option is unset.
show-window-options [-gv] [-t target-window] [option]
D1 (alias: showw ) List the window options or a single option
for target-window, or the global window options if -g is used.
-v shows only the option value, not the name.
FORMATS
Certain commands accept the -F flag with a format argument. This is a
string which controls the output format of the command. Replacement
variables are enclosed in `#{' and `}', for example `#{session_name}'.
Some variables also have an shorter alias such as `#S'. `##' is
replaced by a single `#'. Conditionals are also accepted by prefixing
with `?' and separating two alternatives with a comma; if the speci-
fied variable exists and is not zero, the first alternative is chosen,
otherwise the second is used. For example `#{?ses-
sion_attached,attached,not' attached} will include the string
`attached' if the session is attached and the string `not' attached if
it is unattached. A limit may be placed on the length of the resultant
string by prefixing it by an `=', a number and a colon, so
`#{=10:pane_title}' will include at most the first 10 characters of the
pane title.
The following variables are available, where appropriate:
Variable name Ta Sy Alias Ta Sy Replaced with
"alternate_on" Ta "" Ta "If pane is in alternate screen"
"alternate_saved_x" Ta "" Ta "Saved cursor X in alternate screen"
"alternate_saved_y" Ta "" Ta "Saved cursor Y in alternate screen"
"buffer_sample" Ta "" Ta "First 50 characters from buffer"
"buffer_size" Ta "" Ta "Size of the specified buffer in bytes"
"client_activity" Ta "" Ta "Integer time client last had activity"
"client_activity_string" Ta "" Ta "String time client last had activ-
ity"
"client_created" Ta "" Ta "Integer time client created"
"client_created_string" Ta "" Ta "String time client created"
"client_height" Ta "" Ta "Height of client"
"client_last_session" Ta "" Ta "Name of the client's last session"
"client_prefix" Ta "" Ta "1 if prefix key has been pressed"
"client_readonly" Ta "" Ta "1 if client is readonly"
"client_session" Ta "" Ta "Name of the client's session"
"client_termname" Ta "" Ta "Terminal name of client"
"client_tty" Ta "" Ta "Pseudo terminal of client"
"client_utf8" Ta "" Ta "1 if client supports utf8"
"client_width" Ta "" Ta "Width of client"
"cursor_flag" Ta "" Ta "Pane cursor flag"
"cursor_x" Ta "" Ta "Cursor X position in pane"
"cursor_y" Ta "" Ta "Cursor Y position in pane"
"history_bytes" Ta "" Ta "Number of bytes in window history"
"history_limit" Ta "" Ta "Maximum window history lines"
"history_size" Ta "" Ta "Size of history in bytes"
"host" Ta "#H" Ta "Hostname of local host"
"host_short" Ta "#h" Ta "Hostname of local host (no domain name)"
"insert_flag" Ta "" Ta "Pane insert flag"
"keypad_cursor_flag" Ta "" Ta "Pane keypad cursor flag"
"keypad_flag" Ta "" Ta "Pane keypad flag"
"line" Ta "" Ta "Line number in the list"
"mouse_any_flag" Ta "" Ta "Pane mouse any flag"
"mouse_button_flag" Ta "" Ta "Pane mouse button flag"
"mouse_standard_flag" Ta "" Ta "Pane mouse standard flag"
"mouse_utf8_flag" Ta "" Ta "Pane mouse UTF-8 flag"
"pane_active" Ta "" Ta "1 if active pane"
"pane_current_command" Ta "" Ta "Current command if available"
"pane_current_path" Ta "" Ta "Current path if available"
"pane_dead" Ta "" Ta "1 if pane is dead"
"pane_height" Ta "" Ta "Height of pane"
"pane_id" Ta "#D" Ta "Unique pane ID"
"pane_in_mode" Ta "" Ta "If pane is in a mode"
"pane_synchronized" Ta "" Ta "If pane is synchronized"
"pane_index" Ta "#P" Ta "Index of pane"
"pane_pid" Ta "" Ta "PID of first process in pane"
"pane_start_command" Ta "" Ta "Command pane started with"
"pane_start_path" Ta "" Ta "Path pane started with"
"pane_tabs" Ta "" Ta "Pane tab positions"
"pane_title" Ta "#T" Ta "Title of pane"
"pane_tty" Ta "" Ta "Pseudo terminal of pane"
"pane_width" Ta "" Ta "Width of pane"
"saved_cursor_x" Ta "" Ta "Saved cursor X in pane"
"saved_cursor_y" Ta "" Ta "Saved cursor Y in pane"
"scroll_region_lower" Ta "" Ta "Bottom of scroll region in pane"
"scroll_region_upper" Ta "" Ta "Top of scroll region in pane"
"session_attached" Ta "" Ta "1 if session attached"
"session_created" Ta "" Ta "Integer time session created"
"session_created_string" Ta "" Ta "String time session created"
"session_group" Ta "" Ta "Number of session group"
"session_grouped" Ta "" Ta "1 if session in a group"
"session_height" Ta "" Ta "Height of session"
"session_id" Ta "" Ta "Unique session ID"
"session_name" Ta "#S" Ta "Name of session"
"session_width" Ta "" Ta "Width of session"
"session_windows" Ta "" Ta "Number of windows in session"
"window_active" Ta "" Ta "1 if window active"
"window_activity_flag" Ta "" Ta "1 if window has activity alert"
"window_bell_flag" Ta "" Ta "1 if window has bell"
"window_content_flag" Ta "" Ta "1 if window has content alert"
"window_find_matches" Ta "" Ta "Matched data from the find-window"
"window_flags" Ta "#F" Ta "Window flags"
"window_height" Ta "" Ta "Height of window"
"window_id" Ta "" Ta "Unique window ID"
"window_index" Ta "#I" Ta "Index of window"
"window_layout" Ta "" Ta "Window layout description"
"window_name" Ta "#W" Ta "Name of window"
"window_panes" Ta "" Ta "Number of panes in window"
"window_silence_flag" Ta "" Ta "1 if window has silence alert"
"window_width" Ta "" Ta "Width of window"
"wrap_flag" Ta "" Ta "Pane wrap flag"
NAMES AND TITLES
tmux distinguishes between names and titles. Windows and sessions have
names, which may be used to specify them in targets and are displayed
in the status line and various lists: the name is the tmux identifier
for a window or session. Only panes have titles. A pane's title is
typically set by the program running inside the pane and is not modi-
fied by . It is the same mechanism used to set for example the
xterm(1) window title in an X(7) window manager. Windows themselves do
not have titles - a window's title is the title of its active pane.
tmux itself may set the title of the terminal in which the client is
running, see the set-titles option.
A session's name is set with the new-session and rename-session com-
mands. A window's name is set with one of:
1. A command argument (such as -n for new-window or new-session ).
2. An escape sequence:
$ printf '\033kWINDOW_NAME\033\\'
3. Automatic renaming, which sets the name to the active command in
the window's active pane. See the automatic-rename option.
When a pane is first created, its title is the hostname. A
pane's title can be set via the OSC title setting sequence, for
example:
$ printf '\033]2;My Title\033\\'
ENVIRONMENT
When the server is started, tmux copies the environment into the glob-
alenvironment; in addition, each session has a sessionenvironment.
When a window is created, the session and global environments are
merged. If a variable exists in both, the value from the session envi-
ronment is used. The result is the initial environment passed to the
new process.
The update-environment session option may be used to update the session
environment from the client when a new session is created or an old
reattached. tmux also initialises the TMUX variable with some internal
information to allow commands to be executed from inside, and the TERM
variable with the correct terminal setting of `screen'.
Commands to alter and view the environment are:
set-environment [-gru] [-t target-session] name [value]
D1 (alias: setenv ) Set or unset an environment variable. If -g
is used, the change is made in the global environment; other-
wise, it is applied to the session environment for target-ses-
sion. The -u flag unsets a variable. -r indicates the variable
is to be removed from the environment before starting a new
process.
show-environment [-g] [-t target-session] [variable]
D1 (alias: showenv ) Display the environment for target-session
or the global environment with -g. If variable is omitted, all
variables are shown. Variables removed from the environment are
prefixed with `-'.
STATUS LINE
tmux includes an optional status line which is displayed in the bottom
line of each terminal. By default, the status line is enabled (it may
be disabled with the status session option) and contains, from left-to-
right: the name of the current session in square brackets; the window
list; the title of the active pane in double quotes; and the time and
date.
The status line is made of three parts: configurable left and right
sections (which may contain dynamic content such as the time or output
from a shell command, see the status-left, status-left-length, status-
right, and status-right-length options below), and a central window
list. By default, the window list shows the index, name and (if any)
flag of the windows present in the current session in ascending numeri-
cal order. It may be customised with the window-status-format and win-
dow-status-current-format options. The flag is one of the following
symbols appended to the window name:
Symbol Ta Sy Meaning
"*" Ta "Denotes the current window."
"-" Ta "Marks the last window (previously selected)."
"#" Ta "Window is monitored and activity has been detected."
"!" Ta "A bell has occurred in the window."
"+" Ta "Window is monitored for content and it has appeared."
"~" Ta "The window has been silent for the monitor-silence interval."
"Z" Ta "The window's active pane is zoomed."
The # symbol relates to the monitor-activity and + to the moni-
tor-content window options. The window name is printed in
inverted colours if an alert (bell, activity or content) is
present.
The colour and attributes of the status line may be configured,
the entire status line using the status-style session option and
individual windows using the window-status-style window option.
The status line is automatically refreshed at interval if it has
changed, the interval may be controlled with the status-interval
session option.
Commands related to the status line are as follows:
command-prompt [-I inputs] [-p prompts] [-t target-client] [template]
Open the command prompt in a client. This may be used from
inside tmux to execute commands interactively.
If template is specified, it is used as the command. If
present, -I is a comma-separated list of the initial text for
each prompt. If -p is given, prompts is a comma-separated list
of prompts which are displayed in order; otherwise a single
prompt is displayed, constructed from template if it is present,
or `:' if not.
Both inputs and prompts may contain the special character
sequences supported by the status-left option.
Before the command is executed, the first occurrence of the
string `%%' and all occurrences of `%1' are replaced by the
response to the first prompt, the second `%%' and all `%2' are
replaced with the response to the second prompt, and so on for
further prompts. Up to nine prompt responses may be replaced Po
`%1' to `%9' Pc .
confirm-before [-p prompt] [-t target-client] command
D1 (alias: confirm ) Ask for confirmation before executing com-
mand. If -p is given, prompt is the prompt to display; other-
wise a prompt is constructed from command. It may contain the
special character sequences supported by the status-left option.
This command works only from inside .
display-message [-p] [-c target-client] [-t target-pane] [message]
D1 (alias: display ) Display a message. If -p is given, the
output is printed to stdout, otherwise it is displayed in the
target-client status line. The format of message is described
in the FORMATS section; information is taken from target-pane if
-t is given, otherwise the active pane for the session attached
to target-client.
BUFFERS
tmux maintains a stack of pastebuffers. Up to the value of the buffer-
limit option are kept; when a new buffer is added, the buffer at the
bottom of the stack is removed. Buffers may be added using copy-mode
or the set-buffer command, and pasted into a window using the paste-
buffer command.
A configurable history buffer is also maintained for each window. By
default, up to 2000 lines are kept; this can be altered with the his-
tory-limit option (see the set-option command above).
The buffer commands are as follows:
choose-buffer [-F format] [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into buffer choice mode, where a buffer may be cho-
sen interactively from a list. After a buffer is selected, `%%'
is replaced by the buffer index in template and the result exe-
cuted as a command. If template is not given, "paste-buffer -b
'%%'" is used. For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS
section. This command works only if at least one client is
attached.
clear-history [Fl t target-pane]
D1 (alias: clearhist ) Remove and free the history for the spec-
ified pane.
delete-buffer [Fl b buffer-index]
D1 (alias: deleteb ) Delete the buffer at buffer-index, or the
top buffer if not specified.
list-buffers [-F format]
D1 (alias: lsb ) List the global buffers. For the meaning of
the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
load-buffer [-b buffer-index] path
D1 (alias: loadb ) Load the contents of the specified paste buf-
fer from path.
paste-buffer [-dpr] [-b buffer-index] [-s separator] [-t target-pane]
D1 (alias: pasteb ) Insert the contents of a paste buffer into
the specified pane. If not specified, paste into the current
one. With -d, also delete the paste buffer from the stack.
When output, any linefeed (LF) characters in the paste buffer
are replaced with a separator, by default carriage return (CR).
A custom separator may be specified using the -s flag. The -r
flag means to do no replacement (equivalent to a separator of
LF). If -p is specified, paste bracket control codes are
inserted around the buffer if the application has requested
bracketed paste mode.
save-buffer [-a] [-b buffer-index] path
D1 (alias: saveb ) Save the contents of the specified paste buf-
fer to path. The -a option appends to rather than overwriting
the file.
set-buffer [-b buffer-index] data
D1 (alias: setb ) Set the contents of the specified buffer to
data.
show-buffer [-b buffer-index]
D1 (alias: showb ) Display the contents of the specified buffer.
MISCELLANEOUS
Miscellaneous commands are as follows:
clock-mode [Fl t target-pane]
Display a large clock.
if-shell [-b] [-t target-pane] shell-command command [command]
D1 (alias: if ) Execute the first command if shell-command
returns success or the second command otherwise. Before being
executed, shell-command is expanded using the rules specified in
the FORMATS section, including those relevant to target-pane.
With -b, shell-command is run in the background.
lock-server
D1 (alias: lock ) Lock each client individually by running the
command specified by the lock-command option.
run-shell [-b] [-t target-pane] shell-command
D1 (alias: run ) Execute shell-command in the background without
creating a window. Before being executed, shell-command is
expanded using the rules specified in the FORMATS section. With
-b, the command is run in the background. After it finishes,
any output to stdout is displayed in copy mode (in the pane
specified by -t or the current pane if omitted). If the command
doesn't return success, the exit status is also displayed.
wait-for [-L | S | U] channel
D1 (alias: wait ) When used without options, prevents the client
from exiting until woken using wait-for -S with the same chan-
nel. When -L is used, the channel is locked and any clients
that try to lock the same channel are made to wait until the
channel is unlocked with wait-for -U. This command only works
from outside .
TERMINFO EXTENSIONS
tmux understands some extensions to terminfo(5):
Cs,Cr Set the cursor colour. The first takes a single string argument
and is used to set the colour; the second takes no arguments and
restores the default cursor colour. If set, a sequence such as
this may be used to change the cursor colour from inside :
$ printf '\033]12;red\033\\'
Ss,Se Change the cursor style. If set, a sequence such as this may be
used to change the cursor to an underline:
$ printf '\033[4 q'
If Csr is set, it will be used to reset the cursor style instead
of Cs.
Ms This sequence can be used by tmux to store the current buffer in
the host terminal's selection (clipboard). See the set-clip-
board option above and the xterm(1) man page.
CONTROL MODE
tmux offers a textual interface called controlmode. This allows appli-
cations to communicate with tmux using a simple text-only protocol.
In control mode, a client sends tmux commands or command sequences ter-
minated by newlines on standard input. Each command will produce one
block of output on standard output. An output block consists of a
%begin line followed by the output (which may be empty). The output
block ends with a %end or %error. %begin and matching %end or %error
have two arguments: an integer time (as seconds from epoch) and command
number. For example:
%begin 1363006971 2
0: ksh* (1 panes) [80x24] [layout b25f,80x24,0,0,2] @2 (active)
%end 1363006971 2
In control mode, tmux outputs notifications. A notification will never
occur inside an output block.
The following notifications are defined:
%exit [reason]
The tmux client is exiting immediately, either because it is not
attached to any session or an error occurred. If present, rea-
son describes why the client exited.
%layout-change window-id window-layout
The layout of a window with ID window-id changed. The new lay-
out is window-layout.
%output pane-id value
A window pane produced output. value escapes non-printable
characters and backslash as octal \xxx.
%session-changed session-id name
The client is now attached to the session with ID session-id,
which is named name.
%session-renamed name
The current session was renamed to name.
%sessions-changed
A session was created or destroyed.
%unlinked-window-add window-id
The window with ID window-id was created but is not linked to
the current session.
%window-add window-id
The window with ID window-id was linked to the current session.
%window-close window-id
The window with ID window-id closed.
%window-renamed window-id name
The window with ID window-id was renamed to name.
FILES
~/.tmux.conf
Default tmux configuration file.
/etc/tmux.conf
System-wide configuration file.
EXAMPLES
To create a new tmux session running vi(1):
Dl $ tmux new-session vi
Most commands have a shorter form, known as an alias. For new-session,
this is new :
Dl $ tmux new vi
Alternatively, the shortest unambiguous form of a command is accepted.
If there are several options, they are listed:
$ tmux n
ambiguous command: n, could be: new-session, new-window, next-window
Within an active session, a new window may be created by typing `C-b' c
(Ctrl followed by the `b' key followed by the `c' key).
Windows may be navigated with: `C-b' 0 (to select window 0), `C-b' 1
(to select window 1), and so on; `C-b' n to select the next window; and
`C-b' p to select the previous window.
A session may be detached using `C-b' d (or by an external event such
as ssh(1) disconnection) and reattached with:
Dl $ tmux attach-session
Typing `C-b' ? lists the current key bindings in the current window;
up and down may be used to navigate the list or `q' to exit from it.
Commands to be run when the tmux server is started may be placed in the
~/.tmux.conf configuration file. Common examples include:
Changing the default prefix key:
set-option -g prefix C-a
unbind-key C-b
bind-key C-a send-prefix
Turning the status line off, or changing its colour:
set-option -g status off
set-option -g status-style bg=blue
Setting other options, such as the default command, or locking after 30
minutes of inactivity:
set-option -g default-command "exec /bin/ksh"
set-option -g lock-after-time 1800
Creating new key bindings:
bind-key b set-option status
bind-key / command-prompt "split-window 'exec man %%'"
bind-key S command-prompt "new-window -n %1 'ssh %1'"
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+---------------+------------------+
|ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+---------------+------------------+
|Availability | terminal/tmux |
+---------------+------------------+
|Stability | Uncommitted |
+---------------+------------------+
SEE ALSO
pty(7)
AUTHORS
Nicholas Marriott <Mt nicm@users.sourceforge.net>
NOTES
This software was built from source available at
https://java.net/projects/solaris-userland. The original community
source was downloaded from http://source-
forge.net/projects/tmux/files/tmux/tmux-1.9/tmux-1.9a.tar.gz
Further information about this software can be found on the open source
community website at http://tmux.sourceforge.net.
March 25 2013 TMUX(1)