tmux cheat sheet

Prefix is Ctrl-b by default. Press it, let go, then press the key.

Sessions

bash

tmux new -s deploy                      # new named session
tmux ls
tmux attach -t deploy                   # or: tmux a
tmux new -As deploy                     # attach, or create if missing
tmux kill-session -t deploy

Keys	Action
`Prefix d`	Detach; everything keeps running
`Prefix s`	Pick a session
`Prefix $`	Rename the session
`Prefix (` / `)`	Previous / next session

Windows

Keys	Action
`Prefix c`	New window
`Prefix ,`	Rename it
`Prefix n` / `p`	Next / previous
`Prefix 0`–`9`	Go to window number
`Prefix w`	Pick from a list
`Prefix &`	Close the window

Panes

Keys	Action
`Prefix %`	Split left and right
`Prefix "`	Split top and bottom
`Prefix arrow`	Move between panes
`Prefix z`	Zoom a pane to full size and back
`Prefix x`	Close the pane
`Prefix space`	Cycle layouts
`Prefix {` / `}`	Swap panes
`Prefix !`	Turn the pane into its own window
`Prefix Ctrl-arrow`	Resize

Copy mode

Keys	Action
`Prefix [`	Enter copy mode, scroll with arrows or PgUp
`/` / `?`	Search down / up
`Space` then `Enter`	Start selection, copy
`Prefix ]`	Paste
`q`	Leave copy mode

With setw -g mode-keys vi, use v to select and y to copy.

Commands

bash

tmux send-keys -t deploy 'tail -f /var/log/app.log' Enter
tmux new -d -s backup 'rsync -a /data /backup'          # start detached
tmux capture-pane -pS -3000 -t deploy > pane.log        # save scrollback
tmux setw synchronize-panes on          # type in every pane at once

Prefix : opens the command prompt inside tmux, for the same commands without the tmux prefix.

bash

tmux -S /tmp/pair new -s pair
chmod 770 /tmp/pair; chgrp ops /tmp/pair
tmux -S /tmp/pair attach -t pair        # the other person, in group ops

Minimal config

~/.tmux.conf

set -g mouse on
set -g history-limit 50000
set -g base-index 1
setw -g pane-base-index 1
set -g renumber-windows on
setw -g mode-keys vi
set -sg escape-time 10
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf \; display "reloaded"
bind | split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind - split-window -v -c "#{pane_current_path}"

Keep in mind

Run long jobs on a server inside tmux, so a dropped SSH connection doesn’t kill them.
Nested tmux (local and remote): press the prefix twice to reach the inner one.
With mouse on, hold Shift to select text with the terminal’s own selection.

tmux cheat sheet

Sessions

Windows

Panes

Copy mode

Commands

Share a session

Minimal config

Keep in mind

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