NAME
tmux - terminal multiplexer
SYNOPSIS
tmux [-28lquv] [-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 pseudo terminals under the management
of tmux. 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(4) manual page documents
the technical details of pseudo terminals). Any number of tmux instances
may connect to the same session, and any number of windows 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:
$ tmux attach
In tmux, 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.
-8 Like -2, but indicates that the terminal supports 88
colours.
-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 executed in sequence
when the server is first started.
If a command in the configuration file fails, tmux will
report an error and exit without executing further
commands.
-L socket-name
tmux stores the server socket in a directory under /tmp;
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
various 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.
command [flags]
This specifies one of a set of commands used to control
tmux, as described in the following sections. If no
commands are specified, the new-session command is assumed.
KEY BINDINGS
tmux may be controlled from an attached client by using a key combination
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.
% 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.
= 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.
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 tmux, 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-
horizontal, 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 tmux. Most
commands accept the optional -t argument with one of target-client,
target-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(4) 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 either the name of a session (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 session 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 available; if no current session is available, the
most recently used is chosen.
target-window specifies a window in the form session:window. session
follows the same rules as for target-session, and window is looked for in
order: as a window index, for example mysession: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 chosen. The special character '!' uses the last
(previously current) window, or '+' and '-' are 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:
mysession: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 '-' indicate 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.
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 command
sequence. Each command should be separated by spaces and a semicolon;
commands are executed sequentially from left to right. 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
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 of 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 creating, linking
and otherwise manipulating windows are covered in the WINDOWS AND PANES
section.
The following commands are available to manage clients and sessions:
attach-session [-dr] [-t target-session]
(alias: attach)
If run from outside tmux, 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 signifies the client is
read-only (only keys bound to the detach-client command have any
effect)
If no server is started, attach-session will attempt to start it;
this will fail unless sessions are created in the configuration
file.
detach-client [-t target-client]
(alias: detach)
Detach the current client if bound to a key, or the specified
client with -t.
has-session [-t target-session]
(alias: has)
Report an error and exit with 1 if the specified 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 [-t target-session]
Destroy the given session, closing any windows linked to it and
no other sessions, and detaching all clients attached to it.
list-clients
(alias: lsc)
List all clients attached to the server.
list-commands
(alias: lscm)
List the syntax of all commands supported by tmux.
list-sessions
(alias: ls)
List all sessions managed by the server.
lock-client [-t target-client]
(alias: lockc)
Lock target-client, see the lock-server command.
lock-session [-t target-session]
(alias: locks)
Lock all clients attached to target-session.
new-session [-d] [-n window-name] [-s session-name] [-t target-session]
[shell-command]
(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 run from a terminal, any termios(4) special characters are
saved and used for new windows in the new 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 sessions.
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.
refresh-client [-t target-client]
(alias: refresh)
Refresh the current client if bound to a key, or a single client
if one is given with -t.
rename-session [-t target-session] new-name
(alias: rename)
Rename the session to new-name.
show-messages [-t target-client]
(alias: showmsgs)
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. This command displays the log for target-client.
source-file path
(alias: source)
Execute commands from path.
start-server
(alias: start)
Start the tmux server, if not already running, without creating
any sessions.
suspend-client [-c target-client]
(alias: suspendc)
Suspend a client by sending SIGTSTP (tty stop).
switch-client [-c target-client] [-t target-session]
(alias: switchc)
Switch the current session for client target-client to
target-session.
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
paste buffer 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:
Function vi emacs
Back to indentation ^ M-m
Bottom of history G M-<
Clear selection Escape C-g
Copy selection Enter M-w
Cursor down j Down
Cursor left h Left
Cursor right l Right
Cursor to bottom line L
Cursor to middle line M M-r
Cursor to top line H M-R
Cursor up k Up
Delete entire line d C-u
Delete to end of line D C-k
End of line $ C-e
Go to line : g
Half page down C-d M-Down
Half page up C-u M-Up
Jump forward f f
Jump backward F F
Jump again ; ;
Jump again in reverse , ,
Next page C-f Page down
Next space W
Next space, end of word E
Next word w
Next word end e M-f
Paste buffer p C-y
Previous page C-b Page up
Previous word b M-b
Previous space B
Quit mode q Escape
Rectangle toggle v R
Scroll down C-Down or C-e C-Down
Scroll up C-Up or C-y C-Up
Search again n n
Search again in reverse N N
Search backward ? C-r
Search forward / C-s
Start of line 0 C-a
Start selection Space C-Space
Top of history g M->
Transpose chars 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 window 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 '/' character
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 example, to
move the cursor forward by ten words, use 'M-1 0 M-f' in emacs mode, and
'10w' in vi.
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.
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 window.
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 current window
size. Note that a layout cannot be applied to a window with more panes
than that from which the layout was originally defined.
Commands related to windows and panes are as follows:
break-pane [-d] [-t target-pane]
(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.
capture-pane [-b buffer-index] [-t target-pane]
(alias: capturep)
Capture the contents of a pane to the specified buffer, or a new
buffer if none is specified.
choose-client [-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(4) path in template and the
result executed as a command. If template is not given, "detach-
client -t '%%'" is used. This command works only from inside
tmux.
choose-session [-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. This command works only from inside tmux.
choose-window [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into window choice mode, where a window may be
chosen 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. This command works only from
inside tmux.
display-panes [-t target-client]
(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 [-t target-window] match-string
(alias: findw)
Search for the fnmatch(3) pattern match-string in window names,
titles, and visible content (but not history). If only one
window is matched, it'll be automatically selected, otherwise a
choice list is shown. This command only works from inside tmux.
join-pane [-dhv] [-l size | -p percentage] [-s src-pane] [-t dst-pane]
(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.
kill-pane [-a] [-t target-pane]
(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 [-t target-window]
(alias: killw)
Kill the current window or the window at target-window, removing
it from any sessions to which it is linked.
last-window [-t target-session]
(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]
(alias: linkw)
Link the window at src-window to the specified 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 [-t target-window]
(alias: lsp)
List the panes in the current window or in target-window.
list-windows [-t target-session]
(alias: lsw)
List windows in the current session or in target-session.
move-window [-dk] [-s src-window] [-t dst-window]
(alias: movew)
This is similar to link-window, except the window at src-window
is moved to dst-window.
new-window [-adk] [-n window-name] [-t target-window] [shell-command]
(alias: neww)
Create a new window. With -a, the new window is inserted at the
next index up from the specified target-window, 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
created; 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.
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 tmux. 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.
next-layout [-t target-window]
(alias: nextl)
Move a window to the next layout and rearrange the panes to fit.
next-window [-a] [-t target-session]
(alias: next)
Move to the next window in the session. If -a is used, move to
the next window with a bell, activity or content alert.
pipe-pane [-o] [-t target-pane] [shell-command]
(alias: pipep)
Pipe any output sent by the program in target-pane to a shell
command. A pane may only be piped to one command at a time, any
existing pipe is closed before shell-command is executed. The
shell-command string may contain the special character sequences
supported by the status-left command. 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]
(alias: prevl)
Move to the previous layout in the session.
previous-window [-a] [-t target-session]
(alias: prev)
Move to the previous window in the session. With -a, move to the
previous window with a bell, activity or content alert.
rename-window [-t target-window] new-name
(alias: renamew)
Rename the current window, or the window at target-window if
specified, to new-name.
resize-pane [-DLRU] [-t target-pane] [adjustment]
(alias: resizep)
Resize a pane, upward with -U (the default), downward with -D, to
the left with -L and to the right with -R. The adjustment is
given in lines or cells (the default is 1).
respawn-window [-k] [-t target-window] [shell-command]
(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 created 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]
(alias: rotatew)
Rotate the positions of the panes within a window, either upward
(numerically lower) with -U or downward (numerically higher).
select-layout [-t target-window] [layout-name]
(alias: selectl)
Choose a specific layout for a window. If layout-name is not
given, the last preset layout used (if any) is reapplied.
select-pane [-DLRU] [-t target-pane]
(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.
select-window [-t target-window]
(alias: selectw)
Select the window at target-window.
split-window [-dhv] [-l size | -p percentage] [-t target-pane]
[shell-command]
(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 command.
swap-pane [-dDU] [-s src-pane] [-t dst-pane]
(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]
(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]
(alias: unlinkw)
Unlink target-window. Unless -k is given, a window may be
unlinked only if it is linked to multiple sessions - windows may
not be linked to no sessions; if -k is specified 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 prefix
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 (Page Up), PPage (Page Down), 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]
(alias: bind)
Bind key key to command. By default (without -t) the primary key
bindings are modified (those normally activated 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
command.
list-keys [-t key-table]
(alias: lsk)
List all key bindings. Without -t the primary key bindings -
those executed when preceded by the prefix key - are printed.
Keys bound without the prefix key (see bind-key -n) are marked
with '(no prefix)'.
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 [-t target-pane] key ...
(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. All
arguments are sent sequentially from first to last.
send-prefix [-t target-pane]
Send the prefix key to a window as if it was pressed. If
multiple prefix keys are configured, only the first is sent.
unbind-key [-cn] [-t key-table] key
(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 -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: server
options, session options and window options.
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.
Commands which set options are as follows:
set-option [-agsuw] [-t target-session | target-window] option value
(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.
With -a, and if the option expects a string, value is appended to
the existing setting. 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.
Available window options are listed under set-window-option.
Available server options are:
detach-on-destroy
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.
escape-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.
quiet Enable or disable the display of various informational
messages (see also the -q command line flag).
Available session options are:
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 bell in windows other than the
current window are ignored.
buffer-limit number
Set the number of buffers kept for each session; 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.
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) command. 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-path path
Set the default working directory for processes created
from keys, or interactively from the prompt. The default
is empty, which means to use the working directory of the
shell from which the server was started if it is
available or the user's home if not.
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.
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 created.
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-attr attributes
Set status line message attributes, where attributes is
either none or a comma-delimited list of one or more of:
bright (or bold), dim, underscore, blink, reverse,
hidden, or italics.
message-bg colour
Set status line message background colour, where colour
is one of: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta,
cyan, white, colour0 to colour255 from the 256-colour
palette, or default.
message-fg colour
Set status line message foreground colour.
message-limit number
Set the number of error or information messages to save
in the message log for each client. The default is 20.
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.
pane-border-fg colour
pane-border-bg colour
Set the pane border colour for panes aside from the
active pane.
pane-active-border-fg colour
pane-active-border-bg colour
Set the pane border colour for the currently active pane.
prefix keys
Set the keys accepted as a prefix key. keys is a comma-
separated list of key names, each of which individually
behave as the prefix key.
repeat-time time
Allow multiple commands to be entered without pressing
the prefix-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 created 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 window title using the \e]2;...\007
xterm code 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.
Character sequences are replaced as for the status-left
option.
status [on | off]
Show or hide the status line.
status-attr attributes
Set status line attributes.
status-bg colour
Set status line background colour.
status-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour.
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 example at the command prompt. Defaults to emacs.
status-left string
Display string to the left of the status bar. string
will be passed through strftime(3) before being used. By
default, the session name is shown. string may contain
any of the following special character sequences:
Character pair Replaced with
#(shell-command) First line of the command's
output
#[attributes] Colour or attribute change
#H Hostname of local host
#F Current window flag
#I Current window index
#P Current pane index
#S Session name
#T Current window title
#W Current window name
## 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 previous result is used.
Shell commands are executed with the tmux global
environment set (see the ENVIRONMENT section).
The window title (#T) is the title set by the program
running within the window using the OSC title setting
sequence, for example:
$ printf '\033]2;My Title\033\\'
When a window is first created, its title is the
hostname.
#[attributes] allows a comma-separated list of attributes
to be specified, these may be 'fg=colour' to set the
foreground colour, 'bg=colour' to set the background
colour, the name of one of the attributes (listed under
the message-attr option) to turn an attribute on, or an
attribute prefixed with 'no' to turn one off, for example
nobright. 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-attr attributes
Set the attribute of the left part of the status line.
status-left-fg colour
Set the foreground colour of the left part of the status
line.
status-left-bg colour
Set the background colour of the left part of the status
line.
status-left-length length
Set the maximum length of the left component of the
status bar. The default is 10.
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 strftime(3), character pairs are
replaced, and UTF-8 is dependent on the status-utf8
option.
status-right-attr attributes
Set the attribute of the right part of the status line.
status-right-fg colour
Set the foreground colour of the right part of the status
line.
status-right-bg colour
Set the background colour of the right part of the status
line.
status-right-length length
Set the maximum length of the right component of the
status bar. The default is 40.
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 'colors' entry for terminals which support
88 or 256 colours:
"*88col*:colors=88,*256col*:colors=256"
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
WINDOWID SSH_ASKPASS SSH_AUTH_SOCK SSH_AGENT_PID
SSH_CONNECTION".
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.
set-window-option [-agu] [-t target-window] option value
(alias: setw)
Set a window option. The -a, -g 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 interactive programs
such as shells.
automatic-rename [on | off]
Control automatic window renaming. When this setting is
enabled, tmux will attempt - on supported platforms - to
rename the window to reflect the command currently
running in it. This flag is automatically disabled for
an individual window when a name is specified at creation
with new-window or new-session, or later with
rename-window. It may be switched off globally with:
set-window-option -g automatic-rename off
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-width width
main-pane-height height
Set the width or height of the main (left or top) pane in
the main-horizontal or main-vertical layouts.
mode-attr attributes
Set window modes attributes.
mode-bg colour
Set window modes background colour.
mode-fg colour
Set window modes foreground colour.
mode-keys [vi | emacs]
Use vi or emacs-style key bindings in copy and choice
modes. Key bindings default to emacs.
mode-mouse [on | off]
Mouse state in modes. If on, the mouse may be used to
copy a selection by dragging in copy mode, or to select
an option in choice mode.
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.
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 window (only for panes that are not in any special
mode).
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 to be
issued to preserve the existing window content on start
and restore it on exit.
utf8 [on | off]
Instructs tmux to expect UTF-8 sequences to appear in
this window.
window-status-attr attributes
Set status line attributes for a single window.
window-status-bg colour
Set status line background colour for a single window.
window-status-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour for a single window.
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-alert-attr attributes
Set status line attributes for windows which have an
alert (bell, activity or content).
window-status-alert-bg colour
Set status line background colour for windows with an
alert.
window-status-alert-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour for windows with an
alert.
window-status-current-attr attributes
Set status line attributes for the currently active
window.
window-status-current-bg colour
Set status line background colour for the currently
active window.
window-status-current-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour for the currently
active window.
window-status-current-format string
Like window-status-format, but is the format used when
the window is the current window.
word-separators string
Sets the window'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
' -_@'.
xterm-keys [on | off]
If this option is set, tmux will generate xterm(1) -style
function key sequences; these have a number included to
indicate modifiers such as Shift, Alt or Ctrl. The
default is off.
show-options [-gsw] [-t target-session | target-window]
(alias: show)
Show the window options 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.
show-window-options [-g] [-t target-window]
(alias: showw)
List the window options for target-window, or the global window
options if -g is used.
ENVIRONMENT
When the server is started, tmux copies the environment into the global
environment; in addition, each session has a session environment. When a
window is created, the session and global environments are merged with
the session environment overriding any variable present in both. This 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]
(alias: setenv)
Set or unset an environment variable. If -g is used, the change
is made in the global environment; otherwise, it is applied to
the session environment for target-session. 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]
(alias: showenv)
Display the environment for target-session or the global
environment with -g. 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 current window title 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
numerical order. It may be customised with the window-status-format and
window-status-current-format options. The flag is one of the following
symbols appended to the window name:
Symbol Meaning
* Denotes the current window.
- Marks the last window (previously selected).
# Window is monitored and activity has been detected.
! A bell has occurred in the window.
+ Window is monitored for content and it has appeared.
The # symbol relates to the monitor-activity and + to the monitor-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-attr, status-fg and status-bg session
options and individual windows using the window-status-attr,
window-status-fg and window-status-bg window options.
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 [-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 -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. 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 ('%1' to '%9').
confirm-before [-t target-client] command
(alias: confirm)
Ask for confirmation before executing command. This command
works only from inside tmux.
display-message [-p] [-t target-client] [message]
(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 as for status-left, with the
exception that #() are not handled.
BUFFERS
tmux maintains a stack of paste buffers for each session. 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
history-limit option (see the set-option command above).
The buffer commands are as follows:
choose-buffer [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into buffer choice mode, where a buffer may be
chosen interactively from a list. After a buffer is selected,
'%%' is replaced by the buffer index in template and the result
executed as a command. If template is not given, "paste-buffer
-b '%%'" is used. This command works only from inside tmux.
clear-history [-t target-pane]
(alias: clearhist)
Remove and free the history for the specified pane.
copy-buffer [-a src-index] [-b dst-index] [-s src-session] [-t
dst-session]
(alias: copyb)
Copy a session paste buffer to another session. If no sessions
are specified, the current one is used instead.
delete-buffer [-b buffer-index] [-t target-session]
(alias: deleteb)
Delete the buffer at buffer-index, or the top buffer if not
specified.
list-buffers [-t target-session]
(alias: lsb)
List the buffers in the given session.
load-buffer [-b buffer-index] [-t target-session] path
(alias: loadb)
Load the contents of the specified paste buffer from path.
paste-buffer [-dr] [-b buffer-index] [-s separator] [-t target-pane]
(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).
save-buffer [-a] [-b buffer-index] [-t target-session] path
(alias: saveb)
Save the contents of the specified paste buffer to path. The -a
option appends to rather than overwriting the file.
set-buffer [-b buffer-index] [-t target-session] data
(alias: setb)
Set the contents of the specified buffer to data.
show-buffer [-b buffer-index] [-t target-session]
(alias: showb)
Display the contents of the specified buffer.
MISCELLANEOUS
Miscellaneous commands are as follows:
clock-mode [-t target-pane]
Display a large clock.
if-shell shell-command command
(alias: if)
Execute command if shell-command returns success.
lock-server
(alias: lock)
Lock each client individually by running the command specified by
the lock-command option.
run-shell shell-command
(alias: run)
Execute shell-command in the background without creating a
window. After it finishes, any output to stdout is displayed in
copy mode. If the command doesn't return success, the exit
status is also displayed.
server-info
(alias: info)
Show server information and terminal details.
FILES
~/.tmux.conf Default tmux configuration file.
/etc/tmux.conf System-wide configuration file.
EXAMPLES
To create a new tmux session running vi(1):
$ tmux new-session vi
Most commands have a shorter form, known as an alias. For new-session,
this is new:
$ 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:
$ 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-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'"
SEE ALSO
pty(4)
AUTHORS
Nicholas Marriott <nicm@users.sourceforge.net>