tmux Skill
Use tmux only when you need an interactive TTY. Prefer exec background mode for long-running, non-interactive tasks.
Quickstart
SOCKET_DIR="${TMUX_SOCKET_DIR:-${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/tmux-sockets}"
mkdir -p "$SOCKET_DIR"
SOCKET="$SOCKET_DIR/tmux.sock"
SESSION=my-session
tmux -S "$SOCKET" new -d -s "$SESSION" -n shell
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION":0.0 -- 'PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 python3 -q' Enter
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION":0.0 -S -200
Essential Commands
| Action | Command |
|---|---|
| Send text | tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t target -l -- "$cmd" |
| Send Enter/Ctrl-C | tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t target Enter / C-c |
| Capture output | tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t target -S -200 |
| List sessions | tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-sessions |
| Kill session | tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t "$SESSION" |
| Kill server | tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-server |
Conventions
- Socket:
TMUX_SOCKET_DIRenv var (default${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/tmux-sockets) - Target format:
session:window.pane(defaults to:0.0) - Python REPLs: Set
PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1to avoid readline issues
Helper Scripts
./scripts/find-sessions.sh -S "$SOCKET" # list sessions
./scripts/find-sessions.sh --all # scan all sockets
./scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t sess:0.0 -p 'pattern' [-T 20] [-i 0.5]
Parallel Agents Example
SOCKET="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/agents.sock"
for i in 1 2 3; do tmux -S "$SOCKET" new-session -d -s "agent-$i"; done
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t agent-1 "codex --yolo 'Fix bug'" Enter
# Poll for completion
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -t agent-1 -S -3 | grep -q "❯" && echo "Done"