| name | tmux |
| description | Remote control tmux sessions for interactive CLIs (python, gdb, etc.) by sending keystrokes and scraping pane output. |
| license | Vibecoded |
tmux Skill
Use tmux as a programmable terminal multiplexer for interactive work. Works on Linux and macOS with stock tmux; avoid custom config by using a private socket.
Quickstart (isolated socket)
SOCKET_DIR=${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/claude-tmux-sockets
mkdir -p "$SOCKET_DIR"
SOCKET="$SOCKET_DIR/claude.sock"
SESSION=claude-python
tmux -S "$SOCKET" new -d -s "$SESSION" -n shell
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION":0.0 -- 'python3 -q' Enter
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION":0.0 -S -200
tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t "$SESSION"
After starting a session ALWAYS tell the user how to monitor the session by giving them a command to copy paste:
To monitor this session yourself:
tmux -S "$SOCKET" attach -t claude-lldb
Or to capture the output once:
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t claude-lldb:0.0 -S -200
This must ALWAYS be printed right after a session was started and once again at the end of the tool loop. But the earlier you send it, the happier the user will be.
Socket convention
- Agents MUST place tmux sockets under
CLAUDE_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR (defaults to ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/claude-tmux-sockets) and use tmux -S "$SOCKET" so we can enumerate/clean them. Create the dir first: mkdir -p "$CLAUDE_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR".
- Default socket path to use unless you must isolate further:
SOCKET="$CLAUDE_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR/claude.sock".
Targeting panes and naming
- Target format:
{session}:{window}.{pane}, defaults to :0.0 if omitted. Keep names short (e.g., claude-py, claude-gdb).
- Use
-S "$SOCKET" consistently to stay on the private socket path. If you need user config, drop -f /dev/null; otherwise -f /dev/null gives a clean config.
- Inspect:
tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-sessions, tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-panes -a.
Finding sessions
- List sessions on your active socket with metadata:
./scripts/find-sessions.sh -S "$SOCKET"; add -q partial-name to filter.
- Scan all sockets under the shared directory:
./scripts/find-sessions.sh --all (uses CLAUDE_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR or ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/claude-tmux-sockets).
Sending input safely
- Prefer literal sends to avoid shell splitting:
tmux -L "$SOCKET" send-keys -t target -l -- "$cmd"
- When composing inline commands, use single quotes or ANSI C quoting to avoid expansion:
tmux ... send-keys -t target -- $'python3 -m http.server 8000'.
- To send control keys:
tmux ... send-keys -t target C-c, C-d, C-z, Escape, etc.
Watching output
- Capture recent history (joined lines to avoid wrapping artifacts):
tmux -L "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t target -S -200.
- For continuous monitoring, poll with the helper script (below) instead of
tmux wait-for (which does not watch pane output).
- You can also temporarily attach to observe:
tmux -L "$SOCKET" attach -t "$SESSION"; detach with Ctrl+b d.
- When giving instructions to a user, explicitly print a copy/paste monitor command alongside the action don't assume they remembered the command.
Spawning Processes
Some special rules for processes:
- when asked to debug, use lldb by default
- when starting a python interactive shell, always set the
PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 environment variable. This is very important as the non-basic console interferes with your send-keys.
Synchronizing / waiting for prompts
Interactive tool recipes
- Python REPL:
tmux ... send-keys -- 'python3 -q' Enter; wait for ^>>>; send code with -l; interrupt with C-c. Always with PYTHON_BASIC_REPL.
- gdb:
tmux ... send-keys -- 'gdb --quiet ./a.out' Enter; disable paging tmux ... send-keys -- 'set pagination off' Enter; break with C-c; issue bt, info locals, etc.; exit via quit then confirm y.
- Other TTY apps (ipdb, psql, mysql, node, bash): same pattern—start the program, poll for its prompt, then send literal text and Enter.
Cleanup
- Kill a session when done:
tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t "$SESSION".
- Kill all sessions on a socket:
tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-sessions -F '#{session_name}' | xargs -r -n1 tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t.
- Remove everything on the private socket:
tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-server.
Helper: wait-for-text.sh
./scripts/wait-for-text.sh polls a pane for a regex (or fixed string) with a timeout. Works on Linux/macOS with bash + tmux + grep.
./scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t session:0.0 -p 'pattern' [-F] [-T 20] [-i 0.5] [-l 2000]
-t/--target pane target (required)-p/--pattern regex to match (required); add -F for fixed string-T timeout seconds (integer, default 15)-i poll interval seconds (default 0.5)-l history lines to search from the pane (integer, default 1000)- Exits 0 on first match, 1 on timeout. On failure prints the last captured text to stderr to aid debugging.
