send-to-pane

name	send-to-pane
description	Use this skill when you need to send a prompt or instruction to another Claude Code instance running in a sibling tmux pane — the orchestrator handing work to a worker pane. Triggered by phrases like "send to pane2", "tell pane4", "sag pane2", "schick an pane4", "pane1 soll", or when delegating work to a colleague pane. The tmux session/window is read from panes.conf.

Send a Prompt to Another tmux Pane

Sends a text prompt to another Claude Code instance running in a parallel tmux pane — the coordination primitive for the orchestrator layout.

Target (from config)

Read the current project from ~/.claude/panes.conf — fields: <name> <main-worktree> <main-branch> <pane-count> <tmux-target-prefix>. The <tmux-target-prefix> is <session>:<window> (e.g. xyz:1). Pane N is then <session>:<window>.N, i.e. xyz:1.2 for pane 2.

Verify the live layout first:

tmux list-panes -t <session>:<window> -F "#{session_name}:#{window_index}.#{pane_index} #{pane_current_path}"

If the user names a session or pane that isn't the one in panes.conf (e.g. a second tmux session you keep for other work), don't guess — discover all live panes and target the one they mean:

tmux list-panes -a -F "#{session_name}:#{window_index}.#{pane_index} #{pane_current_path}"

How to send

Use tmux send-keys twice: first the message with Enter, then a bare Enter as a follow-up. The first Enter sometimes lands while the target pane is still in a permission/approval/IME state and stays in the input buffer; the second bare Enter ensures the prompt is actually submitted.

tmux send-keys -t <session>:<window>.2 'Your prompt or instruction here' Enter
tmux send-keys -t <session>:<window>.2 '' Enter

Important rules

• Long messages often stay stuck as an unsubmitted paste — with bracketed paste, the first Enter frequently lands inside the paste instead of submitting it (observed repeatedly with multi-sentence briefs). After sending, ALWAYS capture the pane and check for a [Pasted text #N] marker at the prompt; if present, send one more bare Enter (tmux send-keys -t <target> C-m) and verify again. Never assume delivery without seeing the pane actually working.
• Always single-quote the message to prevent shell expansion; escape inner single quotes as '\''.
• Always send the follow-up bare Enter — the first Enter doesn't always submit mid-approval.
• Check the target pane first: tmux capture-pane -t <session>:<window>.2 -p | tail -25 — is it idle or busy?
• Don't send to yourself — identify your own pane with tmux display-message -p '#{session_name}:#{window_index}.#{pane_index}'.
• Keep prompts self-contained — the other instance has none of this conversation's context. Include file paths, issue numbers, and enough background.
• Optionally set the target's issue segment at dispatch so the status line shows who's on what: printf '4711' > /tmp/claude-current-issue-$(basename "${main-worktree}_pane2").txt (clear with rm -f).

Reading a pane's status

tmux capture-pane -t <session>:<window>.2 -p | tail -25   # most reliable

Coordination

• After sending, continue your own work — don't block waiting.
• Check status later with another capture-pane.
• For multi-step coordination, send one step at a time.
• When a pane reports "waiting for confirmation" or similar, send it: tmux send-keys -t <session>:<window>.2 'yes' Enter then a bare Enter.