tmux

name	tmux
description	ALWAYS load this skill before performing ANY tmux operation — including opening panes, splitting windows, running commands in panes, sending keystrokes, or checking pane output. Do NOT improvise tmux pane layout logic inline; all pane creation must go through scripts/split-pane.sh as documented here. Failing to load this skill first will produce incorrect window targeting and unwanted focus shifts.
triggers	["tmux","pane","split","open a terminal","open a window","run in background","side by side","new pane","new window"]

tmux Skill

Use tmux to run interactive programs (REPLs, debuggers, servers) that can't work as one-shot bash commands.

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Opening a new pane — always use split-pane.sh

Call split-pane.sh directly — no need to capture the calling pane first. The script defaults -t to $TMUX_PANE, which tmux injects into every pane's environment at creation. This is always the pane where the agent process is running, regardless of which pane the user has focused since.

SKILL_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
NEW_PANE=$(bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/split-pane.sh" \
  -n "window-name" \
  -- btop)

The script prints the new pane ID to stdout and status info to stderr. It always returns focus to the calling pane.

Layout rules (encoded in split-pane.sh — do not re-implement inline)

Panes in window	Action
1	Horizontal split on calling pane (new pane right, 50% width)
2	Vertical split on calling pane (new pane below, 50% height)
3	Vertical split on largest pane in the window (50% height)
4+	New tmux window (background, focus untouched)

Critical rules:

• The window is always derived from the calling pane's window ID, never from the currently active window. This is safe even if the user navigated away before the command ran.
• -d flag is always used on splits/new-window so focus never jumps to the new pane.
• Focus is explicitly returned to $CALLING_PANE at the end of the script.

Running a command in the new pane

Pass it after --:

NEW_PANE=$(bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/split-pane.sh" -n "server" -- npm run dev)

Or send keys manually after creation:

NEW_PANE=$(bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/split-pane.sh")
tmux send-keys -t "$NEW_PANE" -l -- 'PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 python3 -q'
tmux send-keys -t "$NEW_PANE" Enter

Telling the user where things ended up

Always report what happened:

• Pane split: "Started <program> in a new pane (below/right). Your cursor stayed in place."
• New window: "Opened <program> in a new tmux window named '<name>'. Navigate with prefix+n or prefix+w."

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Targeting panes

Format: {session}:{window}.{pane} — pane ID (%N) is most reliable.

# Capture the new pane's ID after a split
NEW_PANE=$(tmux display-message -p -t '{last}' '#{pane_id}')

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Sending input safely

# Literal send (avoids shell word-splitting)
tmux send-keys -t "$TARGET" -l -- "some command with spaces"
tmux send-keys -t "$TARGET" Enter

# Control keys
tmux send-keys -t "$TARGET" C-c
tmux send-keys -t "$TARGET" C-d
tmux send-keys -t "$TARGET" Escape

# ANSI C quoting for inline escapes
tmux send-keys -t "$TARGET" -- $'python3 -q' Enter

Special cases:

• Python REPL: always set PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 (the fancy console breaks send-keys).
• Debugger: use lldb by default.

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Watching output

# Capture recent history
tmux capture-pane -p -J -t "$TARGET" -S -200

# Poll for expected output
./scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$TARGET" -p '^>>>' -T 15 -l 4000

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Cleanup

tmux kill-pane   -t "$TARGET"           # kill a pane
tmux kill-window -t "$WINDOW"           # kill a window

After a task is done, offer to clean up panes/windows you created.

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Code review diffs (nvimdiff)

Use scripts/code-review.sh for multi-file code reviews instead of hand-building tmux+nvim commands.

SKILL_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"

# Diff selected files:
# - against HEAD if any file is uncommitted
# - otherwise against HEAD^
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/code-review.sh" -- src/index.ts src/extensions/loader.ts

# Diff explicit commit range (commit-to-commit snapshots)
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/code-review.sh" --range HEAD^..HEAD -- src/index.ts

Layout behavior in the calling window:

• If pane count is <=2: opens a review split and forces vertical stack (even-vertical) so the nvimdiff pane uses full width.
• If pane count is >2: opens a new tmux window for the review.

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Helper scripts

scripts/split-pane.sh ← primary entry point for pane creation

split-pane.sh [-t <pane-id>] [-n <window-name>] [-- <command> [args...]]

• -t calling pane ID (default: $TMUX_PANE — the pane where the agent process is running)
• -n window name if a new window is opened
• -- separator before the command to run in the new pane
• Outputs new pane ID to stdout

scripts/wait-for-text.sh

wait-for-text.sh -t <target> -p <pattern> [-F] [-T 20] [-i 0.5] [-l 2000]

• -t target pane (required)
• -p regex pattern (required); -F for fixed string
• -T timeout seconds (default 15)
• -i poll interval (default 0.5)
• -l history lines to search (default 1000)
• Exits 0 on match, 1 on timeout

scripts/find-sessions.sh

find-sessions.sh [-L socket-name | -S socket-path | -A] [-q pattern]

• -A scans all agent sockets
• -q filters by session name substring

scripts/code-review.sh

code-review.sh [-t <pane-id>] [-n <window-name>] [--range <A..B|A...B>] [--] <file> [file...]

• Opens nvimdiff with one tab per file.
• Without --range, auto-selects left side:
  • HEAD if any file is uncommitted
  • HEAD^ if all files are already committed
• With --range, diffs commit-to-commit snapshots (A vs B).
• If current window has more than 2 panes, opens a new tmux window.
• If current window has 2 or fewer panes, opens split and enforces vertical stack for full-width review pane.