-2 Force tmux to assume the terminal supports 256 colours.
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-8 Like -2, but indicates that the terminal supports 88 colours.
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-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 (or TMPDIR if set); 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.
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-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.
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-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.
|
-V Report the tmux version.
|
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.
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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 or switch-client commands 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.
The target-session rules for attach-session are slightly adjusted: if tmux needs to select the most
recently used session, it will prefer the most recently used unattached session.
|
detach-client [-P] [-s target-session] [-t target-client]
(alias: detach)
Detach the current client if bound to a key, the client specified with -t, or all clients currently
attached to the session specified by -s. If -P is given, send SIGHUP to the parent process of the
client, typically causing it to exit.
|
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 [-F format] [-t target-session]
(alias: lsc)
List all clients attached to the server. For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
If target-session is specified, list only clients connected to that session.
|
list-commands
(alias: lscm)
List the syntax of all commands supported by tmux.
|
list-sessions [-F format]
(alias: ls)
List all sessions managed by the server. For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
|
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] [-x width] [-y height]
[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 -d is used,
-x and -y specify the size of the initial window (80 by 24 if not given).
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 [-S] [-t target-client]
(alias: refresh)
Refresh the current client if bound to a key, or a single client if one is given with -t. If -S is
specified, only update the client's status bar.
|
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 [-t target-client]
(alias: suspendc)
Suspend a client by sending SIGTSTP (tty stop).
|
switch-client [-lnpr] [-c target-client] [-t target-session]
(alias: switchc)
Switch the current session for client target-client to target-session. If -l, -n or -p is used,
the client is moved to the last, next or previous session respectively. -r toggles whether a
client is read-only (see the attach-session command).
|
copy-mode [-u] [-t target-pane]
Enter copy mode. The -u option scrolls one page up.
|
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] [-E end-line] [-S start-line] [-t target-pane]
(alias: capturep)
Capture the contents of a pane to the specified buffer, or a new buffer if none is specified.
-S and -E specify the starting and ending line numbers, zero is the first line of the visible pane
and negative numbers are lines in the history. The default is to capture only the visible contents
of the pane.
|
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-pane [-t target-window]
(alias: lastp)
Select the last (previously selected) pane.
|
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 [-as] [-F format] [-t target]
(alias: lsp)
If -a is given, target is ignored and all panes on the server are listed. If -s is given, target
is a session (or the current session). If neither is given, target is a window (or the current
window). For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
|
list-windows [-a] [-F format] [-t target-session]
(alias: lsw)
If -a is given, list all windows on the server. Otherwise, list windows in the current session or
in target-session. For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
|
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 [-adkP] [-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.
The -P option prints the location of the new window after it has been created.
|
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
option. 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-pane [-k] [-t target-pane] [shell-command]
(alias: respawnp)
Reactivate a pane in which the command has exited (see the remain-on-exit window option). If
shell-command is not given, the command used when the pane was created is executed. The pane must
be already inactive, unless -k is given, in which case any existing command is killed.
|
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 [-np] [-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. -n and -p are equivalent to the next-layout and previous-layout commands.
|
select-pane [-lDLRU] [-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. -l
is the same as using the last-pane command.
|
select-window [-lnp] [-t target-window]
(alias: selectw)
Select the window at target-window. -l, -n and -p are equivalent to the last-window, next-window
and previous-window commands.
|
split-window [-dhvP] [-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.
|
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 -R [-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. The -R flag causes the terminal state to be
reset.
|
send-prefix [-2] [-t target-pane]
Send the prefix key, or with -2 the secondary prefix key, to a window as if it was pressed.
|
unbind-key [-acn] [-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 -a is
present, all key bindings are removed.
If -t is present, key in key-table is unbound: the binding for command mode with -c or for normal
mode without.
|
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.
|
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.
|
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.
|
The list-clients, list-sessions, list-windows and list-panes commands accept the -F flag with a format
argument. This is a string which controls the output format of the command. Special character sequences
are replaced as documented under the status-left option and an additional long form is accepted.
Replacement variables are enclosed in ‘#{’ and ‘}’, for example ‘#{session_name}’ is equivalent to ‘#S’.
Conditionals are also accepted by prefixing with ‘?’ and separating two alternatives with a comma; if the
specified variable exists and is not zero, the first alternative is chosen, otherwise the second is used.
For example ‘#{?session_attached,attached,not attached}’ will include the string ‘attached’ if the session
is attached and the string ‘not attached’ if it is unattached.
The following variables are available, where appropriate:
Variable name Replaced with
client_activity Integer time client last had activity
client_activity_string String time client last had activity
client_created Integer time client created
client_created_string String time client created
client_cwd Working directory of client
client_height Height of client
client_readonly 1 if client is readonly
client_termname Terminal name of client
client_tty Pseudo terminal of client
client_utf8 1 if client supports utf8
client_width Width of client
host Hostname of local host
line Line number in the list
pane_active 1 if active pane
pane_dead 1 if pane is dead
pane_height Height of pane
pane_id Unique pane id
pane_pid PID of first process in pane
pane_start_command Command pane started with
pane_start_path Path pane started with
pane_title Title of pane
pane_tty Pseudo terminal of pane
pane_width Width of pane
session_attached 1 if session attached
session_created Integer time session created
session_created_string String time session created
session_group Number of session group
session_grouped 1 if session in a group
session_height Height of session
session_name Name of session
session_width Width of session
session_windows Number of windows in session
window_active 1 if window active
window_flags Window flags
window_height Height of window
window_index Index of window
window_layout Window layout description
window_name Name of window
window_width Width of window
|
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 ‘-’.
|
command-prompt [-I inputs] [-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 present, -I is a comma-separated list of
the initial text for each prompt. 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.
Both inputs and prompts may contain the special character sequences supported by the status-left
option.
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 [-p prompt] [-t target-client] command
(alias: confirm)
Ask for confirmation before executing command. If -p is given, prompt is the prompt to display;
otherwise a prompt is constructed from command. It may contain the special character sequences
supported by the status-left option.
This command works only from inside tmux.
|
display-message [-p] [-c target-client] [-t target-pane] [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; information is taken from target-pane if -t is given, otherwise the
active pane for the session attached to target-client.
|
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.
|
delete-buffer [-b buffer-index]
(alias: deleteb)
Delete the buffer at buffer-index, or the top buffer if not specified.
|
list-buffers
(alias: lsb)
List the global buffers.
|
load-buffer [-b buffer-index] 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] 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] data
(alias: setb)
Set the contents of the specified buffer to data.
|
show-buffer [-b buffer-index]
(alias: showb)
Display the contents of the specified buffer.
|
clock-mode [-t target-pane]
Display a large clock.
|
if-shell shell-command command [command]
(alias: if)
Execute the first command if shell-command returns success or the second command otherwise.
|
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.
|