TMUX(1)                     General Commands Manual                    TMUX(1)

NAME
     tmux – terminal multiplexer

SYNOPSIS
     tmux [-vV] [-f file] [-S socket-path] [command [flags]]

DESCRIPTION
     tmux is a terminal multiplexer; it enables a number of terminals (or
     windows) to be accessed and controlled from a single terminal.

     tmux runs as a server-client system.  A server is created automatically
     when necessary and holds a number of sessions, each of which may have a
     number of windows linked to it.  Any number of clients may connect to a
     session, or the server may be controlled by issuing commands with tmux.
     Communication takes place through a socket, by default placed in /tmp.

     The options are as follows:

     -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            Print program version.

     -f file       Specify an alternative configuration file.  By default,
                   tmux will look for a config file at ~/.tmux.conf.

     -S socket-path
                   Specify an alternative path to the server socket.  The
                   default is /tmp/tmux-UID, where UID is the uid of the user
                   who invoked tmux.

     command [flags]
                   This specifies one of a set of commands used to control
                   tmux, and described in the following sections.  If no
                   command and flags is specified, the new-session command is
                   assumed.

QUICK START
     To create a new tmux session running vi(1):

           $ tmux new-session vi

     Most commands have a shorter form, known as an alias.  For new-session,
     this is new:

           $ tmux new vi

     Alternatively, the shortest unambiguous form of a command is accepted.
     If there are several options, they are listed:

           $ tmux n
           ambiguous command: n, could be: new-session, new-window, next-window
           $

     Within an active session, a new window may be created by typing ‘^B’
     (ctrl-B, known as the prefix key) followed by the ‘c’ key.

     Windows may be navigated with: ‘^B 0’ (to select window 0), ‘^B 1’ (to
     select window 1), and so on; ‘^B n’ to select the next window; and ‘^B p’
     to select the previous window.

     A session may be detached using ‘^B d’ and reattached with:

           $ tmux attach-session

     Typing ‘^B ?’ lists the current key bindings in the current window; up
     and down may be used to navigate the list or ‘Q’ to exit from it.

KEY BINDINGS
     tmux may be controlled from an attached client by using a key combination
     of a prefix, ‘^B’ (ctrl-B) by default, followed by a command key.

     Some of the default key bindings include:

     ‘d’     Detach current client.
     ‘c’     Create new window.
     ‘n’     Change to next window in the current session.
     ‘p’     Change to previous window in the current session.
     ‘l’     Move to last (previously selected) window in the current session.
     ‘?’     List current key bindings.

     A complete list may be obtained with the list-keys command (bound to ‘?’
     by default).  Key bindings may be changed with the bind-key and
     unbind-key commands.

HISTORY
     tmux maintains a configurable history buffer for each window.  By
     default, up to 2000 lines are kept, this can be altered with the
     history-limit option (see the set-option command below).

MODES
     A tmux window may be in one of several modes.  The default permits direct
     access to the terminal attached to the window.  The others are:

     output mode
             This is entered when a command which produces output, such as
             list-keys, is executed from a key binding.  The ‘up’, ‘down’,
             ‘page-up’ and ‘page-down’ keys or vi(1) style ‘j’ and ‘k’ keys
             may be used to scroll the output up and down.  The ‘q’ key will
             exit output mode.

     scroll mode
             This is entered with the scroll-mode command (bound to ‘=’ by
             default) and permits the window history buffer to be inspected.
             In addition to the commands supported by output mode, the left
             and right arrow keys, or ‘h’ and ‘l’, will scroll left and right.

     copy mode
             This permits a section of a window or its history to be copied to
             the paste buffer for later insertion into another window.  The
             navigation keys move the cursor around the window, scrolling as
             necessary.  In addition, ‘^A’ and ‘^E’ (or the vi(1) style ‘0’
             and ‘$’ keys) move to the start and end of the line; the space
             key begins a selection; and the enter key or ‘^W’ copies the
             selection to the paste buffer and exits copy mode.

             This mode is entered with the copy-mode command, bound to [‘’ by
             default.

COMMANDS
     This section contains a list of the commands supported by tmux.  There
     are some flags shared by several commands; these are:

     -c client-tty
                   Apply command to the client on the given tty.  Clients may
                   be listed with the list-clients command.

     -s session-name
                   Apply command to the session named session-name.  If it is
                   omitted and tmux is invoked from a running tmux client, the
                   session containing the client is connected to will be used;
                   otherwise, if only one session exists, it is chosen, or if
                   multiple sessions exist, an error is generated.

     The following commands are available:

     attach-session [-d] [-t target-session]
                   (alias: attach)
             Create a new client in the current terminal and attach it to a
             session.  If -d is specified, any other clients attached to the
             session are detached.

     bind-key key command [arguments]
                   (alias: bind)
             Bind key key to command.

     copy-mode [-t target-window]
             Enter copy mode.

     detach-client [-t target-client]
                   (alias: detach)
             Detach the current client if bound to a key, or the specified
             client with -t.

     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.

     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-window [-t target-session]
                   (alias: last)
             Select the last (previously selected) window.  If no
             target-session is specified, select to 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-clients
                   (alias: lsc)
             List all clients attached to the server.

     list-keys
                   (alias: lsk)
             List all key bindings.

     list-sessions
                   (alias: ls)
             List all sessions managed by the server.

     list-windows [-s session-name]
                   (alias: lsw)
             List all windows.

     new-session [-d] [-n window-name] [-s session-name] [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 command are the name of and command to execute in the initial
             window.

     new-window [-d] [-i index] [-n name] [-s session-name] [command]
                   (alias: neww)
             Create a new window.  If -d is given, the session does not make
             the new window the current window.  index and name are the index
             of the new window in the session and the name of the new window.
             command is the command to execute.  If index is not specified,
             the first free index is used.  If command is not specified, the
             default command is used.

             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.

     next-window [-s session-name]
                   (alias: next)
             Move to the next window in the session.

     paste-buffer [-s session-name]
                   (alias: paste)
             Insert the contents of the paste buffer into the current window.
             Ignored unless executed via a key binding.

     previous-window [-s session-name]
                   (alias: prev)
             Move to the previous window in the session.

     refresh-client [-c client-tty]
                   (alias: refresh)
             Refresh the current client if bound to a key, or a single client
             if one given with -c.

     rename-session [-s session-name] new-name
                   (alias: rename)
             Rename the session to new-name.

     rename-window [-i index] [-s session-name] new-name
                   (alias: renamew)
             Rename the current window, or the window at index if specifed, to
             new-name.

     scroll-mode [-s session-name]
             Enter scroll mode.

     select-window [-s session-name] [-i index]
                   (alias: selectw)
             Select the window at index.

     send-keys [-c client-tty] key ...
             Send a key or keys to a window.  Each argument key is the name of
             the key (such as ‘^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.

     send-prefix [-c client-tty]
             Send the prefix key to a window as if it was pressed.

     set-option option value
                   (alias: set)
             Set an option.  Possible options are:

             prefix key
                     Set the current prefix key.

             history-limit lines
                     Set the maximum number of lines held in window history.
                     This setting applies only to new windows - existing
                     window histories are not resized and retain the limit at
                     the point they were created.

             status [on | off]
                     Show or hide the status line.

             status-fg colour
                     Set status line foreground colour, where colour is one
                     of: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white
                     or default.

             status-bg colour
                     Set status line background colour.

             bell-action [any | none | current]
                     Set action on window bell.  any means a bell in any
                     window linked to a session causes a bell in the current
                     window of that session, none means all bells are ignored
                     and current means only bell in windows other than the
                     current window are ignored.

             default-command command
                     Sets the command used for new windows (if not specified
                     when the window is created) to command.  The default is
                     “exec $SHELL”.

     start-server
             Start the tmux server, if not already running, without creating
             any sessions.

     swap-window [-i index] [-s session-name] source-name source-index
                   (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
             index.

     unbind-key key
                   (alias: unbind)
             Unbind the key bound to key.

     unlink-window [-i index] [-s session-name]
                   (alias: unlinkw)
             Unlink the window at index.  A window may be unlinked only if it
             is linked to multiple sessions - windows may not be linked to no
             sessions.

SEE ALSO
     pty(4)

AUTHORS
     Nicholas Marriott ⟨nicm@users.sourceforge.net⟩

BSD                            November 9, 2007                            BSD