How do I install the Tmux Background Agents skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add mediar-ai/tmux-background-agents in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Tmux Background Agents skill do?

tmux Background Agents It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.

Is Tmux Background Agents safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Tmux Background Agents?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Tmux Background Agents free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Tmux Background Agents?

mediar-ai (@mediar-ai) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Tmux Background Agents by mediar-ai

Name: Tmux Background Agents
Author: mediar-ai

File contents

tmux Background Agents

Manage background Claude Code sessions using tmux. Start agents, send prompts, read responses, and hand off to Terminal windows - all without interrupting your main session.

Prerequisites

macOS with Terminal.app
tmux installed (brew install tmux)
Claude Code CLI installed

Instructions

Start a new background Claude session

# Basic - starts in specified directory
tmux new-session -d -s SESSION_NAME "cd /path/to/dir && claude --dangerously-skip-permissions"

# With initial prompt
tmux new-session -d -s SESSION_NAME "cd /path/to/dir && claude --dangerously-skip-permissions 'YOUR PROMPT HERE'"

Send a prompt to an existing session

tmux send-keys -t SESSION_NAME "your prompt here" Enter

Note: Sometimes an extra Enter is needed:

tmux send-keys -t SESSION_NAME Enter

Read response from a session

tmux capture-pane -t SESSION_NAME -p

For full scrollback:

tmux capture-pane -t SESSION_NAME -p -S -100

List all sessions

tmux ls

Open a session in a Terminal window (hand off to user)

osascript <<'APPLESCRIPT'
tell application "Terminal"
  activate
  do script "tmux attach -t SESSION_NAME"
end tell
APPLESCRIPT

Kill a session

tmux kill-session -t SESSION_NAME

Workflow Example

Start session:

tmux new-session -d -s my-agent "cd ~/project && claude --dangerously-skip-permissions"
sleep 5

Send prompt:

tmux send-keys -t my-agent "Fix the bug in auth.swift" Enter

Wait and read response:

sleep 15
tmux capture-pane -t my-agent -p

Hand off to user:

osascript -e 'tell application "Terminal" to do script "tmux attach -t my-agent"'

User Request Mapping

When the user asks to:

"start a background agent" → create tmux session with Claude
"send prompt to agent X" → use tmux send-keys
"check agent X" → use tmux capture-pane
"open agent X" → open Terminal attached to tmux session
"list agents" → use tmux ls
"stop agent X" → use tmux kill-session

Tips

Always wait 5-8 seconds after starting a session for Claude to initialize
After sending a prompt, wait 10-15 seconds for response
Send an extra Enter if the prompt doesn't seem to submit
Use descriptive session names like auth-fix, ui-refactor, etc.

---name: tmux-background-agentsdescription: tmux Background Agents---# tmux Background AgentsManage background Claude Code sessions using tmux. Start agents, send prompts, read responses, and hand off to Terminal windows - all without interrupting your main session.## Prerequisites- macOS with Terminal.app- tmux installed (`brew install tmux`)- Claude Code CLI installed## Instructions### Start a new background Claude session```bash# Basic - starts in specified directorytmux new-session -d -s SESSION_NAME "cd /path/to/dir && claude --dangerously-skip-permissions"# With initial prompttmux new-session -d -s SESSION_NAME "cd /path/to/dir && claude --dangerously-skip-permissions 'YOUR PROMPT HERE'"```### Send a prompt to an existing session```bashtmux send-keys -t SESSION_NAME "your prompt here" Enter```Note: Sometimes an extra `Enter` is needed:```bashtmux send-keys -t SESSION_NAME Enter```### Read response from a session```bashtmux capture-pane -t SESSION_NAME -p```For full scrollback:```bashtmux capture-pane -t SESSION_NAME -p -S -100```### List all sessions```bashtmux ls```### Open a session in a Terminal window (hand off to user)```bashosascript <<'APPLESCRIPT'tell application "Terminal" activate do script "tmux attach -t SESSION_NAME"end tellAPPLESCRIPT```### Kill a session```bashtmux kill-session -t SESSION_NAME```## Workflow Example1. **Start session:**```bashtmux new-session -d -s my-agent "cd ~/project && claude --dangerously-skip-permissions"sleep 5```2. **Send prompt:**```bashtmux send-keys -t my-agent "Fix the bug in auth.swift" Enter```3. **Wait and read response:**```bashsleep 15tmux capture-pane -t my-agent -p```4. **Hand off to user:**```bashosascript -e 'tell application "Terminal" to do script "tmux attach -t my-agent"'```## User Request MappingWhen the user asks to:- "start a background agent" → create tmux session with Claude- "send prompt to agent X" → use `tmux send-keys`- "check agent X" → use `tmux capture-pane`- "open agent X" → open Terminal attached to tmux session- "list agents" → use `tmux ls`- "stop agent X" → use `tmux kill-session`## Tips- Always wait 5-8 seconds after starting a session for Claude to initialize- After sending a prompt, wait 10-15 seconds for response- Send an extra `Enter` if the prompt doesn't seem to submit- Use descriptive session names like `auth-fix`, `ui-refactor`, etc.

Frequently asked questions

Tmux Background Agents