How do I install the Tmux skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add the-open-agent/tmux 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.

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Which AI agents work with Tmux?

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.

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the-open-agent (@the-open-agent) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Tmux by the-open-agent — Agent Skill

Name: Tmux
Author: the-open-agent

File contents

tmux Session Control

Control tmux sessions by sending keystrokes and reading output. Essential for managing long-running terminal sessions.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

Monitoring sessions in tmux
Sending input to interactive terminal applications
Scraping output from long-running processes in tmux
Navigating tmux panes/windows programmatically
Checking on background work in existing sessions

When NOT to Use

❌ DON'T use this skill when:

Running one-off shell commands → run them directly
Starting new background processes → use shell backgrounding
Non-interactive scripts → run them directly
The process isn't in tmux
You need to create a new tmux session → use tmux new-session

Common Commands

List Sessions

tmux list-sessions
tmux ls

Capture Output

# Last 20 lines of pane
tmux capture-pane -t shared -p | tail -20

# Entire scrollback
tmux capture-pane -t shared -p -S -

# Specific pane in window
tmux capture-pane -t shared:0.0 -p

Send Keys

# Send text (doesn't press Enter)
tmux send-keys -t shared "hello"

# Send text + Enter
tmux send-keys -t shared "y" Enter

# Send special keys
tmux send-keys -t shared Enter
tmux send-keys -t shared Escape
tmux send-keys -t shared C-c          # Ctrl+C
tmux send-keys -t shared C-d          # Ctrl+D (EOF)
tmux send-keys -t shared C-z          # Ctrl+Z (suspend)

Window/Pane Navigation

# Select window
tmux select-window -t shared:0

# Select pane
tmux select-pane -t shared:0.1

# List windows
tmux list-windows -t shared

Session Management

# Create new session
tmux new-session -d -s newsession

# Kill session
tmux kill-session -t sessionname

# Rename session
tmux rename-session -t old new

Sending Input Safely

For interactive TUIs, split text and Enter into separate sends to avoid paste/multiline edge cases:

tmux send-keys -t shared -l -- "Please apply the patch in src/foo.ts"
sleep 0.1
tmux send-keys -t shared Enter

Check All Sessions Status

for s in $(tmux list-sessions -F '#{session_name}'); do
  echo "=== $s ==="
  tmux capture-pane -t $s -p 2>/dev/null | tail -5
done

Notes

Use capture-pane -p to print to stdout (essential for scripting)
-S - captures entire scrollback history
Target format: session:window.pane (e.g., shared:0.0)
Sessions persist across SSH disconnects

---name: tmuxdescription: Remote-control tmux sessions for interactive CLIs by sending keystrokes and scraping pane output.---# tmux Session ControlControl tmux sessions by sending keystrokes and reading output. Essential for managing long-running terminal sessions.## When to Use✅ **USE this skill when:**- Monitoring sessions in tmux- Sending input to interactive terminal applications- Scraping output from long-running processes in tmux- Navigating tmux panes/windows programmatically- Checking on background work in existing sessions## When NOT to Use❌ **DON'T use this skill when:**- Running one-off shell commands → run them directly- Starting new background processes → use shell backgrounding- Non-interactive scripts → run them directly- The process isn't in tmux- You need to create a new tmux session → use `tmux new-session`## Common Commands### List Sessions```bashtmux list-sessionstmux ls```### Capture Output```bash# Last 20 lines of panetmux capture-pane -t shared -p | tail -20# Entire scrollbacktmux capture-pane -t shared -p -S -# Specific pane in windowtmux capture-pane -t shared:0.0 -p```### Send Keys```bash# Send text (doesn't press Enter)tmux send-keys -t shared "hello"# Send text + Entertmux send-keys -t shared "y" Enter# Send special keystmux send-keys -t shared Entertmux send-keys -t shared Escapetmux send-keys -t shared C-c # Ctrl+Ctmux send-keys -t shared C-d # Ctrl+D (EOF)tmux send-keys -t shared C-z # Ctrl+Z (suspend)```### Window/Pane Navigation```bash# Select windowtmux select-window -t shared:0# Select panetmux select-pane -t shared:0.1# List windowstmux list-windows -t shared```### Session Management```bash# Create new sessiontmux new-session -d -s newsession# Kill sessiontmux kill-session -t sessionname# Rename sessiontmux rename-session -t old new```## Sending Input SafelyFor interactive TUIs, split text and Enter into separate sends to avoid paste/multiline edge cases:```bashtmux send-keys -t shared -l -- "Please apply the patch in src/foo.ts"sleep 0.1tmux send-keys -t shared Enter```## Check All Sessions Status```bashfor s in $(tmux list-sessions -F '#{session_name}'); do echo "=== $s ===" tmux capture-pane -t $s -p 2>/dev/null | tail -5done```## Notes- Use `capture-pane -p` to print to stdout (essential for scripting)- `-S -` captures entire scrollback history- Target format: `session:window.pane` (e.g., `shared:0.0`)- Sessions persist across SSH disconnects

Frequently asked questions

Tmux