tmux Cheatsheet

A comprehensive quick-reference for the popular terminal multiplexer, tmux, designed to enhance your command-line productivity.

For anyone who spends a significant amount of time in the terminal, managing multiple tasks, sessions, and windows can quickly become a cumbersome process. This is where tmux, a powerful terminal multiplexer, comes into play. It allows you to create and control multiple terminal sessions from a single screen, detach from them while processes continue to run in the background, and reattach later from any terminal. This cheatsheet provides a concise overview of the most essential tmux commands and key bindings to get you up and running.

The Prefix

All tmux commands are initiated with a prefix key, which by default is Ctrl+b. After pressing the prefix, you then press the desired command key.

Session Management

A tmux session is an independent workspace that contains its own set of windows and panes.

Command	Description
`tmux new` or `tmux`	Start a new session.
`tmux new -s [session_name]`	Start a new session with a specific name.
`tmux ls`	List all active tmux sessions.
`tmux a` or `tmux attach`	Attach to the last used session.
`tmux a -t [session_name]`	Attach to a session with a specific name.
`Ctrl+b d`	Detach from the current session.
`Ctrl+b $`	Rename the current session.
`tmux kill-ses -t [session_name]`	Kill a specific session.
`tmux kill-server`	Kill the tmux server and all sessions.

Window Management

Within a session, you can create multiple windows, which are akin to tabs in a web browser.

Keystroke	Description
`Ctrl+b c`	Create a new window.
`Ctrl+b ,`	Rename the current window.
`Ctrl+b w`	List all windows in the current session.
`Ctrl+b p`	Switch to the previous window.
`Ctrl+b n`	Switch to the next window.
`Ctrl+b [0-9]`	Switch to a specific window by its number.
`Ctrl+b &`	Kill the current window.

Pane Management

Panes allow you to split a single window into multiple terminal views, enabling you to see and interact with several shells at once.

Keystroke	Description
`Ctrl+b %`	Split the current pane vertically.
`Ctrl+b "`	Split the current pane horizontally.
`Ctrl+b [arrow key]`	Navigate between panes.
`Ctrl+b o`	Cycle through the panes in the current window.
`Ctrl+b ;`	Toggle between the current and the last active pane.
`Ctrl+b z`	Toggle zoom for the current pane.
`Ctrl+b x`	Close the current pane.
`Ctrl+b {`	Swap the current pane with the previous one.
`Ctrl+b }`	Swap the current pane with the next one.

Customization

You can personalize your tmux experience by creating and editing a configuration file located at ~/.tmux.conf. After making changes to this file, you can apply them by either restarting tmux or by sourcing the file with Ctrl+b : followed by source-file ~/.tmux.conf.

Common Customizations:

Change the prefix key: Many users find Ctrl+a to be a more convenient prefix.
```
unbind C-b
set-option -g prefix C-a
bind-key C-a send-prefix
```
More intuitive split commands: Remap the pane splitting keys to be more memorable.
```
bind | split-window -h
bind - split-window -v
```
Enable mouse mode: This allows you to use your mouse to switch between panes and windows.
```
set -g mouse on
```
Start window and pane numbering at 1: By default, numbering starts at 0.
```
set -g base-index 1
setw -g pane-base-index 1
```

Customize the status bar: Change the colors and information displayed in the status bar.

set -g status-bg black
set -g status-fg white
set -g status-left "#[fg=green]#S #[fg=yellow]#I #[fg=cyan]#P"

This cheatsheet covers the fundamental commands to get you started with tmux. With its extensive customization options, tmux can be tailored to fit a wide variety of workflows, making it an indispensable tool for any power user of the command line.