tmux

A terminal multiplexer.

tmux lets you run multiple terminals inside a single window, detach from a session and reattach later (possibly from a different machine), share a session between users, and split panes horizontally or vertically with arbitrary nested layouts. The "always on" pattern of running tmux on a remote server and detaching/reattaching is the canonical way to keep long-running shell work alive across SSH disconnects.

The configuration file (~/.tmux.conf) controls keybindings, the status line, colour scheme, and pane behaviour. The plugin manager TPM and the substantial collection of community plugins extend tmux with features like session resurrection, prefix-key indicators, and copy-to-clipboard integrations.

Nicholas Marriott started tmux in 2007 inspired by GNU screen but with a more flexible design — explicit pane management, better ergonomics, more configurable. Most experienced terminal- heavy Linux users have effectively retired GNU screen in favour of tmux. The project is BSD-style licensed and widely packaged.

tmux screenshot — Screenshot: Demo-tmux contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

License: ISC

Category: Terminal

Website: https://github.com/tmux/tmux

Install

Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install tmux
Fedora/RHEL:   sudo dnf install tmux
Arch:          sudo pacman -S tmux
macOS:         brew install tmux

Authors

Nicholas Marriott (creator)
tmux contributors

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