tmux Cheatsheet

Plugins

Use this tmux reference while you build software engineering projects, review code, or refresh the syntax you reach for most.

Plugins (TPM)

git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm

# at the bottom of ~/.tmux.conf
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'
set -g @plugin 'christoomey/vim-tmux-navigator'

set -g @continuum-restore 'on'
set -g @resurrect-strategy-vim 'session'

run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'

Keys	TPM action
`prefix I`	Install new plugins
`prefix U`	Update plugins
`prefix M-u`	Remove plugins no longer listed

Plugin	Adds
`tmux-sensible`	Sane defaults everyone ends up setting
`tmux-resurrect`	Save and restore sessions across reboots (`prefix Ctrl-s`, `prefix Ctrl-r`)
`tmux-continuum`	Automatic periodic saving for resurrect
`vim-tmux-navigator`	One set of `Ctrl-hjkl` keys for Vim splits and tmux panes
`tmux-yank`	Clipboard integration that just works per platform
`tmux-fzf`	Fuzzy find sessions, windows, panes

Installing Without TPM

TPM is convenient but it is only a git clone plus a run-shell line. Doing it by hand is fine, and it is what you want on a server where you would rather not add a plugin manager.

mkdir -p ~/.tmux/plugins
git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-resurrect

run-shell ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-resurrect/resurrect.tmux

Order matters: run-shell lines and the run '…/tpm' line go at the bottom of the config, after your own set and bind lines, so your settings win where they overlap.

tmux-sensible

Worth reading rather than just installing, because it is a short list of the defaults nearly everyone converges on.

set -s escape-time 0
set -g history-limit 50000
set -g display-time 4000
set -g status-interval 5
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
set -g focus-events on
setw -g aggressive-resize on
bind C-p previous-window
bind C-n next-window

If you set these yourself, you do not need the plugin.

Resurrect and Continuum

set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'

set -g @resurrect-capture-pane-contents 'on'
set -g @resurrect-strategy-nvim 'session'
set -g @resurrect-processes 'ssh psql "~rails server" "npm run dev"'
set -g @continuum-restore 'on'
set -g @continuum-save-interval '15'
set -g @continuum-boot 'on'

Option	Does
`@resurrect-processes`	An allowlist of commands to restart, not just the shell
`@resurrect-capture-pane-contents`	Save scrollback too
`@resurrect-strategy-vim` / `-nvim`	Restore the editor's own session file
`@continuum-restore`	Restore automatically when the server starts
`@continuum-save-interval`	Minutes between automatic saves, `0` disables

Saved state lives in ~/.local/share/tmux/resurrect/, as plain text files you can inspect.

Plugin Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause
`prefix I` does nothing	The `run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'` line is missing or not last
A plugin's bindings are ignored	Your own `bind` came after it, or vice versa. Check `list-keys`.
Config errors after adding a plugin	tmux stops reading the file at the first error. Fix that line.
Plugin works locally, not on a server	The clone did not happen there. Plugins are not synced by your dotfiles unless you vendor them.

tmux list-keys | grep -i resurrect
ls ~/.tmux/plugins
tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf