About tmux Cheatsheet

Sessions, windows, panes, copy mode for persistent terminals. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Cheatsheets collection.

Use Cases

• Remote developers keeping long-running builds alive over SSH
• SREs monitoring multiple server logs in split panes simultaneously
• Data engineers running overnight ETL jobs in persistent sessions
• Developers pairing remotely by sharing a tmux session

Tips

• Start with the session commands to keep processes alive after disconnect
• Use the pane splitting shortcuts to build a multi-panel workspace
• Check the copy mode bindings for scrollback and text selection

Fun Facts

• tmux was created by Nicholas Marriott and first released in 2007 as a BSD-licensed replacement for GNU Screen, which dates back to 1987.
• The prefix key Ctrl-b was chosen to avoid conflicting with Emacs (Ctrl-a) and GNU Screen (also Ctrl-a) default bindings.
• tmux sessions survive SSH disconnections because the server process runs as a daemon — it was one of the first terminal multiplexers to use a client-server architecture.

FAQ

Sessions, windows, panes — the distinction?

Session is the top-level container. Windows are 'tabs' within a session. Panes are split views within a window. The prefix key (default Ctrl-b) gates all commands.

What's the benefit over terminal tabs?

Persistence — sessions survive SSH disconnects. Reattach from a different machine and your work is exactly where you left it.

Can I customize the prefix key?

Yes — many users change to Ctrl-a for less wrist strain. Covered in the config section.

What about plugins?

TPM (tmux plugin manager) is mentioned with common plugins (tmux-resurrect, tmux-yank). Plugins are usually the first customization.