Tmux Steipete

Remote-control tmux sessions for interactive CLIs by sending keystrokes and scraping pane output.

tmux Skill (Clawdbot)

Use tmux only when you need an interactive TTY. Prefer bash background mode for long-running, non-interactive tasks.

Quickstart (isolated socket, bash tool)

bash

SOCKET_DIR="${CLAWDBOT_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR:-${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/clawdbot-tmux-sockets}"
mkdir -p "$SOCKET_DIR"
SOCKET="$SOCKET_DIR/clawdbot.sock"
SESSION=clawdbot-python

tmux -S "$SOCKET" new -d -s "$SESSION" -n shell
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION":0.0 -- 'PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 python3 -q' Enter
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION":0.0 -S -200

After starting a session, always print monitor commands:

text

To monitor:
  tmux -S "$SOCKET" attach -t "$SESSION"
  tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION":0.0 -S -200

Socket convention

• Use CLAWDBOT_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR (default ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/clawdbot-tmux-sockets).
• Default socket path: "$CLAWDBOT_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR/clawdbot.sock".

Targeting panes and naming

• Target format: session:window.pane (defaults to :0.0).
• Keep names short; avoid spaces.
• Inspect: tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-sessions, tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-panes -a.

Finding sessions

• List sessions on your socket: {baseDir}/scripts/find-sessions.sh -S "$SOCKET".
• Scan all sockets: {baseDir}/scripts/find-sessions.sh --all (uses CLAWDBOT_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR).

Sending input safely

• Prefer literal sends: tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t target -l -- "$cmd".
• Control keys: tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t target C-c.

Watching output

• Capture recent history: tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t target -S -200.
• Wait for prompts: {baseDir}/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t session:0.0 -p 'pattern'.
• Attaching is OK; detach with Ctrl+b d.

Spawning processes

• For python REPLs, set PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 (non-basic REPL breaks send-keys flows).

Windows / WSL

• tmux is supported on macOS/Linux. On Windows, use WSL and install tmux inside WSL.
• This skill is gated to darwin/linux and requires tmux on PATH.

Orchestrating Coding Agents (Codex, Claude Code)

tmux excels at running multiple coding agents in parallel:

bash

SOCKET="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/codex-army.sock"

# Create multiple sessions
for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
  tmux -S "$SOCKET" new-session -d -s "agent-$i"
done

# Launch agents in different workdirs
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t agent-1 "cd /tmp/project1 && codex --yolo 'Fix bug X'" Enter
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t agent-2 "cd /tmp/project2 && codex --yolo 'Fix bug Y'" Enter

# Poll for completion (check if prompt returned)
for sess in agent-1 agent-2; do
  if tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -t "$sess" -S -3 | grep -q "❯"; then
    echo "$sess: DONE"
  else
    echo "$sess: Running..."
  fi
done

# Get full output from completed session
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -t agent-1 -S -500

Tips:

• Use separate git worktrees for parallel fixes (no branch conflicts)
• pnpm install first before running codex in fresh clones
• Check for shell prompt (❯ or $) to detect completion
• Codex needs --yolo or --full-auto for non-interactive fixes

Cleanup

• Kill a session: tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t "$SESSION".
• Kill all sessions on a socket: tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-sessions -F '#{session_name}' | xargs -r -n1 tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t.
• Remove everything on the private socket: tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-server.

Helper: wait-for-text.sh

{baseDir}/scripts/wait-for-text.sh polls a pane for a regex (or fixed string) with a timeout.

bash

{baseDir}/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t session:0.0 -p 'pattern' [-F] [-T 20] [-i 0.5] [-l 2000]

• -t/--target pane target (required)
• -p/--pattern regex to match (required); add -F for fixed string
• -T timeout seconds (integer, default 15)
• -i poll interval seconds (default 0.5)
• -l history lines to search (integer, default 1000)