tmux_skill

Overview

This skill helps you run and manage background or long-running processes using tmux. It provides practical commands and conventions to create sessions, named tabs (windows), run commands, inspect output, and clean up when finished. Use it to keep processes alive on remote hosts, restart services, or monitor logs without keeping an SSH session open.

How this skill works

The skill guides you to create a persistent tmux session that holds named windows (tabs) where individual commands run. You send commands into a window, leave them running, and later capture the pane contents to inspect output or send control keys like Ctrl+C. It emphasizes naming sessions and windows and includes inspection and cleanup commands.

When to use it

• Run servers, background jobs, or watchers that must survive a disconnected SSH session.
• Monitor logs or long builds while you detach and reattach later.
• Run interactive or long-running tooling on remote machines without screen persistence.
• Isolate multiple processes in separate named windows for easier management.
• Automate periodic checks by capturing pane output on demand.

Best practices

• Name sessions after your project (use the directory basename) so multiple sessions are easy to identify.
• Always name windows instead of relying on numbers for clarity.
• Specify the session name (-t) in commands to avoid affecting the wrong session.
• Use tmux capture-pane to retrieve output; repeat with exponential backoff if the process is still producing output.
• Clean up with tmux kill-window or tmux kill-session when work is complete to avoid stale sessions.

Example use cases

• Start a web server in a named window, detach, and reconnect later to review logs and restart.
• Run a long test suite in its own session so you can keep other terminal work separate.
• Tail multiple log files in different windows to compare behavior across services.
• Launch a build or deploy script and periodically capture the pane to check progress without staying attached.
• Keep debugging shells for different microservices running concurrently in named windows.