tmux

A themed tmux setup with one session per project and persistence across reboots.

Why tmux?

One terminal, many persistent workspaces. Run a session per project with a window per task: editor, dev server, logs, git, REPLs, all in the same place. Close the terminal and reattach later: everything is exactly where you left it, still running.

The workflow that makes it click:

Session per project: each project gets its own named, self-contained workspace.
Window per task: one for the dev server, one for git, one for logs, and so on.
Detach, don't kill: closing the terminal just detaches; processes keep running in the background until you reattach.

A concrete win: keep a long-running CLI like Claude Code in its own window and closing the terminal won't lose its context. Because detach leaves the process alive, the conversation stays exactly where it was; reattach later and pick up mid-thread, no --resume needed. (That only applies to detach; a full reboot still kills the server. See Persistence across reboots below.)

Install

brew install tmux

Keybindings

Prefix is remapped to C-a (easier to reach than the default C-b).

Action	Keys
Prefix	`C-a`
Reload config	`prefix` + `r`
Split vertical	`prefix` + `\|`
Split horizontal	`prefix` + `-`
Navigate panes	`prefix` + `h/j/k/l`
Last window	`prefix` + `Tab`
Rename window	`prefix` + `,`
Session switcher	`prefix` + `S` (popup)
Save sessions	`prefix` + `C-s`
Restore sessions	`prefix` + `C-r`
Install plugins	`prefix` + `I`

The config

~/.tmux.conf

# ── Prefix ─────────────────────────────────────────────
unbind C-b
set -g prefix C-a
bind C-a send-prefix
 
# ── General ────────────────────────────────────────────
set -g default-terminal "tmux-256color"
set -ga terminal-overrides ",xterm-256color:Tc,alacritty:Tc,xterm-ghostty:Tc"
set -g mouse on
set -g base-index 1
setw -g pane-base-index 1
set -g renumber-windows on
set -g history-limit 50000
set -g escape-time 0
set -g focus-events on
setw -g mode-keys vi
 
# ── Bindings ───────────────────────────────────────────
bind | split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind - split-window -v -c "#{pane_current_path}"
unbind '"'
unbind %
 
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf \; display-message "  reloaded"
 
bind h select-pane -L
bind j select-pane -D
bind k select-pane -U
bind l select-pane -R
 
bind Tab last-window
bind S display-popup -E -w 60% -h 60% "tmux choose-tree -Zs"
 
# vi-mode copy → system clipboard (macOS)
bind -T copy-mode-vi v send-keys -X begin-selection
bind -T copy-mode-vi y send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel "pbcopy"
 
# ── Status (JOYCO accent #ff8c42) ──────────────────────
set -g status-position bottom
set -g status-justify centre
set -g status-style "bg=default fg=#b0b0b0"
set -g status-interval 5
 
set -g status-left-length 40
set -g status-left "#[fg=#{?client_prefix,#ff8c42,#3a3a3a}]●#[fg=#6a6a6a] #S  "
 
set -g status-right-length 60
set -g status-right "#[fg=#6a6a6a]%H:%M #[fg=#3a3a3a]·#[fg=#ff8c42,bold] PEK "
 
setw -g window-status-format "#[fg=#6a6a6a] #W "
setw -g window-status-current-format "#[fg=#ff8c42,bold] #W "
setw -g window-status-separator "#[fg=#3a3a3a]·"
 
# ── Borders ────────────────────────────────────────────
set -g pane-border-style "fg=#2a2a2a"
set -g pane-active-border-style "fg=#5a5a5a"
set -g pane-border-lines single
 
# ── Messages & modes ───────────────────────────────────
set -g message-style "bg=default fg=#ff8c42"
set -g message-command-style "bg=default fg=#ff8c42"
set -g mode-style "bg=#3a3a3a fg=#ffffff"
 
# ── Plugins (TPM) ──────────────────────────────────────
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'
 
set -g @resurrect-capture-pane-contents 'on'
# space-separated list of programs to relaunch on restore
set -g @resurrect-processes 'nvim vim claude'
 
set -g @continuum-restore 'on'
set -g @continuum-save-interval '15'
 
# keep this line at the very bottom
run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'

Persistence across reboots

Detaching keeps sessions alive, but a shutdown or reboot kills the tmux server and every process in it. tmux-resurrect + tmux-continuum restore your layout automatically: sessions, windows, panes, and working directories all come back.

Install TPM

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

Then reload tmux and press prefix + I to install the plugins (already declared in the config above). Do one manual save with prefix + C-s so there's a snapshot to restore from.

Restored programs relaunch fresh: the layout (sessions, windows, panes, working directories) comes back, but live in-memory state does not. Anything stateful, such as an editor buffer, a running REPL, or a long-lived process, needs its own resume path. Add the programs worth relaunching to @resurrect-processes, and rely on each tool's own restore mechanism for the actual state.

Example with Claude Code: add claude to @resurrect-processes and the pane relaunches the CLI on restore, but with an empty conversation. Run claude --resume inside that pane to pick the session back up; history is stored per directory, so when the window is sitting in the project folder it lists exactly that project's conversations. tmux brings back the window; --resume brings back the context.

Why tmux?

Install

Keybindings

The config

Persistence across reboots

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