Tmux Configurations

Minimal Tmux Config

Tmux is my #1 goto when I fire up any terminal that I plan to spend more than 30 mins on. It also happens to be the default terminal for my VSCode terminal.

Baseline Configuration

The following is a dead simple configuration that I can even fat finger if required.

set -g mouse on
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
set-option -g default-command bash

set -g window-style 'fg=colour230,bg=colour235'
set -g window-active-style 'fg=colour230,bg=colour233'

set -g pane-active-border-style 'fg=colour237,bg=colour234'
set -g pane-border-style 'fg=colour232,bg=colour234'
set -g pane-border-format '###{pane_index} [ #{pane_tty} ] S:#{session_name} M:#{pane_marked} #{pane_width}x#{pane_height}'
set -g pane-border-status 'bottom' # off|top|bottom

bind-key x kill-pane

Features:

• Mouse support so I don't need to remember any select pane or resize pane keyboard magic hotkeys and commands.
• By default, tmux will enable colors on the screen.
• In general I like to use a dark theme, therefore the window/pane backgrounds switch between varying levels of dark gray, but different enough that I can easily see when terminal is active.
• I list some pane information at the bottom of each pane:
  • Pane Index (for when we don't have a mouse)
  • Pane Tty - Allows some fun hackery when capturing dumps or logging
  • Session - Allows me to be aware of what session I'm in when I need to reset my SSH connection for whatever reason.
  • An indicator of whether the pane is Marked or not. Tmux marks have bitten me a bunch in my workflow in the paste so I like to always be aware of its state.
  • Dimensions - For those times you want that exact 80x25 terminal pane. :)
• I've added a special Ctrl-B, x to kill the current pane. I really don't use this.

Minimal Light Theme

On the flip side, when I'm using a laptop or monitor outside, its often much better to have a light theme. This configuration does just that.

set -g mouse on
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
set-option -g default-command bash

set -g window-style 'fg=colour237,bg=colour251'
set -g window-active-style 'fg=colour237,bg=colour231'

set -g pane-active-border-style 'fg=colour237,bg=colour234'
set -g pane-border-style 'fg=colour232,bg=colour234'
set -g pane-border-format '###{pane_index} [ #{pane_tty} ] S:#{session_name} M:#{pane_marked} #{pane_width}x#{pane_height}'
set -g pane-border-status 'bottom' # off|top|bottom

bind-key x kill-pane

Switching Themes:

If you're going to have multiple themes, you are going to want an easy way to switch between the two. For this I have a configs in my home directory set like the following:

lrwxrwxrwx  1 user user   31 Jan 1 2022 .tmux.conf -> .tmux.conf.dark
-rw-rw-r--  1 user user  509 Jan 1 2022 .tmux.conf.dark
-rw-rw-r--  1 user user  333 Jan 1 2022 .tmux.conf.light
-rwxrwxr-x  1 user user   80 Jan 1 2022 light.sh
-rwxrwxr-x  1 user user   79 Jan 1 2022 dark.sh

Then all I need to do is run light.sh or dark.sh to switch to the relevant theme.

light.sh:

#!/bin/sh
ln -sf ~/.tmux.conf.light ~/.tmux.conf
tmux source ~/.tmux.conf

dark.sh:

#!/bin/sh
ln -sf ~/.tmux.conf.dark ~/.tmux.conf
tmux source ~/.tmux.conf

Fancy Tmux Config

This is a configuration isn't a "works everywhere" thing. This is the config that you'll setup on a dedicated developer laptop or workstation.

Pre-Requisites

• Connect to internet.
• Install tmux (>3.0): apt-get install tmux
• Install git: apt-get install git
• Install a nerd font for all terminal apps
• Install Neovim from github release
  • Note: apt-get version isn't new enough for latest nvchad.
  • Extract into /usr/local/nvim
  • Add to path: export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/nvim/bin
  • Add aliases for vi to nvim: alias vi=nvim.
  • Restart shell with new path: bash xor sudo reboot.
• Install nvchad via GitHub.
  • git clone https://github.com/NvChad/starter ~/.config/nvim && nvim

Tmux Config

Setup the following ~/.tmux.conf with a plugin manager and several plugins.

# Plugin Options
set -g @catppuccin_flavor 'mocha' # latte, frappe, macchiato or mocha
set -g @catppuccin_window_status_style "rounded"
set -g status-right-length 100
set -g status-left-length 100
set -g status-left ""
set -g status-right "#{E:@catppuccin_status_application}"
set -agF status-right "#{E:@catppuccin_status_cpu}"
set -ag status-right "#{E:@catppuccin_status_session}"
set -ag status-right "#{E:@catppuccin_status_uptime}"
set -agF status-right "#{E:@catppuccin_status_battery}"

# List of plugins
# See more at: https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
# See more at: https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
# See more at: https://github.com/christoomey/vim-tmux-navigator
set -g @plugin 'christoomey/vim-tmux-navigator'
# See more at: https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-yank
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-yank'
set -g @plugin 'catppuccin/tmux#v2.1.2'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-battery'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-cpu'

# Initialize TMUX plugin manager (keep this line at the very bottom of tmux.conf)
run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'

## Extra Configs

# Start windows and panes at 1, not 0
set -g base-index 1
set -g pane-base-index 1
set-window-option -g pane-base-index 1
set-option -g renumber-windows on

# Shift arrow to switch windows
bind -n S-Left  previous-window
bind -n S-Right next-window

# set vi-mode
set-window-option -g mode-keys vi
# keybindings
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi v send-keys -X begin-selection
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi C-v send-keys -X rectangle-toggle
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send-keys -X copy-selection-and-cancel

bind '"' split-window -v -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind % split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"

## Baseline Minimal Config

set -g mouse on
# Enable 256 colors. (Sometimes preferred in containers).
#set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
# Enable 24 bit color.
set-option -sa terminal-overrides ",xterm*:Tc"
set-option -g default-command bash

set -g window-style 'fg=colour230,bg=colour235'
set -g window-active-style 'fg=colour230,bg=colour233'

set -g pane-active-border-style 'fg=colour237,bg=colour234'
set -g pane-border-style 'fg=colour232,bg=colour234'
set -g pane-border-format '###{pane_index} [ #{pane_tty} ] S:#{session_name} M:#{pane_marked} #{pane_width}x#{pane_height}'
set -g pane-border-status 'bottom' # off|top|bottom

Once you start tmux, run <prefix>+I to activate tpm and the plugins.