abhishekojha38/tmux

tmux Skill

Use this skill whenever you need a persistent terminal — interactive commands, docker containers, SSH sessions, long builds, or anything that needs state to survive across multiple commands.

Do not use shell_exec for interactive commands. Use tmux sessions instead.

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Creating sessions — ALWAYS use tmux-session.sh

Never run tmux new-session directly. Always use the helper script:

./skills/tmux/scripts/tmux-session.sh <session-name> [command]

This script enforces the private socket and the detached flag automatically. Direct tmux new-session calls risk hijacking the user's terminal.

# Plain bash session
./skills/tmux/scripts/tmux-session.sh mywork

# Start with a specific command
./skills/tmux/scripts/tmux-session.sh docker_work "docker run -it --rm debian:12 bash"
./skills/tmux/scripts/tmux-session.sh remote "ssh [email protected]"

The script prints the attach command — always show it to the user:

Session 'mywork' created on socket: /tmp/dobby-tmux.sock
To attach and observe: tmux -S "/tmp/dobby-tmux.sock" attach -t "mywork"
Detach without killing: Ctrl+b then d

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All other tmux commands — always use the socket

For everything after session creation, use tmux -S "$SOCKET" directly:

SOCKET="${TMUX_SOCKET:-/tmp/dobby-tmux.sock}"

# Send a command
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" "your command here" Enter

# Wait for completion
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p '\$\s*$' -T 30

# Read output
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION" -S -200

# Kill session when done
tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t "$SESSION"

wait-for-text.sh and find-sessions.sh automatically use TMUX_SOCKET from the environment — no -S flag needed for those scripts.

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Sending input

SOCKET="${TMUX_SOCKET:-/tmp/dobby-tmux.sock}"

# Literal send — safe for commands with quotes or special characters
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" -l -- "your command"
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" Enter

# Simple form (for plain commands)
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" "ls -la" Enter

# Interrupt
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" C-c

# EOF / exit REPL
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" C-d

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Waiting for completion

Always wait before reading output or sending the next command.

# bash/sh prompt
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p '\$\s*$' -T 30

# root prompt
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p '#\s*$' -T 30

# docker container prompt
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p 'root@' -T 30

# specific completion string (fixed)
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -F -p "Build complete" -T 300

# python REPL
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p '>>>' -T 10

# Options: -T timeout(s)  -i interval(s)  -l scrollback-lines  -F fixed-string

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Reading output

SOCKET="${TMUX_SOCKET:-/tmp/dobby-tmux.sock}"

# Last ~50 visible lines
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION"

# Full scrollback (last N lines)
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION" -S -500

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Common patterns

Docker container

./skills/tmux/scripts/tmux-session.sh docker_work "docker run -it --rm debian:12 bash"
SOCKET="${TMUX_SOCKET:-/tmp/dobby-tmux.sock}"
SESSION="docker_work"

./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p 'root@' -T 30

tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" "apt-get install -y git" Enter
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p 'root@' -T 120

tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION" -S -200

SSH session

./skills/tmux/scripts/tmux-session.sh remote "ssh [email protected]"
SOCKET="${TMUX_SOCKET:-/tmp/dobby-tmux.sock}"
SESSION="remote"

./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p '\$\s*$' -T 30

tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" "uname -a" Enter
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p '\$\s*$' -T 10
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION" -S -100

Long build

./skills/tmux/scripts/tmux-session.sh build
SOCKET="${TMUX_SOCKET:-/tmp/dobby-tmux.sock}"
SESSION="build"

tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" "cd /src && make -j$(nproc)" Enter
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p '\$\s*$' -T 3600

tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION" -S -100

Python REPL

./skills/tmux/scripts/tmux-session.sh python_repl
SOCKET="${TMUX_SOCKET:-/tmp/dobby-tmux.sock}"
SESSION="python_repl"

# PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 prevents readline magic that breaks send-keys
tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" "PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 python3 -q" Enter
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p '>>>' -T 10

tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION" "print('hello')" Enter
./skills/tmux/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t "$SESSION" -p '>>>' -T 10
tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION" -S -50

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Listing sessions

./skills/tmux/scripts/find-sessions.sh
./skills/tmux/scripts/find-sessions.sh -q "docker"

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Cleanup

SOCKET="${TMUX_SOCKET:-/tmp/dobby-tmux.sock}"

# Kill one session
tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t "$SESSION"

# Kill all Dobby sessions
tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-server