My Tmux Configuration for an Efficient Terminal Workflow

I’ve been fine-tuning my tmux configuration to streamline my development workflow. This setup focuses on productivity, pane/window management, and Vim integration. Below is a breakdown of my configuration with explanations.

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🐚 Shell & History

# Use Zsh as the default shell
set-option -g default-shell /bin/zsh

# Maintain a long command history
set -g history-limit 10000

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🪟 Pane Navigation & Resizing

Navigation using Alt + Arrow Keys

bind -n M-Left select-pane -L
bind -n M-Right select-pane -R
bind -n M-Up select-pane -U
bind -n M-Down select-pane -D

Resizing Panes using Shift + Arrow Keys

bind -n S-Left resize-pane -L 2
bind -n S-Right resize-pane -R 2
bind -n S-Down resize-pane -D 1
bind -n S-Up resize-pane -U 1

---

🧭 Vim-Compatible Pane Movement

Using Alt + h/j/k/l for pane navigation (integrated with Vim splits):

set -g @plugin 'sunaku/tmux-navigate'
set -g @navigate-left  '-n M-h'
set -g @navigate-down  '-n M-j'
set -g @navigate-up    '-n M-k'
set -g @navigate-right '-n M-l'
set -g @navigate-back  '-n M-\'

Note: Requires the sunaku/tmux-navigate plugin in your Vim/Neovim configuration.

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📂 Pane & Window Management

Create new windows/panes in the current path:

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

Quick actions with Alt key bindings:

bind-key -n M-n new-window -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind-key -n M-N new-session -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind-key -n M-'" split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind-key -n M-/ split-window -v -c "#{pane_current_path}"

Toggle fullscreen:

bind-key -n M-f resize-pane -Z

---

🧹 Clean Up & Exit

bind-key -n M-q confirm-before "kill-pane"
bind-key -n M-Q confirm-before "kill-window"
bind-key X run-shell 'tmux switch-client -n \; kill-session -t "$(tmux display-message -p "#S")" || tmux kill-session'

---

🔢 Window Indexing and Navigation

set -g base-index 1
set-window-option -g pane-base-index 1
set -g renumber-windows on

Quick switch with Alt + [1–9, 0]:

bind-key -n M-1 select-window -t :1
...
bind-key -n M-0 select-window -t :10
bind-key -n M-= last-window

---

↔️ Rearranging Windows & Panes

Move and rotate windows:

bind-key -n M-` move-window -t 0
bind-key -n M-< swap-window -t -1
bind-key -n M-> swap-window -t +1
bind-key -n M-r rotate-window

Layout presets:

bind-key -n M-w select-layout main-vertical
bind-key -n M-e select-layout main-horizontal
bind-key -n M-W select-layout even-vertical
bind-key -n M-E select-layout even-horizontal

---

🔀 Pane Movement Across Windows

bind-key -n M-x select-pane -m
bind-key -n M-X select-pane -M
bind-key -n M-y switch-client -t'{marked}'
bind-key -n M-z join-pane
bind-key -n M-B break-pane
bind-key -n M-m command-prompt -p "move pane to:"  "move-pane -t '%%'"

---

🧭 Navigation and Tree View

bind-key -n M-d resize-pane -Z \; choose-tree -w -F "#{pane_current_path} - #{pane_current_command}"

---

🔁 Scratchpad Window

bind-key -n M-u if-shell -F '#{==:#{session_name},scratch}' {
  detach-client
} {
  display-popup -E "tmux new-session -A -s scratch"
}

---

🪪 Rename & Status

bind-key -n M-R command-prompt -I "" "rename-window '%%'"
set-window-option -g clock-mode-style 12
set -g status-position top

---

🖱️ Visual & Copy Mode

setw -g mode-keys vi
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi v send-keys -X begin-selection
...
set-option -g set-clipboard off
set -g mouse on

---

🎨 Theme & Status Bar

Using a custom OneDark-inspired theme:

setenv -g SHOW_DIRECTORY_NAME 1
set -g @plugin 'shivamashtikar/tmux-onedark-theme'

---

🔍 FZF Integration

Quickly switch between panes/windows with Alt+o:

set -g @plugin 'sainnhe/tmux-fzf'
bind-key -n M-o run-shell -b "~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-fzf/scripts/window.sh switch"
TMUX_FZF_ORDER="window|session|pane|command|keybinding|clipboard|process"

---

🧩 Plugins Used

set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
set -g @plugin 'sunaku/tmux-navigate'
set -g @plugin 'shivamashtikar/tmux-onedark-theme'
set -g @plugin 'sainnhe/tmux-fzf'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-copycat'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-open'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'

Enable session restore:

set -g @continuum-restore 'on'

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🔁 Reload Configuration

bind R source-file ~/.tmux.conf \; display "Reloaded .tmux.conf file"

Initialize TPM at the end of the file:

run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'

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📦 Final Thoughts

This tmux configuration aims to supercharge your terminal with intuitive keybindings, smart integrations, and an efficient layout. Whether you’re juggling code across multiple panes or navigating across sessions, this setup should keep things fast and fluid.

If you have suggestions or enhancements, feel free to reach out or fork the config!

Happy hacking!