tmux-pilot

A minimal TUI for managing tmux sessions. No commands to memorize.

$ tp

╭──────────────────────────────────────────╮
│          tmux sessions                   │
│                                          │
│  ● main            3 windows  attached   │
│  ○ api-server      1 window   detached   │
│  ○ notes           2 windows  detached   │
│                                          │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────╯
↑/k ↓/j: navigate  Enter: attach  n: new
r: rename  x: kill  q/Esc: quit
tip: Ctrl-b d to detach from tmux

tp is a shortcut for tmux-pilot, installed automatically.

Why

tmux is essential for running long-lived processes on remote servers — coding agents, builds, anything you want to survive closing your laptop. But the commands are hard to remember. tmux ls, tmux attach -t, tmux kill-session -t... every time.

tmux-pilot gives you a simple picker. No commands to memorize. Works reliably over SSH.

Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/blockful/tmux-pilot/main/install.sh | bash

This installs tmux-pilot and the tp shortcut to ~/.local/bin.

Other methods

Homebrew

brew install blockful/tap/tmux-pilot

Go

go install github.com/blockful/tmux-pilot/cmd@latest

Download binary

Grab the latest binary from Releases.

Update

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/blockful/tmux-pilot/main/install.sh | bash

Same command as install. It detects your current version and skips if already up to date.

Uninstall

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/blockful/tmux-pilot/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --uninstall

Usage

tp

That's it. You see your sessions, you pick one.

Keybindings

Key	Action
↑/k	Navigate up
↓/j	Navigate down
Enter	Switch to session
n	Create new session
r	Rename session
x	Kill session (stays in picker)
q/Esc	Quit

tip: Ctrl-b d to detach from tmux (this is a tmux command, not tmux-pilot)

Flags

Flag	Description
-h, --help	Show help
-v, --version	Show version
-l, --list	Print sessions as TSV (pipe-friendly)
-S <path>	Custom tmux socket path
-L <name>	Named tmux socket
--no-color	Disable colors (also respects NO_COLOR env)

Examples

$ tp                        # open the picker
$ tp --list                 # non-interactive, TSV output
$ tp -S /tmp/custom.sock    # use a specific tmux socket
$ tp --version              # check installed version

How it works

• ~1000 lines of Go
• One dependency: golang.org/x/term (Go extended stdlib)
• Raw ANSI rendering — no TUI framework
• In-place drawing — no alt screen escape sequences
• Works cleanly through SSH → tmux layers

License

MIT