tmux Skill (OpenClaw)

Use tmux only when you need an interactive TTY. Prefer exec background mode for long-running, non-interactive tasks.

Quickstart (isolated socket, exec tool)

SOCKET_DIR="${OPENCLAW_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR:-${CLAWDBOT_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR:-${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/openclaw-tmux-sockets}}"mkdir -p "$SOCKET_DIR"SOCKET="$SOCKET_DIR/openclaw.sock"SESSION=openclaw-pythontmux -S "$SOCKET" new -d -s "$SESSION" -n shelltmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t "$SESSION":0.0 -- 'PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 python3 -q' Entertmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION":0.0 -S -200

After starting a session, always print monitor commands:

To monitor:  tmux -S "$SOCKET" attach -t "$SESSION"  tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t "$SESSION":0.0 -S -200

Socket convention

Use OPENCLAW_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR (legacy CLAWDBOT_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR also supported).
Default socket path: "$OPENCLAW_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR/openclaw.sock".

Targeting panes and naming

Target format: session:window.pane (defaults to :0.0).
Keep names short; avoid spaces.
Inspect: tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-sessions, tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-panes -a.

Finding sessions

List sessions on your socket: {baseDir}/scripts/find-sessions.sh -S "$SOCKET".
Scan all sockets: {baseDir}/scripts/find-sessions.sh --all (uses OPENCLAW_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR).

Sending input safely

Prefer literal sends: tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t target -l -- "$cmd".
Control keys: tmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t target C-c.

Watching output

Capture recent history: tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -J -t target -S -200.
Wait for prompts: {baseDir}/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t session:0.0 -p 'pattern'.
Attaching is OK; detach with Ctrl+b d.

Spawning processes

For python REPLs, set PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1 (non-basic REPL breaks send-keys flows).

Windows / WSL

tmux is supported on macOS/Linux. On Windows, use WSL and install tmux inside WSL.
This skill is gated to darwin/linux and requires tmux on PATH.

Orchestrating Coding Agents (Codex, Claude Code)

tmux excels at running multiple coding agents in parallel:

SOCKET="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/codex-army.sock"# Create multiple sessionsfor i in 1 2 3 4 5; do  tmux -S "$SOCKET" new-session -d -s "agent-$i"done# Launch agents in different workdirstmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t agent-1 "cd /tmp/project1 && codex --yolo 'Fix bug X'" Entertmux -S "$SOCKET" send-keys -t agent-2 "cd /tmp/project2 && codex --yolo 'Fix bug Y'" Enter# Poll for completion (check if prompt returned)for sess in agent-1 agent-2; do  if tmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -t "$sess" -S -3 | grep -q "❯"; then    echo "$sess: DONE"  else    echo "$sess: Running..."  fidone# Get full output from completed sessiontmux -S "$SOCKET" capture-pane -p -t agent-1 -S -500

Tips:

Use separate git worktrees for parallel fixes (no branch conflicts)
pnpm install first before running codex in fresh clones
Check for shell prompt (❯ or $) to detect completion
Codex needs --yolo or --full-auto for non-interactive fixes

Cleanup

Kill a session: tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t "$SESSION".
Kill all sessions on a socket: tmux -S "$SOCKET" list-sessions -F '#{session_name}' | xargs -r -n1 tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-session -t.
Remove everything on the private socket: tmux -S "$SOCKET" kill-server.

Helper: wait-for-text.sh

{baseDir}/scripts/wait-for-text.sh polls a pane for a regex (or fixed string) with a timeout.

{baseDir}/scripts/wait-for-text.sh -t session:0.0 -p 'pattern' [-F] [-T 20] [-i 0.5] [-l 2000]

-t/--target pane target (required)
-p/--pattern regex to match (required); add -F for fixed string
-T timeout seconds (integer, default 15)
-i poll interval seconds (default 0.5)
-l history lines to search (integer, default 1000)