Tmux sensible

A set of tmux options that should be acceptable to everyone.

Inspired by vim-sensible.

Principles

• tmux-sensible options should be acceptable to every tmux user!
  If any of the options bothers you, please open an issue and it will probably be updated (or removed).
• if you think a new option should be added, feel free to open a pull request.
• no overriding of user defined settings.
  Your existing .tmux.conf settings are respected and they won't be changed. That way you can use tmux-sensible if you have a few specific options.

Goals

• group standard tmux community options in one place
• remove clutter from your .tmux.conf
• educate new tmux users about basic options

Options

# utf8 is on
set -g utf8 on
set -g status-utf8 on

# address vim mode switching delay (http://superuser.com/a/252717/65504)
set -s escape-time 0

# increase scrollback buffer size
set -g history-limit 50000

# tmux messages are displayed for 4 seconds
set -g display-time 4000

# refresh 'status-left' and 'status-right' more often
set -g status-interval 5

# set only on OS X where it's required
set -g default-command "reattach-to-user-namespace -l $SHELL"

# upgrade $TERM
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"

# emacs key bindings in tmux command prompt (prefix + :) are better than
# vi keys, even for vim users
set -g status-keys emacs

# focus events enabled for terminals that support them
set -g focus-events on

# super useful when using "grouped sessions" and multi-monitor setup
setw -g aggressive-resize on

Key bindings

# easier and faster switching between next/prev window
bind C-p previous-window
bind C-n next-window

Above bindings enhance the default prefix + p and prefix + n bindings by allowing you to hold Ctrl and repeat a + p/a + n (if your prefix is C-a), which is a lot quicker.

# source .tmux.conf as suggested in `man tmux`
bind R source-file '~/.tmux.conf'

"Adaptable" key bindings that build upon your prefix value:

# if prefix is 'C-a'
bind C-a send-prefix
bind a last-window

If prefix is C-b, above keys will be C-b and b.
If prefix is C-z, above keys will be C-z and z... you get the idea.

Almost sensible options - deprecated

Note: this feature is deprecated and will be removed from tmux-sensible in the next major release. The reason for this is to focus this plugin on doing just one thing (and hopefully doing it well).
If you were using 'almost sensible' the path forward is to move all the below options to your .tmux.conf.

Activate these by putting set -g @almost-sensible 'on' in .tmux.conf.

# C-a should be the Tmux default prefix, really
set -g prefix C-a
set -g mode-keys vi

# enable mouse features for terminals that support it
set -g mouse-resize-pane on
set -g mouse-select-pane on
set -g mouse-select-window on

Installation with Tmux Plugin Manager (recommended)

Add plugin to the list of TPM plugins in .tmux.conf:

set -g @tpm_plugins '             \
  tmux-plugins/tpm                \
  tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible      \
'

Hit prefix + I to fetch the plugin and source it. That's it!

You might also want to restart your tmux server, just in case.

Manual Installation

Clone the repo:

$ git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible ~/clone/path

Add this line to the bottom of .tmux.conf:

run-shell ~/clone/path/sensible.tmux

Reload TMUX environment:

# type this in terminal
$ tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf

You might also want to restart your tmux server, just in case.

Other goodies

You might also find these useful:

• copycat improve tmux search and reduce mouse usage
• pain control useful standard bindings for controlling panes
• resurrect persists tmux environment across system restarts

License

MIT