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Session Management Cheatsheet

Waylon Walker avatar
2 min read

Session Management Cheatsheet

Tmux Session Operations #

Session Creation #

Key Action
Alt+Escape Popup: create new workspace
Ctrl+T Todo list session (nvim)
tmux new -s name Manual session creation

Session Navigation #

Key Action
Alt+Space Popup: attach to workspace
Ctrl+J Fuzzy-find any session
Alt+T Workspace in current directory
J tmux session tree browser

Quick Session Access #

Key Target
Ctrl+W ~/work directory
Alt+W ~/work directory
Ctrl+G ~/git directory
Ctrl+P ~/project directory

Session Management #

Key Action
Ctrl+K Popup: kill sessions
tmux ls List all sessions
tmux kill-session -t name Kill specific session

Workspace Patterns #

Project Workspace #

# Create project-specific session
Alt+T  # Creates workspace in current dir

# Session structure:
# Window 1: nvim (code)
# Window 2: gitui (version control)
# Window 3: lf (file management)
# Window 4: shell (commands)

Scratch Sessions #

Key Session Type
Alt+G Small scratch session
Alt+Shift+G Large scratch session

Todo Session #

Key Purpose
Ctrl+T Todo management (nvim with 3 files)
- backlog.md
- doing.md
- done.md

Window Management #

Window Creation #

Key Action
tmux: Prefix+c Create new window
tmux: Prefix+" Split horizontal
tmux: Prefix+% Split vertical

Window Navigation #

Key Action
tmux: Prefix+n Next window
tmux: Prefix+p Previous window
tmux: Prefix+0-9 Go to window number
tmux: Prefix+ hjkl Navigate panes

Window Naming #

Key Action
tmux: Prefix+, Rename window
tmux: Prefix+& Kill window

Session Templates #

Development Session #

# Window 1: Code Editor
nvim .

# Window 2: Git Operations  
gitui

# Window 3: File Manager
lf

# Window 4: Terminal/Testing
# Open for commands

Review Session #

# Window 1: PR/Code Review
nvim files-to-review

# Window 2: Git Status
git status

# Window 3: Build/Testing
# Run tests, builds

Debug Session #

# Window 1: Code with issues
nvim problem-file

# Window 2: Logs/Terminal
tail -f logs/app.log

# Window 3: Shell for debugging
# Commands, inspection

Session Persistence #

What Persists #

  • tmux sessions survive reboots
  • Working directories maintained
  • Window layouts preserved
  • Running processes continue

What Doesn't Persist #

  • Shell history (managed by zsh)
  • Temporary files
  • Clipboard contents

Backup Sessions #

# Save session configuration
tmux list-windows -t session-name > session-backup.txt

# Recreate session from backup
# Use saved layout to rebuild

Workflow Patterns #

Context Switching #

# Switch to different project
Alt+Space  # Select workspace session

# Quick scratch for temporary work
Alt+G  # Open scratch session

# Return to main work
Ctrl+J  # Fuzzy-find main session

Collaborative Sessions #

# Share session with pair programming
tmux new -s pair-programming
# Other person: tmux attach -t pair-programming

Automated Sessions #

# Session for specific task
tmux new -s task-name \; \
  send-keys 'nvim file1' Enter \; \
  new-window \; \
  send-keys 'cd project && git status' Enter

Quick Reference #

Start work: Alt+Space → select workspace Quick scratch: Alt+G → temporary session
Project hopping: Ctrl+J → fuzzy-find Kill session: Ctrl+K → select → confirm Todo time: Ctrl+T → task management File browse: Alt+C → find directory → lf

Session Health #

Clean Up Sessions #

# List all sessions
tmux ls

# Kill dead sessions
tmux kill-session -t dead-session

# Clean up detached
tmux list-sessions | grep detached

Session Monitoring #

# Check session activity
tmux list-sessions -F '#{session_name}: #{session_attached}'

# Monitor long-running processes
# In session: jobs -l

Best Practices #

  1. One session per project - Keeps context organized
  2. Name sessions meaningfully - Easy identification
  3. Use consistent window layouts - Muscle memory
  4. Kill unused sessions - Prevent clutter
  5. Backup important layouts - Quick recreation