Q: Is psmux cross-platform? A: No. psmux is built exclusively for Windows using the Windows ConPTY API. For Linux/macOS, use tmux. psmux is the Windows counterpart.
Q: Does psmux work with Windows Terminal? A: Yes! psmux works great with Windows Terminal, PowerShell, cmd.exe, ConEmu, and other Windows terminal emulators.
Q: Why use psmux instead of Windows Terminal tabs? A: psmux offers session persistence (detach/reattach), synchronized input to multiple panes, full tmux command scripting, hooks, format engine, and tmux-compatible keybindings. Windows Terminal tabs can't do any of that.
Q: Can I use my existing .tmux.conf?
A: Yes! psmux reads ~/.tmux.conf automatically. Most tmux config options, key bindings, and style settings work as-is.
Q: Can I use tmux themes? A: Yes. psmux supports 14 style options with 24-bit true color, 256 indexed colors, and text attributes (bold, italic, dim, etc.). Most tmux theme configs are compatible.
Q: Can I use tmux commands with psmux?
A: Yes! psmux includes a tmux alias. Commands like tmux new-session, tmux attach, tmux ls, tmux split-window all work. 83 commands in total.
Q: How fast is psmux? A: Session creation takes < 100ms. New windows/panes add < 80ms overhead. The bottleneck is your shell's startup time, not psmux. Compiled with opt-level 3 and full LTO.
Q: Does psmux support mouse? A: Full mouse support: click to focus panes, drag to resize borders, scroll wheel, click status-bar tabs, drag-select text, right-click copy. Plus VT mouse forwarding for TUI apps like vim, htop, and midnight commander.
Q: What shells does psmux support?
A: PowerShell 7 (default), PowerShell 5, cmd.exe, Git Bash, WSL, nushell, and any Windows executable. Change with set -g default-shell <shell>.
Q: Is it stable for daily use? A: Yes. psmux is stress-tested with 15+ rapid windows, 18+ concurrent panes, 5 concurrent sessions, kill+recreate cycles, and sustained load, all with zero hangs or resource leaks.
Q: PSReadLine predictions / intellisense / autocompletion (inline history suggestions) are disabled inside psmux. How do I enable them?
A: Add set -g allow-predictions on to your ~/.psmux.conf. This tells psmux to preserve your PredictionSource setting after initialization. If your profile sets PredictionSource explicitly, psmux respects that. If not, psmux restores the system default (typically HistoryAndPlugin). See the PSReadLine Predictions section in the configuration docs for details.
Q: How do I use a custom config file?
A: Use the -f flag: psmux -f /path/to/config.conf. This loads the specified file instead of the default search order.
Q: How do I disable warm (pre-spawned) sessions?
A: Add set -g warm off to your config, or set $env:PSMUX_NO_WARM = "1". See warm-sessions.md for details.
Q: Can I set environment variables for panes?
A: Yes. Use psmux set-environment -g VARNAME value to set env vars inherited by all new panes. Use -gu to unset. See configuration.md for details.
Q: How do I mute the audible bell inside psmux?
A: Add set -g bell-action none to your ~/.psmux.conf. This silences both the audible beep and the status bar bell flag. To keep the visual flag but mute the sound, this is not currently split into separate controls. See the Bell section in the configuration docs.
Q: Does psmux work with Claude Code agent teams?
A: Yes, first-class support. Start psmux, run claude inside a pane, and ask Claude to create a team. psmux automatically sets the required environment variables and injects --teammate-mode tmux. Each teammate agent gets its own visible pane. See claude-code.md for details.
Q: Do CJK characters (Chinese/Japanese/Korean) and IME input work? A: Yes. CJK character input, IME composition, and pasting CJK text all work correctly. The paste detection heuristic is tuned to avoid misidentifying rapid IME bursts as clipboard pastes, keeping IME input latency minimal.
Q: Can I save and restore sessions across reboots? A: Yes, using the psmux-resurrect plugin. For automatic periodic save/restore, pair it with psmux-continuum. See plugins.md for setup.
Q: Do sessions survive SSH disconnects?
A: Yes. The psmux session server persists even when your SSH connection drops. After reconnecting, run psmux attach to reattach to your sessions.
Q: How do I reload my config without restarting psmux?
A: Press Prefix + : to open the command prompt, then type source-file ~/.psmux.conf. You can also run psmux source-file ~/.psmux.conf from another terminal. This re-applies all options, key bindings, and styles immediately.
Q: How do I run commands from inside a psmux session?
A: Press Prefix + : to open the command prompt. Type any command (e.g. split-window -h, new-window -n logs, set -g status-style "bg=blue"). You can also run list-commands from the prompt to see all available commands.
Q: How do I switch between sessions?
A: Press Prefix + s to open the interactive session chooser. Use arrow keys to navigate and Enter to select. You can also use Prefix + ( and Prefix + ) to cycle through sessions, or switch-client -t sessionname from the command prompt.
Q: How do I split a pane with a specific size?
A: Use the -p flag with a percentage: split-window -v -p 30 gives the new pane 30% of the space. This works with both -v (vertical) and -h (horizontal) splits.
Q: How do I open a new pane in the same directory?
A: Use split-window -c "#{pane_current_path}". You can bind this in your config for convenience: bind-key '"' split-window -v -c "#{pane_current_path}".
Q: How do I prevent psmux from nesting inside itself?
A: psmux automatically detects when it is already running inside a psmux session and prevents accidental nesting. If you try to start psmux inside an existing session, it will warn you instead of creating a nested instance. To explicitly create a new session from within psmux, use the command prompt (Prefix + :) and type new-session.
Q: How do I keep a pane open after its process exits?
A: Add set -g remain-on-exit on to your config. When a process exits, the pane stays visible with its last output. Use respawn-pane (or respawn-pane -k) to restart the process in that pane.
Q: How do I make pane numbers start from 1 instead of 0?
A: Add set -g pane-base-index 1 to your config. This affects the Prefix + q display panes overlay and pane target numbering. For windows, use set -g base-index 1.
Q: How do I set a window name that does not get overwritten?
A: Use the -n flag when creating: new-window -n "myname". This automatically disables automatic-rename for that window. If you renamed a window with Prefix + , and it keeps getting overwritten, add set -g automatic-rename off to your config or set it per-window with set -w automatic-rename off.
Q: How do I use PSReadLine ListView (dropdown suggestions) inside psmux?
A: First, add set -g allow-predictions on to your ~/.psmux.conf. Then in your PowerShell profile, set Set-PSReadLineOption -PredictionViewStyle ListView. Without allow-predictions on, psmux resets PSReadLine settings during initialization.
Q: How do I get a live updating clock in my status bar?
A: Use time format variables like %H:%M:%S in your status-right: set -g status-right "%H:%M:%S %d-%b-%y". Then set set -g status-interval 1 to refresh every second.
Q: What is the difference between psmux, pmux, and tmux executables?
A: They are all the same binary. psmux installs as psmux.exe with pmux.exe and tmux.exe as aliases. Use whichever name you prefer. The tmux alias lets existing tmux scripts and muscle memory work without changes.
Q: Can I prevent psmux from entering copy mode on mouse scroll?
A: Yes. Add set -g scroll-enter-copy-mode off to your config. Scroll events will be passed directly to the running application instead of entering copy mode.
Q: How do I chain multiple commands in a key binding?
A: Use \; to separate commands: bind-key M-s split-window -h \; select-pane -L. The semicolon must be escaped in config files.
Q: Can I run psmux inside psmux (nested sessions)? A: No. psmux prevents nesting to avoid UI confusion. This matches tmux behavior. If you need to connect to a remote psmux, use SSH from within a psmux pane to reach the remote session.
Q: How do I use Ctrl+Space as my prefix key?
A: Add to your config: set -g prefix C-Space followed by unbind-key C-b and bind-key C-Space send-prefix.
Q: Why does Prefix + I not work for plugin install?
A: Make sure you are pressing Shift+I (uppercase). Key bindings are case-sensitive: I and i are distinct bindings.
Q: How do I reload my config without restarting?
A: Press Prefix + : and type source-file ~/.psmux.conf. This works from within a live session. Alternatively, bind it: bind-key R source-file ~/.psmux.conf \; display-message "Config reloaded".
Q: Does psmux work with Neovim/Vim?
A: Yes. Ctrl+[, Shift+Tab, mouse events, and truecolor rendering all work correctly inside psmux panes. Set set -g default-terminal "xterm-256color" for best compatibility.
Q: Why does my status bar show a file path instead of the hostname?
A: PowerShell 7 automatically sets the terminal title to the current working directory on every prompt. If your config has set -g allow-set-title on and your status bar format uses #{pane_title} or #T, you will see that path. By default, allow-set-title is off in psmux so this does not happen. If you enabled it and want to revert, remove the allow-set-title on line from your config, replace #{pane_title} with #H in your status bar format, or add $PSStyle.WindowTitle = '' to your PowerShell profile. See pane-titles.md for full details.
Q: Can I run multiple isolated psmux servers?
A: Yes, use the -L flag for server namespaces: psmux -L work new-session -s dev. Each namespace gets its own server, sessions, and discovery files.
Q: How many tmux commands does psmux support? A: 83 tmux-compatible commands including session management, window/pane control, copy mode, display popups/menus, interactive choosers, hooks, environment variables, pipe-pane, wait-for synchronization, and more. See tmux_args_reference.md for the full list.