tmux-ai

A Bun/TypeScript CLI that launches multiple AI CLIs in a tmux window with per-pane or global prompts. Works both inside and outside tmux and keeps panes open on exit.

Prerequisites

• tmux 3.x+
• Bun 1.3+ (or Node if you swap the shebang)

Setup

bun install          # for type hints only
chmod +x tmux-ai.ts  # make the script directly runnable

Run it

./tmux-ai.ts [options]                 # run directly with Bun shebang
bun run tmux-ai.ts -- [options]        # or via Bun
bun run tmux-ai -- [options]           # package script helper

Key flags:

• -t, --tool <spec> repeatable tool command (cmd or cmd=prompt)
• -p, --prompt <text> global prompt applied to panes without their own
• -s, --session <name> tmux session (default ai)
• -w, --window <name> tmux window (default bots)
• -l, --layout <layout> tmux layout (default tiled)
• --no-attach or --attach control attaching when outside tmux
• --debug echo tmux commands

Initial prompts are passed in the tool invocations (not after launch): ca/claude/codex/droid use a positional prompt, copilot uses -p <prompt>, and gemini uses --prompt-interactive <prompt> so it continues interactively after the first turn.

Behavior:

• Inside tmux: creates a new window in the current session and never attaches.
• Outside tmux: reuses/creates the session, makes the window, and attaches unless --no-attach.
• Default tools if none are provided: claude, gemini, ca, copilot, codex, droid.

Examples

Default toolset in session ai, window bots:

./tmux-ai.ts

Custom tools plus a global prompt:

./tmux-ai.ts -t claude -t "copilot --model gpt-5" -p "You are my coding assistant."

Per-pane prompts:

./tmux-ai.ts \
  -t "claude=You are a strict code reviewer." \
  -t "gemini=Research assistant; prioritize citations." \
  -t "copilot --model gpt-5=Help me write and refactor code."

Different layout:

./tmux-ai.ts -l main-vertical -t claude -t gemini -t copilot

Per-tool git worktrees (comparison mode)

You can give each AI CLI its own git worktree of the current project and seed them with the same task to compare outputs side by side:

./tmux-ai.ts --worktrees \
  -t claude \
  -t gemini \
  -t "copilot --model gpt-5" \
  -p "Add a /users REST API with basic CRUD and tests"

When --worktrees (or -T) is set:

• tmux-ai must be run inside a git repository.
• It finds the repo root with git rev-parse --show-toplevel.
• It creates <repo>/.worktrees/ (if missing) and ensures .worktrees/ is in .gitignore.
• For each tool, it runs git worktree add --detach .worktrees/<tool>-N to create a detached worktree at the current commit.
• Each tmux pane runs its tool from its own worktree directory: cd <repo>/.worktrees/claude-1 && claude "<prompt>".

Tips:

• Use -p/--prompt to give the same task to every CLI.
• If you like one agent's changes, you can git diff in that worktree and copy patches back, or branch there and merge.
• Clean up with git worktree list and git worktree remove <path> when you’re done.

Suggested alias to mirror your original muxai function:

alias muxai="$HOME/bin/tmux-ai.ts"   # adjust path as needed