libtmux-mcp¶

Terminal control for AI agents, built on libtmux and FastMCP.

This server maps tmux’s object hierarchy — sessions, windows, panes — into MCP tools. Some tools read state. Some mutate it. Some destroy. The distinction is explicit and enforced.

Warning

Pre-alpha. APIs may change. Feedback welcome.

Claude Code Claude Desktop Codex CLI Gemini CLI Cursor

uvx pipx pip install

Configure cooldowns ?

Local User Project

User Project

User Project

Project Global

With uvx installed:

$ claude mcp add tmux -- uvx libtmux-mcp

Back

Dependency cooldowns

Use the Configure cooldowns checkbox above to enable or disable. These settings choose how cooldown behaves once enabled.

What are cooldowns?

Cooldowns delay picking up newly uploaded packages so the community has time to spot supply-chain attacks before you install. Most package managers don't apply one by default — you opt in via a global setting in your tool's config.

Learn more at cooldowns.dev · Datadog Security Labs writeup.

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Quickstart

Install, connect, get a first result. Under 2 minutes.

Quickstart

Tools

Every tool, grouped by intent and safety tier.

Tools

Prompts

Four workflow recipes the client renders for the model.

Prompts

Resources

Snapshot views of the tmux hierarchy via tmux:// URIs.

Resources

Safety tiers

Readonly, mutating, destructive. Know what changes state.

Safety tiers

Client setup

Config blocks for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and others.

MCP Clients

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What you can do¶

Inspect readonly¶

Read tmux state without changing anything.

list_sessions · capture_pane · capture_since · snapshot_pane · get_pane_info · find_pane_by_position · search_panes · wait_for_text · wait_for_content_change · display_message

Act mutating¶

Create or modify tmux objects.

create_session · send_keys · paste_text · create_window · split_window · select_pane · select_window · move_window · resize_pane · pipe_pane · set_option

Destroy destructive¶

Tear down tmux objects. Not reversible.

kill_session · kill_window · kill_pane · kill_server

Browse all tools →

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Mental model¶

• Object hierarchy — sessions contain windows, windows contain panes (Concepts)
• Read vs. mutate — some tools observe, some act, some destroy (Safety tiers)
• tmux is the source of truth — the server reads from it and writes to it, never caches or abstracts

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