TmuxBar

A native macOS menu bar application for managing tmux sessions.

Features

• Session Management: View, create, rename, and kill tmux sessions from your menu bar
• Session Preview: See live terminal output before attaching
• Session Templates: Quick-start with pre-configured layouts (Development, Web Dev, Monitoring, SSH, Docker)
• Favorites & Groups: Organize sessions with favorites and custom groups
• Multi-Terminal Support: Works with Terminal.app, iTerm2, Alacritty, Warp, and Kitty
• Global Hotkeys: Quick access with keyboard shortcuts
• Auto-refresh: Real-time session status updates

Installation

Download DMG

1. Download the latest TmuxBar-x.x.x.dmg from Releases
2. Open the DMG and drag TmuxBar to Applications
3. First launch: Right-click the app → Open (required to bypass Gatekeeper since the app is not code-signed)

Build from Source

Requires macOS 13.0+ and Xcode Command Line Tools.

git clone https://github.com/devload/TmuxBar.git
cd TmuxBar/mac
swift build -c release
cp -r .build/release/TmuxBar /Applications/

Usage

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
⌘⇧T	Open menu / New from Template
⌘⇧N	New session
⌘⇧1-9	Quick attach to favorite sessions
⌘,	Open Preferences
⌘R	Refresh sessions

Session Templates

Create new sessions with pre-configured layouts:

Template	Description	Layout
Development	Editor + Terminal + Git	2 windows
Web Development	Server + Client + Logs	3 windows
System Monitoring	htop + logs + network	4-pane split
SSH Session	Multi-server management	3 windows
Docker Management	Containers + Logs + Shell	3 windows

Session Preview

Hover over a session and click "Preview..." to see:

• Current terminal output
• Running command
• Working directory
• Window list

CLI Tools

TmuxBar also includes command-line tools for quick session switching from any terminal.

Quick Setup

# Add to your .zshrc or .bashrc
source /path/to/TmuxBar/mac/scripts/tmuxbar.sh

# Or copy the ts script to your PATH
cp /path/to/TmuxBar/mac/scripts/ts /usr/local/bin/

ts - Session Selector

Interactive session selector with fzf support:

ts              # Select session with fzf (shows preview)
ts myproject    # Attach to 'myproject' directly
ts -n api       # Create new session 'api'
ts -l           # List all sessions
ts -k           # Kill session (interactive)
ts -h           # Help

Requires: brew install fzf for interactive selection

Shell Functions

After sourcing tmuxbar.sh, these commands are available:

Command	Description
ts	Select and attach (fzf)
ta <name>	Attach to session
tl	List sessions
tn [name]	New session (default: current dir)
tk [name]	Kill session
td	Detach from session
tw	List windows

Tab completion included for zsh and bash!

Configuration

Preferences

• Terminal App: Choose your preferred terminal emulator
• Refresh Interval: 1-10 seconds
• Launch at Login: Start TmuxBar automatically
• Favorites: Pin frequently used sessions
• Groups: Organize sessions into folders

Supported Terminals

Terminal	Method	Notes
Terminal.app	AppleScript	Built-in macOS
iTerm2	AppleScript	Popular choice
Alacritty	CLI	GPU-accelerated
Warp	CLI + AppleScript	Modern terminal
Kitty	CLI	Fast & feature-rich

Requirements

• macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
• tmux installed (brew install tmux)
• Apple Silicon or Intel Mac

Building

# Debug build
swift build

# Release build
swift build -c release

# Run
.build/release/TmuxBar

# Create DMG
./scripts/create-dmg.sh  # (if available)

Project Structure

mac/
├── Package.swift
├── Sources/TmuxBar/
│   ├── App/
│   │   ├── TmuxBarApp.swift
│   │   └── AppDelegate.swift
│   ├── Services/
│   │   ├── TmuxService.swift
│   │   ├── SessionManager.swift
│   │   ├── PreferencesManager.swift
│   │   ├── TemplateManager.swift
│   │   └── HotKeyManager.swift
│   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── TmuxSession.swift
│   │   ├── TmuxWindow.swift
│   │   ├── TmuxPane.swift
│   │   └── SessionTemplate.swift
│   ├── Views/
│   │   ├── SessionPreviewView.swift
│   │   ├── TemplatePickerView.swift
│   │   ├── NewSessionView.swift
│   │   └── PreferencesView.swift
│   └── Utilities/
│       ├── Shell.swift
│       └── Constants.swift
└── assets/
    └── screenshot-menu.png

Changelog

v1.0.5

• Check for Homebrew before offering tmux install
• Show brew.sh link when Homebrew is not installed

v1.0.4

• Add tmux installation check on startup
• Show helpful message and install option when tmux is not installed

v1.0.3

• Fix text input in New Session dialog (use KeyablePanel)
• Improve window focus handling for menu bar app

v1.0.2

• Fix app termination when closing dialogs with ESC
• Prevent duplicate app instances from running

v1.0.1

• Enable launch at login by default

v1.0.0

• Initial release

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Acknowledgments

• HotKey - Global keyboard shortcuts
• tmux - Terminal multiplexer

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Made with Swift for macOS