NAME
psmux — Tmux on Windows Powershell - tmux for PowerShell, Windows Terminal, cmd.exe. Includes psmux, pmux, and tmux commands.…
SYNOPSIS
cargo install psmuxINFO
DESCRIPTION
Tmux on Windows Powershell - tmux for PowerShell, Windows Terminal, cmd.exe. Includes psmux, pmux, and tmux commands. This is native Powershell Tmux designed for Windows in Rust 🦀
README
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║ Born in PowerShell. Made in Rust. 🦀 ║
║ Terminal Multiplexer for Windows ║
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The native Windows tmux. Born in PowerShell, made in Rust.
Full mouse support · tmux themes · tmux config · 76 commands · blazing fast
Install · Usage · Performance · Compatibility · Features · Keys · Scripting · Config · FAQ
psmux
The real tmux for Windows. Not a port, not a wrapper, not a workaround.
psmux is a native Windows terminal multiplexer built from the ground up in Rust. It uses Windows ConPTY directly, speaks the tmux command language, reads your .tmux.conf, and supports tmux themes. All without WSL, Cygwin, or MSYS2.
💡 Tip: psmux ships with
tmuxandpmuxaliases. Just typetmuxand it works!
👀 On Windows 👇
Installation
Using WinGet
winget install psmux
Using Cargo
cargo install psmux
This installs psmux, pmux, and tmux binaries to your Cargo bin directory.
Using Scoop
scoop bucket add psmux https://github.com/marlocarlo/scoop-psmux
scoop install psmux
Using Chocolatey
choco install psmux
From GitHub Releases
Download the latest .zip from GitHub Releases and add to your PATH.
From Source
git clone https://github.com/marlocarlo/psmux.git
cd psmux
cargo build --release
Built binaries:
target\release\psmux.exe
target\release\pmux.exe
target\release\tmux.exe
Docker (build environment)
A ready-made Windows container with Rust + MSVC + SSH for building psmux:
cd docker
docker build -t psmux-dev .
docker run -d --name psmux-dev -p 127.0.0.1:2222:22 -e ADMIN_PASSWORD=YourPass123! psmux-dev
ssh ContainerAdministrator@localhost -p 2222
See docker/README.md for full details.
Requirements
- Windows 10 or Windows 11
- PowerShell 7+ (recommended) or cmd.exe
- Download PowerShell:
winget install --id Microsoft.PowerShell - Or visit: https://aka.ms/powershell
- Download PowerShell:
Why psmux?
If you've used tmux on Linux/macOS and wished you had something like it on Windows, this is it.
| psmux | Windows Terminal tabs | WSL + tmux | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session persist (detach/reattach) | ✅ | ❌ | ⚠️ WSL only |
| Synchronized panes | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| tmux keybindings | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Reads .tmux.conf | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| tmux theme support | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Native Windows shells | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Full mouse support | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ Partial |
| Zero dependencies | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ (needs WSL) |
| Scriptable (76 commands) | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Split panes, multiple windows, session persistence, 76 commands, full mouse, tmux themes, 126+ format variables, 53 vim copy-mode keys. Full details: docs/features.md
Performance
psmux is built for speed. The Rust release binary is compiled with opt-level 3, full LTO, and single codegen unit. Every cycle counts.
| Metric | psmux | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Session creation | < 100ms | Time for new-session -d to return |
| New window | < 80ms | Overhead on top of shell startup |
| New pane (split) | < 80ms | Same as window, cached shell resolution |
| Startup to prompt | ~shell launch time | psmux adds near-zero overhead; bottleneck is your shell |
| 15+ windows | ✅ Stable | Stress-tested with 15+ rapid windows, 18+ panes, 5 concurrent sessions |
| Rapid fire creates | ✅ No hangs | Burst-create windows/panes without delays or orphaned processes |
How it's fast
- Lazy pane resize : only the active window's panes are resized. Background windows resize on-demand when switched to, avoiding O(n) ConPTY syscalls
- Cached shell resolution :
whichPATH lookups are cached withOnceLock, not repeated per spawn - 10ms polling : client-server discovery uses tight 10ms polling for sub-100ms session attach
- Early port-file write : server writes its discovery file before spawning the first shell, so the client connects instantly
- 8KB reader buffers : small buffer size minimizes mutex contention across pane reader threads
Note: The primary startup bottleneck is your shell (PowerShell 7 takes ~400-1000ms to display a prompt). psmux itself adds < 100ms of overhead. For faster shells like
cmd.exeornushell, total startup is near-instant.
tmux Compatibility
psmux is the most tmux-compatible terminal multiplexer on Windows:
| Feature | Support |
|---|---|
| Commands | 76 tmux commands implemented |
| Format variables | 126+ variables with full modifier support |
| Config file | Reads ~/.tmux.conf directly |
| Key bindings | bind-key/unbind-key with key tables |
| Hooks | 15+ event hooks (after-new-window, etc.) |
| Status bar | Full format engine with conditionals and loops |
| Themes | 14 style options, 24-bit color, text attributes |
| Layouts | 5 layouts (even-h, even-v, main-h, main-v, tiled) |
| Copy mode | 53 vim keybindings, search, registers |
| Targets | session:window.pane, %id, @id syntax |
if-shell / run-shell | ✅ Conditional config logic |
| Paste buffers | ✅ Full buffer management |
Your existing .tmux.conf works. psmux reads it automatically. Just install and go.
Plugins & Themes
psmux has a full plugin ecosystem — ports of the most popular tmux plugins, reimplemented in PowerShell for Windows. Themes, key bindings, session management, clipboard integration, and more.
Browse available plugins and themes: psmux-plugins
Install & manage plugins with a TUI: Tmux Plugin Panel (tppanel) — a terminal UI for browsing, installing, updating, and removing plugins and themes.
| Plugin | Description |
|---|---|
| psmux-sensible | Sensible defaults for psmux |
| psmux-yank | Windows clipboard integration |
| psmux-resurrect | Save/restore sessions |
| psmux-pain-control | Better pane navigation |
| psmux-prefix-highlight | Prefix key indicator |
| ppm | Plugin manager (like tpm) |
Themes: Catppuccin · Dracula · Nord · Tokyo Night · Gruvbox
Quick start:
# Install the plugin manager
git clone https://github.com/marlocarlo/psmux-plugins.git "$env:TEMP\psmux-plugins" ; Copy-Item "$env:TEMP\psmux-plugins\ppm" "$env:USERPROFILE\.psmux\plugins\ppm" -Recurse ; Remove-Item "$env:TEMP\psmux-plugins" -Recurse -Force
Then add to your ~/.psmux.conf:
set -g @plugin 'psmux-plugins/ppm'
set -g @plugin 'psmux-plugins/psmux-sensible'
run '~/.psmux/plugins/ppm/ppm.ps1'
Press Prefix + I inside psmux to install the declared plugins.
Usage
Use psmux, pmux, or tmux, they're identical:
# Start a new session psmux pmux tmuxStart a named session
psmux new-session -s work tmux new-session -s work
List sessions
psmux ls tmux ls
Attach to a session
psmux attach -t work tmux attach -t work
Show help
psmux --help tmux --help
Mouse Over SSH
psmux has first-class mouse support over SSH when the server runs Windows 11 build 22523+ (22H2+). Click panes, drag-resize borders, scroll, click tabs — everything works, from any SSH client on any OS.
Compatibility
| Client → Server | Keyboard | Mouse | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux → Windows 11 (22523+) | ✅ | ✅ | Full support |
| macOS → Windows 11 (22523+) | ✅ | ✅ | Full support |
| Windows 10 → Windows 11 (22523+) | ✅ | ✅ | Full support |
| Windows 11 → Windows 11 (22523+) | ✅ | ✅ | Full support |
| WSL → Windows 11 (22523+) | ✅ | ✅ | Full support |
| Any OS → Windows 10 | ✅ | ❌ | ConPTY limitation (see below) |
| Any OS → Windows 11 (pre-22523) | ✅ | ❌ | ConPTY limitation (see below) |
Local use (no SSH)
| Platform | Keyboard | Mouse |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 11 (local) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Windows 10 (local) | ✅ | ✅ |
Mouse works perfectly when running psmux locally on both Windows 10 and 11.
Why no mouse over SSH on Windows 10?
Windows 10's ConPTY consumes mouse-enable escape sequences internally and does not forward them to sshd. The SSH client never receives the signal to start sending mouse data. This is a Windows 10 ConPTY limitation that was fixed in Windows 11 (build 22523+). Keyboard input works fully on both versions — only mouse over SSH is affected.
Recommendation: Use Windows 11 build 22523+ (22H2 or later) as your psmux server for full SSH mouse support.
Key Bindings
Default prefix: Ctrl+b (same as tmux). Full reference: docs/keybindings.md
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Prefix + c | Create new window |
Prefix + % / " | Split pane horizontally / vertically |
Prefix + Arrow | Navigate between panes |
Prefix + d | Detach from session |
Prefix + z | Toggle pane zoom |
Prefix + [ | Enter copy/scroll mode (53 vim keybindings) |
Ctrl+q | Quit |
Scripting & Automation
76 tmux-compatible commands, hooks, targets, capture-pane, pipe-pane. Full reference: docs/scripting.md
Configuration
Reads ~/.psmux.conf, ~/.tmux.conf, or ~/.config/psmux/psmux.conf. Fully tmux-compatible syntax — your existing config works. Full reference: docs/configuration.md
License
MIT
Contributing
Contributions welcome — bug reports, PRs, docs, and test scripts via GitHub Issues.
If psmux helps your Windows workflow, consider giving it a ⭐ on GitHub!
docs/faq.md · docs/features.md · docs/keybindings.md · docs/scripting.md · docs/configuration.md
Made with ❤️ for PowerShell using Rust 🦀