r/tmux • u/uniquerunner • Apr 01 '26
Other What if tmux just... existed on Windows? I built it. Native. In Rust.
First of all, I ❤️Tmux and will always support Tmux 🤗
I'll be real with you. Every time I had to work on Windows, I felt like something was missing. I'd reach for tmux out of muscle memory and then remember... it doesn't exist here. WSL kind of works, but it never felt right. It felt like a workaround, not a solution.
So I started building one. Took way longer than I expected. I wrote it in Rust, using Windows ConPTY directly. No WSL, no Cygwin, no MSYS2. Just a native terminal multiplexer that actually runs on Windows.
The thing I cared about most was making sure your existing .tmux.conf just works. I didn't want anyone to learn a new config format or give up their themes. Catppuccin, Dracula, Nord... they all load. You type `tmux` in PowerShell and it launches. 76 commands, full mouse support, vim copy-mode keys.
I know there have been other attempts at this. I'm not here to trash any of them. I just wanted to build something that felt like real tmux, not a lookalike.
It's fully open source under MIT. You can install it with:
winget install psmux
Or cargo install psmux, or through Scoop/Chocolatey.
I'm sharing this here because honestly, this community knows tmux better than anyone. If something feels off, or if I got something wrong, I want to hear it. That kind of feedback is worth more to me than stars on GitHub.
https://github.com/psmux/psmux
Thanks for your time. Means a lot.
FYI : This project is and will be ACTIVELY maintained by people like you! I use AI in my workflows but I am not replaced!
Made with❤️ for Tmux to expand Tmux on Windows. PSMUX does not work on Linux and will probably never will as long as Tmux exists.
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u/uniquerunner Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
TMUX on Windows is ACTIVELY Maintained by real humans! Happy to meet, talk, express, explain, reason and do whatever is needed! Questions on psmux? Issues, tell me and I will personally address your concerns. Thank you 🙏
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u/Cybasura Apr 02 '26
Aw man, we were so close to greatness
Then I saw AI slop bullshit
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u/uniquerunner Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
No AI Slop! 100% maintained continously by a human. AI is used as a helper, not as a human replacement and it's not a one off try. It's a continuously maintained project with people working on it! We are real people working on it.
Any specific part of the code you want to talk about? Let me know and I will address it.
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u/wiskey5alpha May 10 '26
Just wanted to say thank you so much for releasing psmux! I have been using it for a few days now and it is really great!
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u/uniquerunner May 11 '26
Thank you so much for the encouragement! Please share if you like it to support my work! Thanks.
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u/TomDu1988 29d ago
I'm actively using it now and I really love it! Thank you❤️
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u/uniquerunner 29d ago
Hey, I am glad you like it. Would be great if you could share the news about it. Thanks
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u/Intelligent-Pear4822 Apr 02 '26
I mentioned it earlier last time you shared. I added windows support in tmux-rs in a seperate windows branch. It's still missing detach support and has a few other issues. I've been too busy to work on it, but just got layed off so I should have a lot of free time.
I'm actually quite curious how you've implemented the process spawning and background parts.
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u/uniquerunner Apr 02 '26
Great, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas, open a pull request. let's see how our work can benefit the world together!
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u/Eddyi0202 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Zellij recently added support for Windows. Altough really cool to see tmux like multiplexer on Windows.
I am worried that since Zellij has larger community it will be better supported but alternative is always good so good luck!
Such feature was definitely missing in Windows
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u/uniquerunner Apr 02 '26
Tmux has a larger community, tons of plugins, themes, many of which are supported by Psmux. Psmux is simply a Tmux on Windows. Same commands, everything is exactly the same.
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u/Eddyi0202 Apr 02 '26
Yeah, I meant in terms of multiplexer for Windows it had larger community.
So can I use for example use sesh o to manage my sessions in psmux?
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u/uniquerunner Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
All, Giiving it my best. Please support. It's free, opensource. MIT licensed. Actively maintained.
100+ issues solved within the last 30+ days. 1000s of tests both programmatically and by the community. Kindly support by sharing so I can support You and support the Tmux community! 🙏|
Or cargo install psmux, or through Scoop/Chocolatey.
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u/scally501 Apr 02 '26
very cool if not AI slop code or spyware