tmux Skill (OpenClaw): What It Does and How to Install It

Lets an agent drive interactive programs in existing tmux sessions: list panes, read output, send keys and wait for a prompt.

Installs: 8.5K; on skills.sh
Stars: 393.6K; on GitHub
Files: 2; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Nov 2026; last repo commit

This skill is in the OpenClaw repository and is written for OpenClaw. It teaches an agent the tmux commands for listing sessions and panes, capturing pane text, sending literal text and special keys such as Enter and Ctrl-C, and creating or killing sessions. It also bundles 2 shell scripts, one to find sessions and one to wait until a pane shows a given text.

It needs tmux on macOS or Linux. SKILL.md says to use it for existing interactive sessions, and to use plain shell commands for one-shot jobs. Sending keys to a pane acts as you in whatever program runs there.

Good for

Developers who run long interactive CLIs or agents inside tmux
People who keep tmux sessions alive over SSH and want an agent to check on them
Anyone supervising several worker sessions from one agent

Install tmux

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the tmux skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw --skill tmux

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js, tmux on macOS or Linux.

Pick one route for the skill. It needs tmux on macOS or Linux; SKILL.md metadata lists a Homebrew formula for it. There is no Claude app upload route because the skill runs tmux and shell scripts on your machine.

Built from the package data we hold. Not yet tested by us.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Control tmux sessions/panes for interactive CLIs: list, capture output, send keys, paste text, monitor prompts.

Sections in SKILL.md

Basics
Send input
Sessions
Prompt checks
Helpers
Notes

Key facts

Author: OpenClaw Foundation (repo copyright holder; the skill is bundled in the OpenClaw repo)
Repo: openclaw/openclaw
License: MIT (LICENSE and README badge agree)
Installs on skills.sh: 8,451 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 393,731 for the whole repo (Nov 2, 2026)
Last repo commit: Nov 1, 2026
Audits on skills.sh: Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass, Socket: pass, Snyk: pass
What it includes: 3 files: SKILL.md and 2 shell scripts (find-sessions.sh, wait-for-text.sh)
Needs: tmux on macOS or Linux (SKILL.md metadata lists a brew formula)

What it includes

tmux ls, list-windows, list-panes and capture-pane (with -S - for full scrollback).
Targets use the form session:window.pane, for example shared:0.0.
Try: “What is on screen in tmux pane shared:0.0?”
Runs code · List and capture
tmux send-keys -l -- "text", then Enter as a separate command.
SKILL.md says to split text and Enter to avoid paste surprises.
Runs code · Send literal text
Sends C-c, C-d or Escape to a pane.
Runs code · Send special keys
Creates, renames and kills sessions with new-session, rename-session and kill-session.
Delete · Sessions
Captures the last lines of a pane and searches for prompts such as proceed or permission.
SKILL.md says to approve or select only when the prompt is understood.
Runs code · Prompt checks
Lists tmux sessions on a socket, or on all sockets in a socket folder.
Options: -L, -S, -A (scan all), -q (filter). The default socket folder is under TMPDIR in openclaw-tmux-sockets.
Runs code · scripts/find-sessions.sh
Polls a pane until a marker appears, with a timeout.
SKILL.md suggests a unique nonce marker whose full text is split across the command arguments.
Runs code · scripts/wait-for-text.sh

From the official docs

Permissions

High risk

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It types into your live terminals
send-keys acts as you in whatever program runs in the pane: a shell, an editor or another agent. SKILL.md shows sending y and Enter to answer prompts. Point it only at panes you are happy to hand over. github.com
It can read secrets on screen
capture-pane returns pane text and optionally the full scrollback, which can include tokens or private output. Close or clear panes that show secrets first. github.com
It can kill sessions
SKILL.md lists tmux kill-session -t worker. Killing a session ends everything running in it. github.com
Scripts read a socket folder
find-sessions.sh -A scans every socket under OPENCLAW_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR, which defaults to openclaw-tmux-sockets under TMPDIR or /tmp. github.com

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only mode. The capture-pane and list commands only read, but the same skill covers send-keys and kill-session.
Sign-in and keys	SKILL.md names no account or key.
Scopes	Reads the text shown in any tmux pane you point it at, including scrollback Types text and keys into those panes Creates and kills tmux sessions Runs 2 bundled shell scripts

Questions

What does the tmux skill do?

It lets an agent work with existing tmux sessions: list panes, read what is on screen, type text or keys, and wait for a marker to appear. It also covers creating, renaming and killing sessions.

How do I install it?

Use the install box at the top of this page. SKILL.md metadata also lists a Homebrew formula for tmux itself, and the metadata says macOS and Linux only.

Does it work outside OpenClaw?

The commands are plain tmux commands and the install box covers Claude Code and Codex folders. The marker example in SKILL.md uses an OPENCLAW_DONE name, and find-sessions.sh uses an OPENCLAW_TMUX_SOCKET_DIR setting.

Does it work in the Claude app?

The install box has no Claude app upload route. The skill runs tmux and shell scripts on your machine.

Is it safe?

It can type into and read from any pane you give it, and kill sessions. Use it on sessions you can afford to disturb, and watch what it sends.

When should I not use it?

SKILL.md says to use normal shell for one-shot commands and background execution for new non-interactive jobs. The tmux skill is for existing interactive sessions.

How does it know a command finished?

SKILL.md suggests sending a command that prints a unique marker built from a random nonce, then running wait-for-text.sh for that marker with a timeout. The full marker never appears in the typed command, so only real output matches.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: openclaw/openclaw
Folder: skills/tmux

openclaw/openclaw skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 3

tmux SKILL.md · github.com
find-sessions.sh · github.com
wait-for-text.sh · github.com