cmux for Windows

A dark, keyboard-first terminal multiplexer for Windows, inspired by tmux/cmux workflows but built natively with WPF + ConPTY.

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Why / Who / What / How

Why (problem)	Who (for)	What (feature)	How to use
You lose context across projects and shells	Developers juggling many repos/tasks	Workspaces + surfaces (tabs)	Ctrl+N new workspace, Ctrl+T new surface, switch with Ctrl+1..9
One terminal is never enough	CLI-heavy users, agent workflows	Split panes (right/down)	Ctrl+D split right, Ctrl+Shift+D split down, Ctrl+Alt+Arrow focus pane
You miss important agent outputs	AI-assisted coding users (Claude/Codex/etc.)	OSC notifications + unread tracking	Ctrl+I open notifications, Ctrl+Shift+U jump to latest unread
You need auditability of executed commands	Security-conscious / debugging workflows	Command logs + history picker	Ctrl+Shift+L logs, Ctrl+Alt+H command history, insert/run from UI
You want full session recall after crashes/restarts	Long-running sessions	Session persistence + transcript capture	Auto restore on startup + open Session Vault (Ctrl+Shift+V)
You want searchable output history like Termius vault	Anyone reviewing terminal sessions	Session Vault browser	Open vault, filter captures, preview transcript, copy/open file
You need dark theme consistency and personalization	Users who care about UX/readability	Dark UI + terminal theme customization	Settings (Ctrl+,) for colors/font/cursor + workspace accents
You want quick actions without mouse hunting	Keyboard-first power users	Command palette + shortcuts	Ctrl+Shift+P command palette, menu mirrors key flows
You need automation from scripts/tools	Integrators/agent hooks	Named pipe CLI API (cmux)	cmux notify, cmux workspace, cmux split, cmux status

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Core capabilities

• Native ConPTY terminal emulation (real Windows terminal backend)
• Workspace sidebar with metadata (git branch, cwd, notifications)
• Multi-surface tabs and split-pane layout management
• Notification ingestion (OSC 9/99/777) for coding agents
• Command logs/history with filtering and quick replay
• Terminal transcript capture + Session Vault browsing
• Persistent sessions (window + workspace/surface/pane state)
• Dark desktop UI with keyboard-first navigation

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Screenshots

Open screenshots

Main workspace view

Snippets panel

Command logs window

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Build and run (Windows)

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• .NET 10 SDK
• Optional: Visual Studio 2022 / Build Tools

Clone

git clone <repo-url> cmux-windows
cd cmux-windows

Dev run

dotnet build Cmux.sln -c Debug
dotnet run --project src/Cmux/Cmux.csproj -c Debug

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Build .exe on Windows

1) Framework-dependent .exe (smallest output)

dotnet publish src/Cmux/Cmux.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained false -o publish/cmux-win-x64

Output:

• publish/cmux-win-x64/cmuxw.exe

Use this when target machines already have .NET runtime installed.

2) Self-contained .exe (no runtime install needed)

dotnet publish src/Cmux/Cmux.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -o publish/cmux-win-x64-sc

Output:

• publish/cmux-win-x64-sc/cmuxw.exe

3) Single-file self-contained .exe (portable artifact)

dotnet publish src/Cmux/Cmux.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true /p:PublishSingleFile=true /p:PublishTrimmed=false -o publish/cmux-win-x64-single

Output:

• publish/cmux-win-x64-single/cmuxw.exe

Note: WebView2-backed features may require WebView2 Runtime depending on target system state.

Build CLI executable

dotnet publish src/Cmux.Cli/Cmux.Cli.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -o publish/cmux-cli

Add publish/cmux-cli to PATH to use cmux globally.

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First 5 minutes (how to use)

1. Launch cmuxw.exe
2. Ctrl+N to create a workspace for your repo
3. Ctrl+T to create additional surfaces (tabs)
4. Split panes with Ctrl+D / Ctrl+Shift+D
5. Open command palette with Ctrl+Shift+P for quick actions
6. Open logs with Ctrl+Shift+L
7. Open Session Vault with Ctrl+Shift+V
8. Open settings with Ctrl+, and tune terminal theme/font/cursor

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Keyboard shortcuts

Workspaces

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New workspace
Ctrl+1..8	Jump to workspace 1..8
Ctrl+9	Jump to last workspace
Ctrl+Shift+W	Close workspace
Ctrl+Shift+R	Rename workspace
Ctrl+B	Toggle sidebar

Surfaces (tabs)

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+T	New surface
Ctrl+W	Close surface
Ctrl+Shift+]	Next surface
Ctrl+Shift+[	Previous surface
Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Cycle surfaces

Panes

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+D	Split right
Ctrl+Shift+D	Split down
Ctrl+Alt+Arrow	Focus adjacent pane
Ctrl+Shift+Z	Zoom/unzoom pane

Productivity

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Shift+P	Command palette
Ctrl+Shift+F	Search overlay
Ctrl+Shift+L	Command logs
Ctrl+Shift+V	Session vault
Ctrl+Alt+H	Command history picker
Ctrl+,	Settings

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CLI usage

# Send a notification (e.g., from agent hooks)
cmux notify --title "Claude Code" --body "Waiting for input"

# Workspace management
cmux workspace list
cmux workspace create --name "My Project"
cmux workspace select --index 0

# Surface/pane actions
cmux surface create
cmux split right
cmux split down

# Inspect status
cmux status

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Architecture (high level)

src/
  Cmux/         WPF desktop app (views, controls, themes)
  Cmux.Core/    terminal engine, models, services, persistence, IPC
  Cmux.Cli/     command-line client for automation
tests/
  Cmux.Tests/   unit tests

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License

MIT