learntmux.dev
Task 10 of 11
Level 1 · BasicsOverview
  1. 1Start your first session
  2. 2The prefix key and new windows
  3. 3Find any key with the help list
  4. 4Run commands from the command prompt
  5. 5Detach and come back
  6. 6Read the session list and juggle sessions
  7. 7Split the window into panes
  8. 8Split with flags
  9. 9Move between panes
  10. 10Kill the server
  11. 11Challenge: morning on the build boxchallenge
Level 2 · IntermediateOverview
  1. 1Change the current window
  2. 2Rename the session and a window
  3. 3Kill a pane, a window and a session
  4. 4Zoom a pane
  5. 5Resize panes
  6. 6Apply window layouts
  7. 7Mark and swap panes
  8. 8Move and renumber windows
  9. 9Browse in tree mode
  10. 10Tag and kill from the tree
  11. 11Kick out a stale client
  12. 12Challenge: tidy a messy sessionchallenge
Level 3 · AdvancedOverview
  1. 1Copy text in copy mode
  2. 2Scroll, search the scrollback and paste
  3. 3Choose and delete buffers in buffer mode
  4. 4Name, save and load buffers
  5. 5Find a window by its content or name
  6. 6Use the mouse
  7. 7Break out, join and send keys
  8. 8Challenge: recover the secret from the logschallenge
Level 4 · ConfigureOverview
  1. 1Show, set and unset options
  2. 2Write the configuration file
  3. 3Add and remove key bindings
  4. 4Change the prefix key
  5. 5Customize the status line
  6. 6Formats and embedded styles
  7. 7Embedded shell commands
  8. 8Configure the pane border
  9. 9Use vi keys in copy mode
  10. 10Mouse copying behaviour
  11. 11Challenge: write your own tmux.confchallenge
Cheat sheet

Mouse copying behaviour

Goal

Mouse on, MouseDragEnd1Pane copies without clearing, and the token line is in a buffer.

A mouse drag ends with MouseDragEnd1Pane — a key like any other, which means you can rebind what a drag does:

copy-pipe-and-cancel
the default: copy, then leave copy mode
copy-selection-no-clear
copy, but keep the selection and stay in copy mode
unbound
the drag only highlights; copying is left to the keyboard

Because mouse events are ordinary bindings, bind, unbind and list-keys all work on them. The binding goes in the copy-mode table: by the time the drag ends, the pane is already in copy mode.

Do this

Press C-b :, type set -g mouse on, Enter.

Without this, a drag selects in your terminal rather than in tmux.

Press C-b :, type list-keys -T copy-mode MouseDragEnd1Pane, Enter.

It shows the default, copy-pipe-and-cancel.

Press C-b :, type bind -T copy-mode MouseDragEnd1Pane send -X copy-selection-no-clear, Enter.

The drag now has new behaviour.

Drag across the token: line and release.

The line stays highlighted, the pane stays in copy mode, and a buffer holds it.

The copy-mode key table

copy-mode is the right table here because this server uses emacs keys. With mode-keys vi set, the same binding would belong in copy-mode-vi.

Stuck on this one?

This is a live terminal. Typing goes to the machine, including Tab. Press Shift and Tab together to move focus back out to the page.

A real terminal, in this tab

about 15 MB, once

session learn

Done when

not started
  1. The mouse option is on— not done yet
  2. MouseDragEnd1Pane in the copy-mode table runs copy-selection-no-clear— not done yet
  3. A buffer holds the token line, from a mouse drag or a keyboard copy— not done yet