Maintain Claude Code sessions across devices using tmux.
Pure Bash + fzf. Single file. Zero friction. Millisecond startup.
Why tm? Modern development means running multiple AI agents, Claude Code sessions, and background tasks across tmux — often on a remote server you want to reach from any device.
tmgives you instant visibility into what's running where, with process trees, AI-powered summaries, and protection locks to keep critical sessions safe. Start a Claude Code session on your desktop, detach, then SSH into the same remote host from your laptop or phone and pick up exactly where you left off. On mobile (iOS / Android), just SSH into your remote server and runtm— the fzf interface works great with touch, letting you manage sessions on the go.
╭──────────────── tmux session manager v1.0.0 ──────────────────╮
│ Keys: ↵Enter │ Tab Multi-sel │ ^N New │ ^K Kill │ ^P Protect │
│ │
│ NAME DIRECTORY W P IDLE │
│ [▸] my-project ~/project/my-project 3 4 now │
│ >[●] web-app ~/project/web-app 2 2 3m │
│ [●] api-server 🔒 ~/project/api-server 4 5 15m │
│ [○] dotfiles ~/dotfiles 1 1 2h │
│ [○] notes ~/documents/notes 1 1 1d │
│ │
│╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮│
││ ── Session Details ────────────────── ││
││ 🏷️ web-app ││
││ 📂 ~/project/web-app ││
││ 🌿 feat/new-dashboard ││
││ 🪟 2 win · 2 pane · 1 client ││
││ 🕒 2026-04-06 08:30 · idle 3m ││
││ 💡 Next.js dashboard dev with hot reload ││
││ ││
││ ── Running Processes ──────────────── ││
││ ▸ zsh (1234) CPU 0.0% · RAM 12.3M ││
││ └─ node (1250) CPU 2.1% · RAM 156.8M ││
││ ▸ zsh (1300) CPU 0.0% · RAM 11.8M ││
││ └─ claude (1315) CPU 0.5% · RAM 89.2M ││
││ Total: CPU 2.6% · RAM 270.1M ││
││ ││
││ ── Window List ───────────────────── ││
││ 0: editor (active) ││
││ 1: server ││
│╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯│
╰───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
Status indicators: [▸] current [●] attached [○] idle 🔒 protected
| Feature | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| 🤖 | AI Summaries | Auto-generate session purpose summaries with Claude Haiku |
| 💾 | Backup & Restore | Snapshot sessions with Claude Code and Codex state, restore after reboot |
| 🌳 | Process Tree | See every pane's shell and child processes with CPU/RAM |
| 🔒 | Protection Lock | Prevent critical sessions from accidental termination |
| ⚡ | Smart Sorting | Most recently used sessions always on top |
| 🎨 | Group Colors | Sessions in the same directory share indicator colors |
| 🌿 | Git Branch | Preview panel shows current branch at a glance |
| 📋 | Session Templates | Create multi-window layouts in one command |
| 💀 | Batch Kill | Multi-select and kill with three-stage safety confirmation |
git clone <repo-url> && cd session-manager
./install-fzf.sh
chmod +x tm.sh
./tm.sh# Clone or download to any directory
chmod +x tm.sh
# Download fzf (required for interactive mode)
./install-fzf.sh
# (Optional) Create a global shortcut — pick one:
ln -sf "$(pwd)/tm.sh" ~/.local/bin/tm
# or add to ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc:
alias tm="~/session-manager/tm.sh"| Tool | Version | Purpose | Install |
|---|---|---|---|
bash |
4.0+ | Required | See note below |
tmux |
— | Required | brew install tmux / apt install tmux |
fzf |
— | Interactive mode | Run ./install-fzf.sh to auto-download into the project directory |
Note
CLI mode (ls, kill, protect, etc.) only requires tmux — no fzf needed.
Warning
macOS users: The default /bin/bash is version 3.2. You need bash 4.0+ for this tool to work. Install a newer version with brew install bash and make sure the new bash is in your $PATH before /bin/bash.
Works on desktop and mobile — attach to the same remote tmux sessions from anywhere, so your Claude Code work follows you across devices.
| Platform | How to use |
|---|---|
| macOS (ARM / Intel) | Run directly, or SSH into a remote host |
| Linux (amd64 / arm64) | Run directly, or SSH into a remote host |
| iOS / iPadOS | SSH into your remote server via Termius |
| Android | SSH into your remote server via Termux |
Tip
On mobile, tm's fzf-based UI works great with touch and on-screen keyboards — no desktop required. Pair with mosh for a seamless experience over unstable remote connections.
./tm.sh # Launch fzf interactive menu| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Enter |
Attach to selected session |
Tab |
Multi-select (for batch kill with Ctrl-K) |
Ctrl-N |
Create new session |
Ctrl-K |
Kill session (supports multi-select batch kill) |
Ctrl-E |
Rename session |
Ctrl-D |
Detach other clients |
Ctrl-P |
Toggle protection lock 🔒 |
Ctrl-R |
Refresh list |
Ctrl-Q |
Quit |
Esc |
Quit |
tm # Interactive menu
tm <session-name> # Attach to a specific session
tm new myapp ~/code # Create a new session
tm new myapp -t dev # Create session from template (3 windows)
tm kill myapp # Kill session (with safety checks)
tm attach myapp -d # Attach and detach other clients
tm rename myapp # Rename session
tm last # Switch to the last session
tm ls # List all sessions (plain text)
tm templates # List available templates
tm protect myapp # Toggle protection status
tm summarize myapp # Generate AI summary for a session
tm summarize-all # Generate AI summaries for all sessions
tm install-claude-hook # Enable exact Claude session ID tracking
tm save # Snapshot all sessions (for restore after reboot)
tm restore # Restore sessions from snapshot
tm restore --claude # Restore sessions and auto-launch Claude Code
tm restore --codex # Restore sessions and resume Codex
tm snapshots # Show latest snapshot contents
tm help # Show helpAdd the following to ~/.tmux.conf to launch the manager with Prefix + M:
# Popup mode (recommended, tmux 3.2+)
bind M display-popup -w 90% -h 85% -E "/path/to/tm.sh"
# Or open in a new window
bind M new-window -n "tm" "/path/to/tm.sh"# Option 1: Source directly (add to ~/.zshrc)
source /path/to/session-manager/completions/tm.zsh
# Option 2: Copy to fpath
cp completions/tm.zsh ~/.zsh/completions/_tmThree layers of protection to prevent accidental session termination:
- Protection Lock — Sessions marked with
Ctrl-Pare blocked from deletion entirely - Current Session Detection — Cannot kill the session you are currently using
- Three-stage Confirmation — Shows running critical processes (claude, python, node...) and requires typing the full session name to confirm
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
TM_PROJECT_BASE |
Two levels above tm.sh | Directory menu for creating new sessions |
Backup & Restore — Survive reboots with Claude Code and Codex state
tm save captures a JSON snapshot of every session — name, working directory, running agent, and the exact Claude Code or Codex session ID when available. Restore uses the recorded ID first, so multiple agent sessions in the same working directory remain distinct.
Install the Claude SessionStart hook once to map each tmux pane to its session ID. The installer preserves existing settings and hooks, and creates a timestamped backup before changing an existing ~/.claude/settings.json. The hook records only the pane ID, session UUID, working directory, and timestamp — never conversation content.
tm install-claude-hook # One-time setup for exact Claude session tracking
tm save # Snapshot all sessions
tm restore # Recreate sessions from snapshot (skip existing)
tm restore --claude # Also auto-launch Claude Code where it was running
tm restore --codex # Also resume Codex where it was running
tm restore --claude --codex # Restore both agents
tm snapshots # Preview the latest snapshotCodex IDs are detected directly from the running pane. If an exact ID is unavailable, restore falls back to Claude's --continue behavior or Codex's directory-scoped --last behavior.
Snapshot is saved to <tm-dir>/snapshots/sessions.json (next to tm.sh), with the previous version rotated to sessions.json.bak. This keeps backup data inside the project directory and avoids overwriting any existing user backups.
crontab -e
# Every 30 minutes:
*/30 * * * * /path/to/tm.sh save >> /tmp/tm-save.log 2>&1Requires
python3for safe JSON handling.
AI Summaries — Setup & Cron
Uses Claude Haiku to generate a one-line summary for each tmux session, inferring its purpose from session name, directory, git branch, window list, and running processes.
tm summarize myapp # Single session
tm summarize-all # All sessionsSummary history is stored in JSONL format at ~/.tmux-manager/summaries/<session_name>.jsonl and is not auto-cleaned. The latest summary is displayed in the fzf preview panel.
crontab -e
# Add the following line (replace with your actual path):
0 * * * * /path/to/tm.sh summarize-all >> /tmp/tm-summary.log 2>&1Requires Claude CLI (
claudecommand) to be installed.
File Structure
session-manager/
├── tm.sh # Main script
├── install-fzf.sh # fzf download script
├── completions/
│ └── tm.zsh # Zsh completion
├── snapshots/ # Backup snapshots (gitignored)
│ ├── sessions.json # Latest snapshot
│ └── sessions.json.bak # Previous snapshot
└── ~/.tmux-manager/ # Runtime data (auto-created)
├── protected.txt # Protected session list
├── last_session # Last session record
├── claude_sessions.jsonl # tmux pane to Claude session ID records
├── templates/ # Session template directory
│ └── dev # Default dev template (editor/server/logs)
└── summaries/ # AI summary history (JSONL)
└── <session_name>.jsonl # One summary record per line