The best way I have found to use tmux is to unbind everything and set only the things I use for my workflow. Then the configuration (.tmux.conf) becomes the docs.

I was inspired by the "How to Configure tmux from scratch" post [1].

I came up with my use cases:

- I want to create sessions

- I want to open and close windows

- I want to create split panes

- I want to use vim-style text select

- etc.

Then I made mappings for the things I care about for my workflow specifically.

Before this, I would accidentally hit a keybinding while doing something else and not know how I got to that state, taking me out of flow to troubleshoot.

Afterwards, only the keybindings I have defined take action.

Now tmux fits like a glove. Because tmux is so stable, I haven't had to touch my config in years. It's worth the one time effort.

[1] https://ianthehenry.com/posts/how-to-configure-tmux/

I haven't strayed from tmux default configuration that much over the years (and these days, I don't even bother to alter it). The reason is that it's just another set of keybinding shortcuts to memorize, and if I forget some, the help screen is clone. But the few that are ingrained are guaranted to work everywhere.

> Before this, I would accidentally hit a keybinding while doing something else and not know how I got to that state, taking me out of flow to troubleshoot.

I used to accidentally background my tmux frequently and the first couple times made my heart sink in that “did I save??” way lol, though these days I’ve largely stoped using it since splits feel smoother in Kitty and I don’t do any remote sessions.