Configuration

workmux uses a two-level configuration system:

• Global (~/.config/workmux/config.yaml): Personal defaults for all projects. Run workmux config edit to open it in your editor.
• Project (.workmux.yaml): Project-specific overrides

Project settings override global settings. When you run workmux from a subdirectory, it walks upward to find the nearest .workmux.yaml, allowing nested configs for monorepos. See Monorepos for details. For post_create and file operation lists (files.copy, files.symlink), you can use "<global>" to include global values alongside project-specific ones. Other settings like panes are replaced entirely when defined in the project config.

XDG Base Directory support

workmux respects the XDG Base Directory Specification:

Purpose	Environment variable	Default
Configuration	XDG_CONFIG_HOME	~/.config
Cache	XDG_CACHE_HOME	~/.cache
State	XDG_STATE_HOME	~/.local/state

All workmux files live under a workmux/ subdirectory within these base directories. If you have an existing config at the default location and later set a custom XDG_CONFIG_HOME, workmux will fall back to reading from ~/.config/workmux/ if no config exists at the new location.

Global configuration example

~/.config/workmux/config.yaml:

nerdfont: true # Enable nerdfont icons (prompted on first run)
merge_strategy: rebase # Make workmux merge do rebase by default
agent: claude

panes:
  - command: <agent> # Start the configured agent (e.g., claude)
    focus: true
  - split: horizontal # Second pane with default shell

Project configuration example

.workmux.yaml:

post_create:
  - "<global>"
  - mise use

files:
  symlink:
    - "<global>" # Include global symlinks (node_modules)
    - .pnpm-store # Add project-specific symlink

panes:
  - command: pnpm install
    focus: true
  - command: <agent>
    split: horizontal
  - command: pnpm run dev
    split: vertical

For a real-world example, see workmux's own .workmux.yaml.

Configuration options

Most options have sensible defaults. You only need to configure what you want to customize.

Basic options

Option	Description	Default
main_branch	Branch to merge into	Auto-detected
base_branch	Default base branch for new worktrees (overridden by --base)	Current branch
worktree_dir	Directory for worktrees (absolute or relative)	<project>__worktrees/
nerdfont	Enable nerdfont icons (prompted on first run)	Prompted
window_prefix	Override tmux window/session prefix	Icon or wm-
agent	Default agent for <agent> placeholder	claude
agents	Named agent commands (global-only). See named agents.	{}
prompt_file_only	Write prompt files without injecting into agent commands	false
merge_strategy	Default merge strategy (merge, rebase, squash)	merge
theme	Dashboard color scheme (see themes)	default (auto dark/light)
mode	Tmux mode (window or session). See session mode.	window

Themes

The dashboard supports 12 color schemes, each with dark and light variants. Dark/light mode is auto-detected from your terminal background.

Press T (shift+t) in the dashboard to cycle through schemes. The selection persists to your global config (~/.config/workmux/config.yaml).

Available schemes: default, emberforge, glacier-signal, obsidian-pop, slate-garden, phosphor-arcade, lasergrid, mossfire, night-sorbet, graphite-code, festival-circuit, teal-drift.

# Just a scheme name (auto-detect dark/light)
theme: emberforge

# Force a specific mode
theme:
  scheme: emberforge
  mode: light

Custom colors

You can override individual palette colors using the custom block. Custom colors are applied on top of the base scheme, so you can start from any built-in theme and tweak specific colors. Values can be hex colors ("#51afef"), named colors (red, cyan), or terminal color indices (42):

theme:
  custom:
    bg: "#282c34"
    fg: "#bbc2cf"
    accent: "#51afef"
    success: "#98be65"
    warning: "#ECBE7B"
    error: "#ff6c6b"

You can also combine custom colors with a specific scheme and mode:

theme:
  scheme: emberforge
  mode: dark
  custom:
    accent: "#51afef"
    danger: "#ff6c6b"

Shorthand aliases: bg for current_row_bg, fg for text, error for danger.

All palette fields: current_row_bg, highlight_row_bg, current_worktree_fg, dimmed, text, border, help_border, help_muted, header, keycap, info, success, warning, danger, accent.

Custom colors persist when cycling themes with T.

Naming options

Option	Description	Default
worktree_naming	How to derive names from branches	full
worktree_prefix	Prefix for worktree directories and windows	none

worktree_naming strategies:

• full: Use the full branch name (slashes become dashes)
• basename: Use only the part after the last / (e.g., prj-123/feature → feature)

Panes

Define your tmux pane layout with the panes array. For multiple windows in session mode, use windows instead (they are mutually exclusive).

panes:
  - command: <agent>
    focus: true
  - command: npm run dev
    split: horizontal
    size: 15

Each pane supports:

Option	Description	Default
command	Command to run (see agent placeholders below)	Shell
focus	Whether this pane receives focus	false
zoom	Zoom pane to fullscreen (implies focus: true)	false
split	Split direction (horizontal or vertical)	---
size	Absolute size in lines/cells	50%
percentage	Size as percentage (1-100)	50%

Agent placeholders

• <agent>: resolves to the configured agent (from agent config or --agent flag)

Built-in agents (claude, gemini, codex, opencode, kiro-cli, vibe, pi) are auto-detected when used as literal commands and receive prompt injection automatically, without needing the <agent> placeholder or a matching agent config:

panes:
  - command: "claude --dangerously-skip-permissions"
    focus: true
  - command: "codex --yolo"
    split: vertical

Each agent receives the prompt (via -p/-P/-e) using the correct format for that agent. Auto-detection matches the executable name regardless of flags or path.

Named layouts

Define reusable pane arrangements in the layouts map and select one at add-time with -l/--layout:

layouts:
  design:
    panes:
      - command: <agent>
        focus: true
      - command: <agent:codex>
        split: vertical
  review:
    panes:
      - command: <agent>

workmux add my-feature -l design

When -l is used, the layout's panes replace the top-level panes for that worktree. All other config (hooks, files, agent, etc.) comes from the top-level as usual. The -l flag cannot be combined with --agent.

Windows

When using session mode, you can configure multiple windows per session using the windows array. This is mutually exclusive with the top-level panes config. See multiple windows per session for full details.

mode: session
windows:
  - name: editor
    panes:
      - command: <agent>
        focus: true
      - split: horizontal
        size: 20
  - name: tests
    panes:
      - command: just test --watch

File operations

New worktrees are clean checkouts with no gitignored files (.env, node_modules, etc.). Use files to automatically copy or symlink what each worktree needs:

files:
  copy:
    - .env
  symlink:
    - .next/cache # Share build cache across worktrees

Both copy and symlink accept glob patterns.

To re-apply file operations to existing worktrees (e.g., after updating the config), use workmux sync-files.

Lifecycle hooks

Run commands at specific points in the worktree lifecycle, such as installing dependencies or running database migrations. All hooks run with the worktree directory as the working directory (or the nested config directory for nested configs) and receive environment variables: WM_HANDLE, WM_WORKTREE_PATH, WM_PROJECT_ROOT, WM_CONFIG_DIR.

Hook	When it runs	Additional env vars
post_create	After worktree creation, before tmux window opens	—
pre_merge	Before merging (aborts on failure)	WM_BRANCH_NAME, WM_TARGET_BRANCH
pre_remove	Before worktree removal (aborts on failure)	—

WM_CONFIG_DIR points to the directory containing the .workmux.yaml that was used, which may differ from WM_WORKTREE_PATH when using nested configs.

Example:

post_create:
  - direnv allow

pre_merge:
  - just check

Agent status icons

Customize the icons shown in tmux window names:

status_icons:
  working: "🤖" # Agent is processing
  waiting: "💬" # Agent needs input (auto-clears on focus)
  done: "✅" # Agent finished (auto-clears on focus)

You can use tmux style codes for colored icons in both the tmux status bar and the dashboard:

status_icons:
  done: "#[fg=#a6e3a1]󰄴#[fg=default]"

Supported tmux style attributes: fg=, bg=, default. Colors can be hex (#a6e3a1), named (red, green, etc.), or indexed (colour196).

Set status_format: false to disable automatic tmux format modification.

Auto-name configuration

Configure LLM-based branch name generation for the --auto-name (-A) flag:

auto_name:
  command: "claude -p" # Use a custom command instead of the inferred default
  model: "gemini-2.5-flash-lite"
  background: true
  system_prompt: "Generate a kebab-case git branch name."

The command used for branch name generation is resolved in this order:

1. auto_name.command is set: uses that command as-is
2. agent is a known agent (claude, gemini, codex, opencode, kiro-cli, vibe, pi): uses the agent's CLI with a fast/cheap model automatically
3. Neither: falls back to the llm CLI (requires installation)

To override back to llm when an agent is configured, set auto_name.command: "llm".

Option	Description	Default
command	Command for branch name generation (overrides agent profile)	Agent profile or llm CLI
model	LLM model to use with the llm CLI (ignored when command set)	llm's default
background	Always run in background when using --auto-name	false
system_prompt	Custom system prompt for branch name generation	Built-in prompt

See workmux add --auto-name for usage details.

Default behavior

• Worktrees are created in <project>__worktrees as a sibling directory to your project by default
• If no panes configuration is defined, workmux provides opinionated defaults:
  • For projects with a CLAUDE.md file: Opens the configured agent (see agent option) in the first pane, defaulting to claude if none is set.
  • For all other projects: Opens your default shell.
  • Both configurations include a second pane split horizontally
• post_create commands are optional and only run if you configure them

Automatic setup with panes

Use the panes configuration to automate environment setup. Unlike post_create hooks which must finish before the tmux window opens, pane commands execute immediately within the new window.

This can be used for:

• Installing dependencies: Run npm install or cargo build in a focused pane to monitor progress.
• Starting services: Launch dev servers, database containers, or file watchers automatically.
• Running agents: Initialize AI agents with specific context.

Since these run in standard tmux panes, you can interact with them (check logs, restart servers) just like a normal terminal session.

TIP

Running dependency installation (like pnpm install) in a pane command rather than post_create has a key advantage: you get immediate access to the tmux window while installation runs in the background. With post_create, you'd have to wait for the install to complete before the window even opens. This also means AI agents can start working immediately in their pane while dependencies install in parallel.

panes:
  # Pane 1: Install dependencies, then start dev server
  - command: pnpm install && pnpm run dev

  # Pane 2: AI agent
  - command: <agent>
    split: horizontal
    focus: true