New to tmux?

tmux is a terminal tool that keeps programs running after you close the window. Cadrei uses it so your team keeps working while you do something else. You don’t need to learn it: a handful of keys covers everything.

The two keys

Every tmux shortcut starts with the prefix, Ctrl-b: press Ctrl and b together, let go, then press the next key.

• Ctrl-b then s lists your orchestrator and every team. Pick one with the arrows, then Enter.
• Ctrl-b then d leaves. Everything keeps running, and cadrei says Your orchestrator is still running. Run cadrei to come back.

You don’t have to remember them. Cadrei’s sessions show both in the green status bar at the bottom: Ctrl-b s switch · Ctrl-b d leave. You can also ask your orchestrator “how do I get around?”.

A few more things

• Scroll with your mouse or trackpad. Press q to stop scrolling.
• Copy text by holding Option (Mac) or Shift (Linux) while you select.
• A new line in a message: type \ then Enter, or press Ctrl-J. Shift+Enter sends the message in tmux.
• Come back any time by running cadrei. It reopens the same chat instead of starting a second one.

If your tmux prefix is something else, like C-a, the keys follow it: Ctrl-a then s, Ctrl-a then d.

What you’re looking at

Each team is a tmux session, and each member is a window in it. Ctrl-b then s shows them as a tree. Here it is with pane titles left out; the * marks each session’s current window:

(0) + cadrei-main: 1 windows (attached)
(1) - cadrei-main-dev-my-app: 2 windows
(2) ├─→ + 0: engineer*
(3) └─→ + 1: reviewer

The green status bar at the bottom names your crew on its clay block, then the team and project, then the member windows, with the one you’re in set in bold. The keys sit at the right.

tmux doesn’t know what a member is doing. cadrei ls does: who’s working, who’s idle, and who’s waiting on you.

Rather not use it?

Press p on the first run, and your orchestrator opens in your plain terminal. Your team still runs in tmux in the background, and you can watch any member with cadrei attach <team> [project]. To switch later, run cadrei tmux off, or just ask your orchestrator “stop using tmux”.

Cadrei only changes its own sessions: the mouse on, the status bar, scrollback and a few window options. It never binds keys and never touches your ~/.tmux.conf. tmux has the details.