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tmux-try: Connecting try and tmux for Instant Session Creation in Experiment Directories

#terminal #git #shellscript

Originally published on 2026-02-01
Original article (Japanese): tmux-try: tryとtmuxを繋いで実験ディレクトリを即セッション化する

Have you ever found yourself saying, "I want to try something, so I'll create a new directory and start tmux..."?

Previously, I introduced try (for more details, see "try: Can You Find the Inspiration from 2 AM the Next Morning?"), a handy tool for managing experiment directories with date prefixes. However, starting a tmux session from there was a separate task. To bridge these two, I created tmux-try.

The Problem tmux-try Solves

After creating an experiment directory with try, I used to follow these steps every time:

# Create and move to the directory with try
try redis-test

# Check if a tmux session exists
tmux list-sessions | grep redis-test

# If it exists, attach to it
tmux attach-session -t redis-test

# If not, create a new one
tmux new-session -s redis-test
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It was a bit tedious to have to type different commands based on whether a session existed or not. tmux-try consolidates this into a single command.

# Just this one command
tmux-try redis-test
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Key Features

1. Path-Based Sessions

If you specify an explicit path (starting with ./, ~/, or /), a session will start in that directory.

# Under the current directory
tmux-try ./myproject

# Under the home directory
tmux-try ~/projects/myapp

# Absolute path
tmux-try /absolute/path/to/project
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If the directory does not exist, it will be created automatically.

2. Name-Based Sessions (Integration with try)

If there is no path prefix, the fuzzy finder from try will launch.

# Search for existing experiments or create a new one
tmux-try redis

# Start interactively without arguments
tmux-try
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If try is not installed, it will start a session in the current directory.

3. Clone GitHub Repositories and Start Sessions

If you pass a Git URL, it will clone using try and immediately start a session.

# Clone via HTTPS
tmux-try https://github.com/tobi/try

# Clone via SSH
tmux-try git@github.com:user/repo.git
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The clone destination will be created with a date prefix, like ~/src/tries/2026-01-31-tobi-try/.

4. Automatic Detection of tmuxinator

If tmuxinator is installed, it will automatically create and use a .tmuxinator.yml.

name: myproject
root: /path/to/myproject

windows:
  - main:
      panes:
        - zsh
        - opencode
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In environments without tmuxinator, it will fall back to using plain tmux commands.

Argument Resolution Rules

tmux-try automatically determines what action to take based on the format of the arguments.

Argument Determination Action
./foo, ~/foo, /foo Path prefix Use as a directory
https://..., git@... Git URL Clone with try
foo Name only tmuxinator project → try experiment
(none) Empty try selector → current directory

Installation

Prerequisites

  • tmux: Terminal multiplexer (required)
  • try: Experiment directory manager (needed for name-based sessions)
  • bash: Shell (version 4.0 or later)

Optional

  • tmuxinator: tmux session manager (used automatically if available)

Steps

  1. Download the script 
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tumf/tmux-try/main/tmux-try \
  -o /usr/local/bin/tmux-try
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  1. Grant execute permissions 
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/tmux-try
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  1. Install try (recommended) 
gem install try-cli
eval "$(try init)"  # Add to .zshrc or .bashrc
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  1. Set up an alias (recommended) 
# Add to .zshrc or .bashrc
alias t='tmux-try'
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You can start an experiment environment with just t redis. It's a single character, so you can execute it the moment you think of it.

Design Decisions

Why tmuxinator is Not Required

While tmuxinator is convenient, I made it optional for the following reasons:

  • Reduce environmental dependencies: It works with just tmux.
  • Lightweight: Usable in environments without Ruby installation.
  • Flexibility: Only those who want to use tmuxinator's settings can do so.

In the implementation, the presence of tmuxinator is detected with command -v tmuxinator, and it automatically falls back.

if command -v tmuxinator &> /dev/null; then
  # Use tmuxinator
  tmuxinator start "$project_name"
else
  # Use plain tmux
  tmux new-session -s "$session_name" -c "$directory"
fi
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Integration with try

try is a tool specifically designed for "experiment directory management" (for more details, see "try: Can You Find the Inspiration from 2 AM the Next Morning?"). It has features for automatic naming with date prefixes, fuzzy searching, and time-aware sorting, managing the entire lifecycle of experiments.

tmux-try respects this philosophy and is designed to directly utilize try's features. It does not implement its own directory management but delegates that to try.

Usage Examples

Case 1: Starting a New Experiment 

# Launch the fuzzy finder from try
tmux-try

# Filter with "redis" and create a new one
# → Move to ~/src/tries/2026-01-31-redis/ and start the session
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Case 2: Trying a GitHub Repository 

# Clone the repository and immediately start a session
tmux-try https://github.com/tobi/try

# → Start the session in ~/src/tries/2026-01-31-tobi-try/
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Case 3: Working on an Existing Project 

# Start an existing tmuxinator project
tmux-try myproject

# Or specify an explicit path
tmux-try ~/projects/myproject
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Conclusion

tmux-try is a simple wrapper that connects try and tmux.

Key Benefits:

  • One command to complete: Automates directory creation → movement → session start.
  • Flexible argument resolution: Automatically determines paths, names, and Git URLs.
  • Environment adaptability: Automatically detects the presence of tmuxinator and falls back.

It's a tool that allows you to quickly transform a fleeting thought of "I want to try this" into an execution environment. If you're interested, give it a try!

Reference Links

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