Easily Set Up Your Usual tmux Pane Layout

Overview

Every time I start new development work, I have to manually split tmux panes, navigate to the necessary directories in each pane, and execute commands. This got tedious, so I created a tool called tsps to eliminate this repetitive work.

https://github.com/yyossy5/tsps

https://crates.io/crates/tsps

tsps Demo

I've prepared a demo video since seeing it in action is the quickest way to understand:

Key Features

• Simple Operation: Create multiple panes with a single command

• Automatic Directory Navigation: Move all panes to a specified directory

• Automatic Command Execution: Run arbitrary commands in each pane automatically

• YAML Configuration: Reusable custom layout configurations

• Focus Control: Specify which pane gets initial focus

Installation

I recommend installing via Cargo:

cargo install tsps

For macOS users without Cargo, I've also prepared pre-built binaries in the Releases. Details are available in the README.

Basic Usage

Simple Pane Splitting

Create a specified number of panes, all navigated to the specified directory:

# Create 4 panes, all cd'd to the current directory
tsps 4 .

# Create 3 panes, all cd'd to a specific project directory
tsps 3 /path/to/project

Using YAML Configuration Files

For even more convenience, use YAML files:

tsps -l config.yaml -d /path/to/project

YAML Configuration Files

I expect that using configuration files will be the most common use case.

Simple Example

# Simple 2-pane layout
workspace:
  name: "simple"
  description: "2-pane layout with editor and terminal"
  directory: "."

panes:
  - id: "editor"
    commands:
      - "nvim ."
    focus: true

  - id: "terminal"
    split: "horizontal"

This configuration creates:

• Editor pane (launches Neovim, has focus)

• Terminal pane (positioned with horizontal split)

More Practical Example

# Development layout example
workspace:
  name: "dev"
  description: "4-pane layout for development"
  directory: "/Users/me/Projects/tsps"

panes:
  # Main editor (top-left)
  - id: "editor"
    commands:
      - "nvim ."
    focus: true

  # Claude Code (top-right, smaller)
  - id: "claude"
    split: "vertical"
    size: "38%"
    commands:
      - "claude"

  # General terminal (bottom-left)
  - id: "terminal"
    split: "horizontal"
    size: "30%"
    commands:
      - "ls -la"

  # Git operations (bottom-right, larger)
  - id: "git"
    split: "vertical"
    size: "60%"
    commands:
      - "lazygit"

This configuration creates:

1. editor pane: Opens the project in Neovim

2. claude pane: Vertical split, 38% size, launches Claude CLI

3. terminal pane: Horizontal split, 30% size, displays directory contents

4. git pane: Vertical split, 60% size, launches Lazygit

The result looks like this:

Configuration Options Details

Conclusion

If you use tmux and want to make your daily development workflow a bit easier, please give this tool a try.