sidebar

Controls a live agent status sidebar on the left or top edge of tmux windows. By default, each sidebar pane shows active agents across all tmux sessions with live status updates. Use workmux sidebar filter session to show only agents in the current tmux session.

workmux sidebar                         # Toggle sidebar on/off (all sessions)
workmux sidebar on                      # Ensure the global sidebar is running
workmux sidebar off                     # Ensure the global sidebar is stopped
workmux sidebar --session on            # Ensure it is running in this session
workmux sidebar --session off           # Ensure it is stopped in this session
workmux sidebar on --position top       # Enable with a top sidebar
workmux sidebar on --width 40           # Set left sidebar width in columns
workmux sidebar on --height 3           # Set top sidebar height in rows

What it shows

Each agent row displays:

• Status icon (working/waiting/done with spinner animation)
• Project and worktree name (e.g. myproject/fix-bug)
• Elapsed time since last status change
• Git diff stats, plus optional pull request number and check status in custom templates

Keybindings

Key	Action
j/k	Navigate up/down
Enter	Run the configured action
o	Focus the agent pane
g/G	Jump to first/last
v	Toggle layout mode
f	Toggle session filter
V	Toggle rule-based views
z	Toggle sleeping on agent
t	Toggle grouping
h/l	Unfold/fold current group
s	Toggle the current fold
S	Fold/unfold every group
?	Show these keys
q	Open quit confirmation

Mouse support

With tmux mouse mode enabled (set -g mouse on), click an agent row or top-bar chip to jump to its pane, or scroll to navigate the list.

Navigation commands

Switch between agents from any tmux pane, in the same order shown in the sidebar. Navigation uses the same filter mode as the sidebar view, so it cycles through all sessions by default:

Command	Action
workmux sidebar next	Switch to the next agent (wraps)
workmux sidebar prev	Switch to the previous agent (wraps)
workmux sidebar jump <N>	Jump to the Nth agent (1-indexed)
workmux sidebar filter	Toggle session filter (none/session)
workmux sidebar filter <MODE>	Set filter mode: none/all or session/project
workmux sidebar group	Toggle grouping between grouped and flat
workmux sidebar group <MODE>	Set grouping: none/off, project or session
workmux sidebar group --clear	Drop the runtime grouping and follow config again

Example tmux keybindings

# Alt+j / Alt+k to cycle agents (no prefix needed)
bind -n M-j run-shell "workmux sidebar next"
bind -n M-k run-shell "workmux sidebar prev"

# Alt+1..9 to jump directly
bind -n M-1 run-shell "workmux sidebar jump 1"
bind -n M-2 run-shell "workmux sidebar jump 2"
bind -n M-3 run-shell "workmux sidebar jump 3"
# ...

# Or with prefix key (avoids terminal conflicts)
bind C-j run-shell "workmux sidebar next"
bind C-k run-shell "workmux sidebar prev"

Configuration

stale_after: 5h # dashboard and sidebar timeout; default: 1h

sidebar:
  position: left # "left" (default) or "top"
  width: 40 # left width in columns (default: "10%", clamped 25-50)
  # width: "15%"
  layout: tiles # left only: "compact" or "tiles" (default)
  enter_action: focus # "focus" (default) or "select"
  git_status: true # collect Git status and GitHub PR/check data (default)
  dim_stale: true # dim stale agents using stale_after
  group_by: project # "project" or "session"; unset keeps one flat list
  collapse_stale: true # while grouped, fold stale agents behind a toggle

Set enter_action: select to show the selected agent’s window while keeping focus in its sidebar, so j/k can continue scanning agents. Press o to focus the selected agent’s pane. If the target window has no sidebar, Enter falls back to focusing the agent pane. Mouse clicks always focus the pane.

For a horizontal top bar:

sidebar:
  position: top
  height: 3 # top height in rows
  horizontal:
    item_width: 24 # horizontal chip width in columns (default, clamped 12-80)
  templates:
    horizontal:
      - "{status_icon} {primary} {pane_suffix} {fill} {elapsed}"
      - "{secondary} {fill} {git_stats}"
      - "{pane_title}"

Set sidebar.git_status: false in the global config to stop the sidebar daemon from watching worktrees and collecting Git status. Git status, pull request, and check tokens then render empty. This setting is daemon-wide and does not affect the dashboard’s independent Git status updates.

Explicit width values bypass the default 25-50 column clamp (minimum 1 column). Layout preference can also be toggled at runtime with v and is persisted across restarts. Height only applies to position: top; set it as a row count for the number of horizontal lines you want to show. The top bar uses a horizontal chip layout, so v has no effect there. Horizontal templates render as many configured lines as the current height allows. horizontal.item_width controls each chip width and is clamped between 12 and 80 columns. Position changes take effect when the sidebar is enabled. Use workmux sidebar on --position top or --position left to override the configured placement. Width and height also accept percentages, such as workmux sidebar on --width 15%. Repeating on with appearance options applies them without creating duplicate panes. The off action rejects position and dimension flags because they have no effect while stopping the sidebar.

Named views

Use named views to show agents from selected sessions or project directories. Add sidebar.views to your global config at ~/.config/workmux/config.yaml (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/workmux/config.yaml). Views cannot be set per project.

sidebar:
  views:
    - name: Named sessions
      sessions: [foo, bar, xyz]
    - name: Code
      project_dirs: [~/code]
    - name: Work
      project_dirs: [~/work]
    - name: Other
      other: true

Views are enabled by default when configured. Each window uses the first view matching its agent’s session or project, then Other if nothing matches, or All if there is no Other view. Switching to another window shows that window’s view without changing the one you left.

In a window with several agents, the view follows the active agent and stays on that view when you focus the sidebar. A window without a registered agent uses its oldest pane’s session and working directory.

Turning views on and off

Press V to toggle views for every sidebar in the tmux server:

• On: each window shows agents matching its own view.
• Off: every sidebar shows all agents.

workmux sidebar view       # Toggle views on/off
workmux sidebar view on    # Apply each window's matching rules
workmux sidebar view off   # Show all agents in every sidebar

The view name appears at the bottom of the sidebar, or All when views are off. A view with no matching agents shows “No matching agents”. Turning the sidebar off and on preserves the toggle; restarting tmux enables views again.

The f session filter works in both modes. When it is on, each sidebar shows only agents in its current session, whether or not views are enabled. Views do not change row grouping (sidebar.group_by) or which windows have a sidebar (sidebar --session). next, prev, and jump follow the current window’s view once the sidebar updates.

A top sidebar needs at least two rows: one for the view name and one for agents. With no views configured, V does not change which agents appear.

Matching rules

• sessions matches exact, case-sensitive tmux session names. foo does not match foobar or Foo; wildcards are not supported.
• project_dirs matches each directory and its subdirectories. ~/code does not match ~/code-old. Use absolute paths or ~ for your home directory; environment variables such as $HOME are not expanded. Symlinks are resolved for paths that exist.
• Linked worktrees belong to the main repository’s directory, even if the worktree is stored elsewhere. Bare repositories use the bare directory. If workmux cannot identify a repository, it uses the agent’s recorded working directory. After moving a repository, allow about 30 seconds for views to update.
• An agent matches a view if it matches any of its session names or project directories. The same agent can appear in more than one view.
• other: true shows agents that match none of the other views. Only one view can use it, and that view cannot also have sessions or project_dirs. Without an Other view, unmatched agents appear only in All.
• Give each view a unique name other than All, without leading or trailing spaces. Each view needs sessions, project_dirs, or other: true.

How it works

When enabled, a background daemon polls tmux state every 2 seconds and pushes snapshots to each sidebar pane over a Unix socket. The sidebar creates a tmux pane on the configured edge of every existing window. A tmux hook (after-new-window) ensures newly created windows also get a sidebar automatically.

Running workmux sidebar again disables the sidebar globally, killing all sidebar panes, the daemon, and removing hooks. workmux sidebar on and workmux sidebar off provide idempotent alternatives for scripts and tmux configuration.

Session-scoped mode

By default, the sidebar appears in all tmux sessions. Use --session to scope it to the current session only, leaving other sessions untouched:

workmux sidebar --session on   # Ensure it is enabled in the current session
workmux sidebar --session off  # Ensure it is disabled in the current session

You can enable session-scoped sidebars in multiple sessions independently. Each session can be toggled or explicitly enabled and disabled without affecting others.

If the global sidebar is already active, workmux sidebar --session hides the sidebar in the current tmux session only. Run it again to show the sidebar in that session again while other sessions remain globally managed.

Starting global mode still replaces any session-scoped sidebars.

Limitations

• tmux only (other backends are not supported yet)

Example tmux binding

bind C-t run-shell "workmux sidebar"