Josh

Posted on Feb 18

Stop Using WSL Just for tmux — psmux is tmux for Windows, Natively

#rust #windows #tmux #powershell

You Don't Need WSL Just for tmux

I've seen this conversation a hundred times:

"How do I get tmux on Windows?"
"Install WSL"

And sure, WSL works. But running an entire Linux kernel + distro just to split your terminal? That's like buying a car because you need a cup holder.

What if tmux Just... Worked on Windows?

cargo install psmux
tmux new-session -s work

That's it. psmux gives you tmux — the actual tmux command — running natively on Windows. Not through WSL. Not through Cygwin. A native Windows binary.

Everything You Know Transfers

If you know tmux, you know psmux. The keybindings are identical:

tmux	psmux	What it does
`Ctrl+b %`	`Ctrl+b %`	Split horizontal
`Ctrl+b "`	`Ctrl+b "`	Split vertical
`Ctrl+b d`	`Ctrl+b d`	Detach
`Ctrl+b c`	`Ctrl+b c`	New window
`Ctrl+b [`	`Ctrl+b [`	Copy mode
`tmux ls`	`tmux ls`	List sessions
`tmux attach -t x`	`tmux attach -t x`	Reattach

Your .tmux.conf works too:

set -g prefix C-a
set -g mouse on
set -g base-index 1
bind-key -T prefix h split-window -h
bind-key -T prefix v split-window -v

psmux reads ~/.tmux.conf automatically (along with ~/.psmux.conf and ~/.psmuxrc).

Feature Parity

psmux isn't a toy. It's a serious tmux implementation:

Split panes — horizontal and vertical
Multiple windows with tabbed navigation
Session management — create, detach, reattach, kill, rename
Mouse support — resize panes, click tabs
Copy mode — vim-like scrollback with visual selection
Synchronized panes — type in multiple panes simultaneously
Status bar — full tmux format variable support (#S, #I, #W, etc.)
Theming — fg, bg, bold, dim, italics, etc.
Hooks — run commands on events
Layouts — even-horizontal, even-vertical, tiled, main-horizontal
Format engine — 100+ tmux-compatible variables
Config file — drop-in .tmux.conf compatible

The WSL Tax

Here's what you pay for tmux-via-WSL:

Cost	Impact
~2GB disk space	WSL distribution + kernel
Memory overhead	VM running even when idle
Filesystem bridge	Slow Windows file access from WSL
Path translation	`/mnt/c/Users/...` ↔ `C:\Users\...`
Port forwarding	`localhost` sometimes doesn't work
Can't run Windows apps	Native Windows tools don't work in WSL panes
Separate package management	`apt` for WSL, `winget`/`choco`/`scoop` for Windows

With psmux: 0 overhead. Native Windows paths. Native tools. One system.

Install Options

# Cargo (recommended)
cargo install psmux

# Scoop
scoop install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marlocarlo/psmux/master/scoop/psmux.json

# Chocolatey
choco install psmux

# All three install psmux, pmux, AND tmux commands

Related: The PS Suite

psmux is part of a trio of Windows-native TUI tools:

psmux — tmux for Windows → https://github.com/marlocarlo/psmux
pstop — htop for Windows → https://github.com/marlocarlo/pstop
psnet — Network monitor → https://github.com/marlocarlo/psnet

All Rust, all single-binary, all zero-dependency.

Are you using WSL just for tmux? Try psmux and let me know if it replaces your workflow!

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