TTT - Tmux Talk To

Purpose

Send messages to other tmux sessions for multi-agent coordination and automation. Enables communication between multiple Claude/Gemini instances.

When to Use

• User explicitly types ttt
• Need to send tasks to different Claude instances
• Parallel execution across multiple agents
• Workflow automation across sessions
• Coordinating multi-agent work

Usage Syntax

Basic Communication (Claude Code)

tmux send-keys -t [session_name] "[message]" C-d

Basic Communication (Terminal/Shell)

tmux send-keys -t [session_name] "[message]" C-m

Handle Stuck Sessions

tmux send-keys -t [session_name] C-[ "[message]" C-d

List Available Sessions

tmux list-sessions

Steps

1. Use TTT Script (No LLM needed - pure bash)

This skill now uses scripts/ttt_tmux.sh which handles all tmux operations without requiring LLM processing. This saves 100% of LLM costs for this skill.

2. Understand User Request

User will provide:

• ttt --list - List all sessions
• ttt [session] "[message]" - Send message to session
• ttt [session] --esc "[message]" - Send ESC then message (if stuck)

3. Execute Script

List sessions:

./scripts/ttt_tmux.sh --list

Send normal message:

./scripts/ttt_tmux.sh [session_name] "[message]"

Send with ESC (clear input first):

./scripts/ttt_tmux.sh --esc [session_name] "[message]"

The script will:

• Validate session exists
• Send tmux commands with correct key bindings (C-d for Claude Code)
• Report success with timestamp (GMT+7)
• Show helpful errors if session not found

Examples

Example 1: Basic Message (Claude Code)

# User: ttt claude1 "สวัสดี"

# Validate session
tmux has-session -t claude1

# Send message (Claude Code uses C-d)
tmux send-keys -t claude1 "สวัสดี" C-d

# Report
✅ Message sent to 'claude1'
Message: "สวัสดี"
Mode: normal (C-d for Claude Code)

Example 2: Handle Stuck Session

# User: ttt claude1 --esc "create retrospective"

# Validate session
tmux has-session -t claude1

# Send ESC then message (Claude Code uses C-d)
tmux send-keys -t claude1 C-[ "create retrospective" C-d

# Report
✅ Message sent to 'claude1'
Message: "create retrospective"
Mode: esc (cleared input first)

Example 3: List Sessions

# User: ttt --list

# List all sessions
tmux list-sessions

# Format output
Available tmux sessions:

1. claude1: 1 windows (created 2 hours ago)
2. gemini1: 2 windows (created 30 minutes ago)
3. dev: 3 windows (created 1 day ago)

Use 'ttt [session_name] "[message]"' to send messages.

Example 4: Multi-Agent Coordination

# User: ttt claude1 "analyze auth.ts for security issues"
# User: ttt claude2 "write unit tests for auth.ts"
# User: ttt claude3 "review both outputs and create summary"

# Send to each session (Claude Code uses C-d)
tmux send-keys -t claude1 "analyze auth.ts for security issues" C-d
tmux send-keys -t claude2 "write unit tests for auth.ts" C-d
tmux send-keys -t claude3 "review both outputs and create summary" C-d

# Report
✅ Sent 3 messages to parallel agents:
- claude1: Security analysis
- claude2: Unit tests
- claude3: Review & summary

Check each session for results.

Use Cases

1. Multi-Agent Coordination

Send different tasks to different Claude instances:

ttt gemini1 "research approach A"
ttt gemini2 "research approach B"
ttt claude1 "compare both approaches and recommend"

2. Parallel Execution

Run tasks concurrently across sessions:

ttt dev1 "run tests"
ttt dev2 "build project"
ttt dev3 "lint codebase"

3. Workflow Automation

Chain commands across multiple agents:

ttt gemini1 "analyze codebase"
# Wait for completion
ttt claude1 "create plan based on gemini1's analysis"
# Wait for completion
ttt dev1 "execute the plan with gogogo"

Important Notes

Tmux Key Bindings

• C-d: Submit (sends message in Claude Code) ✅ DEFAULT
• C-m: Enter/Newline (sends in terminal, but only newline in Claude Code)
• C-[: ESC key (clears input, use when stuck)

Session Validation

• Always check if session exists before sending
• Provide helpful errors with available sessions
• Suggest corrections if session name is close match

Message Formatting

• Escape quotes in messages properly
• Use double quotes for messages with spaces
• Preserve special characters (don't escape unnecessarily)

Error Handling

• Session not found: List available sessions
• Tmux not running: Guide user to start tmux
• Permission denied: Check tmux socket permissions

Advanced Usage

Send to Multiple Sessions

# Send same message to multiple sessions
for session in gemini1 gemini2 claude1; do
  tmux send-keys -t $session "[message]" C-m
done

Session Info

# Get detailed session info
tmux display-message -p -t [session_name] "#{session_name}: #{window_index} windows, created #{session_created}"

Window Management

# Send to specific window in session
tmux send-keys -t [session_name]:[window_index] "[message]" C-m

# Example: Send to window 2 of gemini1
tmux send-keys -t gemini1:2 "hello" C-m

Troubleshooting

"no server running on /tmp/tmux-*":

❌ Tmux server not running. Start with:
  tmux new -s my-session

"can't find session [name]":

❌ Session '[name]' not found.

Available sessions:
[list sessions]

Did you mean: [closest match]?

"input stuck, message not processing":

Use --esc flag to clear input first:
  ttt [session] --esc "[message]"

Success Criteria

• ✅ Tmux session validated before sending
• ✅ Message sent successfully
• ✅ User informed of result
• ✅ Error messages helpful and actionable
• ✅ Time recorded (GMT+7)
• ✅ Mode indicated (normal/esc)

Performance Notes

• Fast: Haiku model for quick execution (~10x cost savings)
• Instant: tmux send-keys is near-instant
• Parallel: Can send to multiple sessions simultaneously
• Reliable: Session validation prevents errors

Related Skills

• lll - Check project status before coordinating
• nnn - Create plan, then distribute tasks via ttt
• rrr - Collect results from multiple sessions for retrospective