The problem this solves

tmux and Zellij speak different dialects — tmux consumes tmuxp YAML, Zellij consumes KDL — so the same workspace ends up encoded twice, in two syntaxes, usually in two repos. Over time they diverge: an emoji here, a renamed pane there, a window present in one and missing in the other. That divergence is not a one-off bug you fix; it is the steady-state outcome of keeping two hand-written sources in sync by discipline alone.

terminal-layouts removes the second source. A single schema-validated manifest is the only thing you edit. Deterministic generators emit both outputs from it, and parity is enforced by the build — a structural-equivalence test fails CI the moment the two ever describe different workspaces.

The manifest is the contract; the .yaml/.kdl files are disposable build artifacts. You stop maintaining outputs and start maintaining intent.

Why adopt this as your main terminal config

• Single source of truth — edit one field, regenerate both multiplexers. No copy-paste, no dialect translation.
• Drift is impossible — JSON Schema + parity + idempotence run in CI on every change.
• Switch multiplexers freely — the same workspace exists in tmux and Zellij. Try Zellij without rebuilding your muscle memory or your layouts.
• Batteries included — 7 production workflows (dev, DevOps, security, research) ship ready to use.
• Reproducible everywhere — make install on any machine reproduces your exact workspaces; nothing to copy by hand.
• Zero lock-in — outputs are plain tmuxp/Zellij files; the manifest is portable YAML.

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/gl0bal01/terminal-layouts
cd terminal-layouts

make doctor     # check tmux / tmuxp / zellij are present
make install    # write all 7 workflows to ~/.config (tmuxp + zellij)
make setup      # install + print the two lines to add to ~/.zshrc

make install writes every workflow into your multiplexer config dirs:

• ~/.config/tmuxp/<workflow>.yaml
• ~/.config/zellij/layouts/<workflow>.kdl

Then launch any workspace:

tmuxp load -y docker                 # tmux
zellij --layout pentest              # Zellij

Make targets

make all       # generate layouts into ./dist (preview without installing)
make install   # write layouts to ~/.config (tmuxp + zellij)
make doctor    # check required + recommended tools
make setup     # install + print shell setup hint
make test      # schema + parity + idempotence
make list      # list available workflows
make clean     # remove ./dist

Install without cloning (uvx)

If you'd rather not clone, uv runs it directly (and bootstraps Python if missing):

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh    # one-time
uvx terminal-layouts install                       # write all layouts to ~/.config
uvx terminal-layouts gen tmux docker               # or emit one to stdout

The 7 workflows

Each workflow is a set of named, emoji-tagged tabs with purpose-built panes. Structure and emojis are canonical from the Zellij side; the tmux output is generated to match exactly.

🖥️ project — focused single project

The everyday driver. A work tab (editor/agent on the left, live git status + logs on the right) plus a scratch tab. Open it in any directory.

🏠 claude-projects — multi-project cockpit

Run several projects at once. A cockpit overview tab, one dev tab per active project, and a scratch. Each project tab carries its own agent + git + logs trio.

🐳 docker — containers & Compose

Compose control on the left; live docker ps and docker stats watchers on the right; a debug tab for exec-ing into containers.

🎯 pentest — penetration testing

A full engagement, tab by tab. Recon → exploit → post-exploitation → loot, with a live ss socket monitor and a ps process monitor wired in.

🔬 malware-analysis — reverse engineering

Static → dynamic → network → IOC, with live file/process/connection monitors for detonation.

🎯 osint — open-source intelligence

Target profiling → web/infra → social → timeline, with notes and evidence panes kept alongside.

🏁 ctf — capture the flag

A cockpit plus a tab per category: web, pwn, crypto, forensics, misc. (No timer pane — deliberately dropped as noise.)

Shell aliases (optional, recommended)

Source the alias files for fast launchers (tdk, zpt, zo ., tdk-new <name>, …):

# in ~/.zshrc
source /path/to/terminal-layouts/shell/tmux-layouts.zsh
source /path/to/terminal-layouts/shell/zellij-layouts.zsh

• Aliases load the installed layout by default. Run thelp / zhelp for the full list.
• *-new <name> variants spin up a fresh, named session in a chosen directory.
• Set TL_ALWAYS_REGEN=1 to regenerate a workflow from the manifest on every launch (always fresh).

Customize

Workflows live in terminal_layouts/manifest/workflows/*.yaml. Edit one, then:

make test       # validate against the schema + check parity
make install    # regenerate and write both outputs

Override the manifest tree without rebuilding via TL_MANIFEST_DIR=/path/to/manifest.

Manifest format

id: project
name: Projet
cwd: $paths.projects          # resolved from defaults.yaml
tabs:
  - id: work
    name: work
    emoji: 🖥️
    focus: true
    panes:
      - direction: row         # left | right  (Zellij vertical split)
        children:
          - id: claude
            size: 70%
            focus: true
            command: ""        # empty = plain shell (decorated on tmux)
          - direction: column  # top | bottom (Zellij horizontal split)
            size: 30%
            children:
              - id: git
                command: watch -n 5 -c git status -sb
              - id: logs

Key fields:

• direction: row → panes side-by-side. Maps to Zellij split_direction="vertical", tmux main-vertical.
• direction: column → panes stacked. Maps to Zellij split_direction="horizontal".
• command + args[] → a program with discrete arguments (use args when an argument contains spaces, e.g. a --format string).
• tmux_only / zellij_only on a tab → emit for one target only.
• $paths.* → reference a root defined in defaults.yaml.

How it works

manifest/workflows/*.yaml ──┬──► gen_tmux  ──► ~/.config/tmuxp/*.yaml   (tmuxp)
   (single source of truth) └──► gen_zellij ──► ~/.config/zellij/layouts/*.kdl
                                      │
                                      └──► parity test: both must describe the same workspace

terminal-layouts/
├── terminal_layouts/             # Python package (the `tl` CLI)
│   ├── cli.py  common.py  gen_tmux.py  gen_zellij.py  validate.py
│   └── manifest/                 # source of truth (bundled in the wheel)
│       ├── schema.json  defaults.yaml
│       └── workflows/*.yaml      # the 7 workflows
├── shell/                        # tmux + Zellij zsh aliases
├── tests/                        # parity + idempotence
├── pyproject.toml  Makefile

Quality gates

• Schema — every manifest validated against schema.json.
• Parity — tmux and Zellij outputs must be structurally equivalent (same tabs, same panes, same names).
• Idempotence — regenerating produces byte-identical output.

All three run in CI (Python 3.10 + 3.12) on every push and PR.

License

MIT