# Zellij Zellij is a modern [[Terminal Multiplexers|terminal multiplexer]] written in [[Rust]]. It positions itself as a "terminal workspace" that doesn't sacrifice simplicity for power; discoverable UI with on-screen keybinding hints makes it approachable without limiting what power users can do. ## Key Features - **Floating and stacked panes**: first-class floating panes (toggle with `Alt f`), persistent across hide/show. Stacked panes layer multiple panes vertically for compact layouts - **Layouts**: KDL-based layout files define panes, tabs, commands, and plugins. Version-controllable and shareable - **Session management**: session manager (`Ctrl o` + `w`), welcome screen, and session resurrection (restore closed sessions with full pane structure, even across reboots) - **Command panes**: treat shell commands as first-class panes with visible exit codes and one-key re-run (`Enter`) - **Plugin system**: WebAssembly-based plugins; write in any language that compiles to WASM ([[Rust]] has first-class SDK support). The entire UI (tab bar, status bar, session manager) is built from plugins - **Web client**: built-in web server serves sessions in the browser with authentication; useful for remote access and multiplayer collaboration - **Scrollback editing**: open any pane's scrollback in `$EDITOR` (`Ctrl s` + `e`) - **Multiple pane select**: bulk operations on panes via `Alt` + click ## How It Compares to tmux | Aspect | Zellij | [[TMux]] | |--------|--------|----------| | Language | [[Rust]] | C | | Config format | KDL | Custom (`~/.tmux.conf`) | | Plugin system | WASM | None (scripting via hooks) | | UI discoverability | Built-in keybinding hints | Minimal (need `prefix ?`) | | Floating panes | Native | Not built-in | | Session resurrection | Built-in | Via plugin (tmux-resurrect) | | Ecosystem maturity | Growing | Very mature, large plugin ecosystem | ## Installation ```bash # Cargo cargo install --locked zellij # Try without installing bash <(curl -L https://zellij.dev/launch) ``` ## References - https://zellij.dev - https://github.com/zellij-org/zellij ## Related - [[Terminal Multiplexers]] - [[TMux]] - [[Rust]] - [[Shell]] - [[Command Line Interface (CLI)]] - [[Terminal User Interface (TUI)]] - [[Ghostty]] - [[Alacritty]] - [[Secure Shell (SSH)]]