Socket and servers

A tmux server is selected by its Unix-domain socket. Use different sockets for independent servers, such as a development session and an isolated test server. Choose the default socket, a named socket (-L), or an explicit path (-S).

Naming a server¶

ftmux.NewServer(tmux.ServerOptions{}) selects the default socket. Set aServerOptions.SocketName for a named socket or aServerOptions.SocketPath for an explicit path.

named, err := tmux.NewServer(tmux.ServerOptions{SocketName: "work"})
if err != nil {
    return err
}

Choose either a socket name or a socket path. tmux uses TMUX_TMPDIR to resolve the directory for default and named sockets.

ServerOptions.SocketPath takes precedence over ServerOptions.SocketName when both are set.

Is the server actually there?¶

A server handle does not prove that the target server is running. Use a liveness check when your program needs to distinguish a live server from an unavailable socket:

mServer.IsAlive returns (bool, error). The error reports a check that could not be completed; a false result alone means the server is not alive.

alive, err := server.IsAlive(ctx)
if err != nil {
    return err
}
fmt.Println("server running:", alive)

Killing a server, and telling two apart¶

Killing a server ends all its sessions. Use this only for a server your program owns; for narrower cleanup, kill the session or pane you created.

Call mserver.Kill(ctx) and check its error. mserver.Equal(other) compares the captured socket bindings, resolving relative paths and environment-based socket names. Equal endpoints do not prove equal daemon lifetimes. aErrDaemonReplaced reports a replacement daemon on the selected socket.

A restarted server can reuse a socket path while having different state. Do not treat a matching path as proof that a cached object still exists.