# libtmux:send-keys

- **Package:** libtmux
- **Language:** Common Lisp
- **Kind:** function
- **Source:** https://github.com/libtmux/libtmux-lisp/blob/c2e5fc4ed3befda21f45dfa5d5868c38fd138311/src/terminal-operations.lisp#L17
- **Public owner:** libtmux
- **Page:** https://libtmux.org/en/lisp/latest/reference/libtmux-send-keys/

```
(send-keys client pane keys &key (repeat 1) cancel-token timeout output-limit)
```

Send a finite nonempty list/vector of tmux key strings to PANE.
Return a COMMAND-OUTCOME. REPEAT is a positive count. Tmux interprets key names
such as C-c and Enter; its unrecognized strings fall back to literal input.
Use SEND-TEXT when key-name interpretation must be disabled. Acknowledgment
does not prove application readiness or consumption.

## Parameters

- `client`
- `pane`
- `keys`
- `repeat?`
- `cancel-token?`
- `timeout?`
- `output-limit?`

## tmux command

The tmux commands behind `send-keys`.

- [`send-keys`](/en/tmux/latest/manual/send-keys/)

## tmux C API

The C declarations in tmux that implement these commands.

- [`cmd_send_keys_entry`](/en/tmux/latest/reference/c-variable-cmd_send_keys_entry/) (attribute)
- [`cmd_send_keys_exec`](/en/tmux/latest/reference/c-function-cmd-send-keys-c-cmd_send_keys_exec/) (function)

## Guides

Pages that discuss `send-keys`.

- [Explicit operations](/en/lisp/latest/guides/operations/)

## In other ports

Send keystrokes to a pane

| Language | Equivalent |
| --- | --- |
| Python | [`libtmux.Pane.send_keys`](/en/py/latest/reference/libtmux-pane-send_keys/) (method) |
| Ruby | [`LibTmux::Pane#send_keys`](/en/ruby/latest/reference/libtmux-pane-send_keys/) (method) |
| Lua | [`libtmux.Pane:send_keys`](/en/lua/latest/reference/libtmux-pane-send_keys/) (method) |
| Erlang | [`tmux_pane:send_keys/2`](/en/erlang/latest/reference/tmux_pane-send_keys-2/) (function) |
| Haskell | No public Haskell equivalent is implemented; the current modules expose scalar values and version parsing. |
| TypeScript | [`pane.Pane.sendKeys`](/en/ts/latest/reference/pane-pane-sendkeys/) (method) |
| Rust | [`pane.Pane.send_keys`](/en/rs/latest/reference/pane-pane-send_keys/) (method) |
| Go | [`tmux.Pane.SendKeys`](/en/go/latest/reference/tmux-pane-sendkeys/) (method) |
| Java | no direct equivalent; `Pane.paste` writes a buffer instead |
| Clojure | [`libtmux.core/send-keys!`](/en/clojure/latest/reference/libtmux-core-send-keys/) (function) |
| Kotlin | [`io.github.libtmux.kotlin.Pane.sendKeys`](/en/kotlin/latest/reference/io-github-libtmux-kotlin-pane-sendkeys/) (method) |
| Scala | [`io.github.libtmux.scaladsl.Pane.sendKeys`](/en/scala/latest/reference/io-github-libtmux-scaladsl-pane-sendkeys/) (method) |
| C# | [`LibTmux.Pane.SendKeysAsync`](/en/csharp/latest/reference/libtmux-pane-sendkeysasync/) (method) |
| C++ | [`libtmux::Pane::send_text`](/en/cxx/latest/reference/libtmux-pane-send_text/) (method) |
| Swift | [`Server.sendKeys(_:to:literally:)`](/en/swift/latest/reference/server-sendkeys(_-to-literally-)/) (method) |
| OCaml | [`Libtmux_unix.Client.send_keys`](/en/ocaml/latest/reference/libtmux_unix-client-send_keys/) (function) |
| Perl | [`LibTmux::Server::send_keys`](/en/perl/latest/reference/libtmux-server-send_keys/) (method). Explicit Server operation. Captured entities remain local observations; use a new snapshot to observe changes. |

No equivalent is recorded in PowerShell, Julia, Elixir or F#.