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tmux

tmux CLI

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libtmuxtmux-python/libtmux pytest pluginplugin · src/libtmux/pytest_plugin.py libtmux.testmodule · src/libtmux/test libtmux-mcplibtmux-mcp/src/libtmux_mcp libtmux-mcptmux-python/libtmux-mcp tmuxptmuxp/src/tmuxp tmuxptmux-python/tmuxp

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Python · tmux-python/libtmux
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libtmuxtmux-python/libtmux pytest pluginplugin · src/libtmux/pytest_plugin.py libtmux.testmodule · src/libtmux/test libtmux-mcplibtmux-mcp/src/libtmux_mcp libtmux-mcptmux-python/libtmux-mcp tmuxptmuxp/src/tmuxp tmuxptmux-python/tmuxp

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Python · tmux-python/libtmux
Core Library0.xAPI Reference

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Early release libtmux is released, and its APIs may still change between releases. This site's structure and URLs may change too.

method libtmux latest

Server.display_message

Display message at server scope via $ tmux display-message.

Source and package
Qualified name
libtmux.Server.display_message
Module
libtmux
Declared in
Server
Package
libtmux
Source
src/libtmux/server.py
Other languages
Perl Erlang PowerShell Julia Elixir Haskell Common Lisp Ruby Lua TypeScript Rust Go Java C#C++ Swift Kotlin Scala OCaml F# Clojure
display_message
( 10 parameters ) ( self, cmd: str, get_text: t.Literal[True], format_string: str | None = ..., all_formats: bool | None = ..., verbose: bool | None = ..., no_expand: bool | None = ..., target_client: str | None = ..., delay: int | None = ..., notify: bool | None = ..., )
→ list[str]
( 10 parameters ) ( self, cmd: str, get_text: t.Literal[False] = ..., format_string: str | None = ..., all_formats: bool | None = ..., verbose: bool | None = ..., no_expand: bool | None = ..., target_client: str | None = ..., delay: int | None = ..., notify: bool | None = ..., )
→ None
( 10 parameters ) ( self, cmd: str, get_text: bool = False, format_string: str | None = None, all_formats: bool | None = None, verbose: bool | None = None, no_expand: bool | None = None, target_client: str | None = None, delay: int | None = None, notify: bool | None = None, )
→ list[str] | None
method [source]

Description#

Like Pane.display_message() but without -t <pane-id> injection. tmux's cmd-display-message entry uses CMD_FIND_CANFAIL so the target is optional; server-scoped format reads (#{version}, #{socket_path}, #{pid}) resolve without a specific pane handle.

With no client attached and target_client omitted, the status-line path (get_text=False) issues a no current client warning. Use get_text=True for headless reads, or pair with ControlMode.

Notes

Stderr from tmux is reported via warnings.warn, not raised. tmux uses stderr for both genuine errors and informational messages, and the right escalation depends on tmux version and call shape. Callers that want to escalate to an exception can wrap the call in warnings.catch_warnings with filterwarnings("error").

Examples#

Read tmux version without needing a pane handle: 

>>> result = server.display_message("#{version}", get_text=True)
>>> isinstance(result, list) and len(result) == 1
True

Dump every format variable: 

>>> result = server.display_message("", get_text=True, all_formats=True)
>>> any("session_name=" in line for line in result)
True
Parameters

  • cmd (str) # – Format string to display or evaluate (e.g. "#{version}"). Pass "" together with all_formats=True to dump every variable. added 0.57

  • get_text (bool) # – Return tmux's stdout instead of rendering to the status line (-p flag). added 0.57

  • format_string (str | None) # – Alternative format template (-F flag). added 0.57

  • all_formats (bool | None) # – List all format variables (-a flag). added 0.57

  • verbose (bool | None) # – Show format variable types (-v flag). added 0.57

  • no_expand (bool | None) # – Output the literal string without format expansion (-l flag). Requires tmux 3.4+. added 0.57

  • target_client (str | None) # – Target client (-c flag). added 0.57

  • delay (int | None) # – Display time in milliseconds (-d flag). added 0.57

  • notify (bool | None) # – Do not wait for input (-N flag). added 0.57

Returns

list[str] | None Message output if get_text is True, otherwise None.

tmux command#

The tmux commands behind display_message.

display-message

tmux C API#

The C declarations in tmux that implement these commands.

cmd_display_message_entry cmd_display_message_exec

In other ports#

Show a message on a client

Equivalents of Show a message on a client in other languages
Language Equivalent
Haskell No public Haskell equivalent is implemented; the current modules expose scalar values and version parsing.
TypeScript no equivalent on Server
Rust no equivalent on Server
Go tmux.Server.DisplayMessage
Java no equivalent on Server
C# LibTmux.Server.DisplayMessageAsync
C++ libtmux::Server::show_message
Swift no equivalent on Server
OCaml No direct public OCaml equivalent is recorded for this operation.
Perl No dedicated equivalent in the selected Perl surface. Explicit Server::cmd remains available for native tmux commands.

No equivalent is recorded in Ruby, Lua, PowerShell, Julia, Erlang, Elixir, Common Lisp, Clojure, Kotlin, Scala or F#.

Related types#

Server

tmux(1) Server [server_manual].

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