# libtmux.Server.list_buffers

- **Module:** libtmux
- **Package:** libtmux
- **Language:** Python
- **Kind:** method
- **Source:** https://github.com/tmux-python/libtmux/blob/38e368c11117fb4aeb2f082d552cd4f210eae06a/src/libtmux/server.py#L1968
- **Page:** https://libtmux.org/en/py/stable/reference/libtmux-server-list_buffers/

tmux command: [`list-buffers`](/en/tmux/latest/manual/list-buffers/)

```
libtmux.Server.list_buffers(
    self,
    format_string: str | None = None,
    filter: str | None = None,
    # noqa: A002,
) -> list[str]
```

List paste buffers via [`$ tmux list-buffers`](/en/tmux/latest/manual/list-buffers/).

Without arguments returns tmux's default template
(``name: N bytes: "sample"``) — kept for backward compatibility.
Pass *format_string* to request a specific tmux format, or *filter*
to have tmux return only matching buffers.

## Examples

Default template (backward-compatible):

```python
>>> server.set_buffer('buf_data')
>>> result = server.list_buffers()
>>> len(result) >= 1
True
```

Project just the names:

```python
>>> server.set_buffer('hello', buffer_name='gap6_demo')
>>> 'gap6_demo' in server.list_buffers(format_string='#{buffer_name}')
True
```

Filter via tmux:

```python
>>> matches = server.list_buffers(
...     format_string='#{buffer_name}',
...     filter='#{m:gap6_*,#{buffer_name}}',
... )
>>> 'gap6_demo' in matches
True
```

## Parameters

- `format_string` (`str | None`): Output template (``-F`` flag). Example: ``"#{buffer_name}"`` for
raw names only. (added 0.57)
- `filter` (`str | None`): Filter expression evaluated by tmux (``-f`` flag). Buffers for
which the expanded expression is false are omitted. Example:
``"#{m:libtmux_mcp_*,#{buffer_name}}"``.
Note: this kwarg shadows the Python builtin ``filter`` by design —
it mirrors tmux's own flag name (``-f filter``) for grep-friendly
symmetry between the wrapper and the tmux manual.
tmux silently expands a malformed filter (unclosed
``#{...}``, unknown format token) to empty, which the
filter treats as false — every row is suppressed and no
stderr is emitted. A bad filter is
indistinguishable from "filter matched nothing"; verify
filter syntax against the FORMATS section of ``tmux(1)``. Warning: (added 0.57)
- `# noqa: A002`

## Returns

list[str]
    Raw output lines.

## In other ports

### List the paste buffers

- Ruby: [`LibTmux::Server#list_buffers`](/en/ruby/latest/reference/libtmux-server-list_buffers/) (method)
- TypeScript: [`server.Server.listBuffers`](/en/ts/latest/reference/server-server-listbuffers/) (method)
- Rust: [`server.Server.buffer_names`](/en/rs/latest/reference/server-server-buffer_names/) (method)
- Go: [`tmux.Server.ListBuffers`](/en/go/latest/reference/tmux-server-listbuffers/) (method)
- Java: [`io.github.libtmux.Server.Server.buffers`](/en/java/latest/reference/io-github-libtmux-server-server-buffers/) (method)
- C#: [`LibTmux.TmuxBuffers.GetAllAsync`](/en/csharp/latest/reference/libtmux-tmuxbuffers-getallasync/) (method)
- C++: [`libtmux::Server::buffers`](/en/cxx/latest/reference/libtmux-server-buffers/) (method)
- Swift: [`Server.buffers()`](/en/swift/latest/reference/server-buffers()/) (method)