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Quil vs tmux
The de-facto Unix terminal multiplexer. Server-side sessions, scriptable plugins, steep learning curve, shipped by default on most distros alongside screen.
tmux is great for what it does — a stable, battle-tested server multiplexer built in 2007 — but it was never designed to survive a host reboot, understand AI coding sessions, or treat different panes as different types of work. Quil is for the problem tmux doesn't solve.
Feature matrix
| Feature | Quil | tmux |
|---|---|---|
| Session persistence while the multiplexer server is running | ||
| Survives a full host reboot | ||
| Quil's defining capability. Everyone else loses the session on reboot. | ||
| AI session auto-resume (Claude Code, Cursor) | ||
| Typed panes (Terminal / AI / SSH / Webhook) | ||
| Plugin system | ||
| Quil uses declarative TOML. Zellij uses WASM. WezTerm uses Lua. tmux uses shell scripts. | ||
| Mouse support | ||
| Ghost buffers (last 500 lines instant on reconnect) | ||
| MCP server for AI agents | ||
| Notification center + idle analysis | ||
| Pane notes editor (Alt+E) | ||
| Windows native (no WSL) | ||
| Declarative keybindings (config file) | ||
Ubiquity, stability, and the largest plugin ecosystem of any multiplexer. If you need a standard tool on a standard Unix host, tmux is still the answer.
Zero persistence across host reboots. You can bolt on tmux-resurrect or tmux-continuum, but even those only restore layout and working directories — not AI session state, not running processes, not scrollback.
Coming from tmux? Quil uses familiar keybindings (Ctrl+T new tab, Alt+H / Alt+V to split). Everything's remappable in ~/.quil/config.toml so you can reuse your tmux muscle memory verbatim.
Common questions
Can I run Quil and tmux side by side?
Does Quil read my tmux sessions?
Is Quil a tmux replacement?
See also
Ready to try Quil?
Installation takes about 30 seconds. Your tmux setup stays untouched — Quil installs side-by-side.