A terminal UI for running multiple processes in parallel. Like Turborepo's TUI, without the monorepo.
- Split-pane TUI - See all your processes at once
- Full PTY support - QR codes, colors, interactive prompts work
- Scroll pinning - Freeze output to inspect, toggle with
g - Zero config - Just pass commands as arguments
- Cross-platform - macOS, Linux, Windows
- Native binary - Fast startup, no runtime dependencies
- Wrapped lines - Optional line wrapping per pane (
:wlabel suffix) - Interactive mode - Focus a pane for full interactivity (with Mouse support)
- Mouse forwarding - Mouse clicks/drags/scrolls forwarded to child TUI apps in focus mode
- Key forwarding - Shift-Enter and modified keys reach child apps via the kitty keyboard protocol
- Spawn on demand - Double-click empty process-list space to launch a shell
- Start empty - Launch with no commands and add shells as you go
- Nestable - Run panex inside panex, or any TUI app, with correct rendering
# Run directly with npx or bunx
npx panex "npm run api" "npm run web"
bunx panex "bun run api" "bun run web"
# Or install globally
npm install -g panex# Run multiple commands
panex "npm run api" "npm run web" "npm run mobile"
# Start with no commands — opens an empty list and a Welcome screen;
# double-click the process list to spawn a shell
panex
# With custom names
panex -n api,web,mobile "npm run api" "npm run web" "npm run mobile"
# Full key passthrough for TUI apps (append ! to name)
# Esc and Shift-Tab forwarded to process, click left panel to exit
panex "tui" "npm run dev" -n "tui!,server"
# Enable line wrapping (append :w to name)
panex "npm run build" -n "build:w"
# Combine suffixes (either order works)
panex "helix" "npm run build" -n "helix!:w,build:w"
# Custom shutdown timeout (default: 500ms)
panex -t 1000 "npm run dev" # 1 second graceful shutdown
# Disable auto-copy on mouse select (require y/Enter/Ctrl-C to copy)
panex --no-auto-copy "npm run api" "npm run web"
# Preserve restart scrollback and insert a boxed restart marker
panex --show-restart-marker "npm run api" "npm run web"
# Diagnostics: tee raw child PTY bytes to per-process log files
panex --log-pty ./pty-logs "npm run dev"| Key | Action |
|---|---|
↑/↓ |
Navigate process list |
Enter/Tab |
Focus process (interactive mode) |
Esc |
Exit focus mode (forwarded to keyboard-aware children) |
Shift-Tab |
Exit focus mode (forwarded to keyboard-aware children; unless disabled) |
r |
Restart selected process |
x |
Kill running (SIGTERM→SIGKILL), or remove a stopped row (self-exited needs a double-tap) |
Shift-r |
Restart all processes |
w |
Toggle line wrapping |
g |
Toggle pin (freeze/follow output) |
t |
Jump to top |
b |
Jump to bottom |
PgUp/PgDn |
Scroll output |
? |
Show tabbed help (Welcome / Keys; Left/Right/Tab cycles tabs) |
v |
Visual select (char-wise) |
V |
Visual select (line-wise) |
y/Enter |
Copy selection to clipboard |
q |
Quit panex |
Restarts clear the selected process output by default. Use --show-restart-marker to preserve scrollback and insert a boxed Restarted YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS marker instead.
Browse mode:
| Click | Action |
|---|---|
| Left panel | Exit focus, select item |
| Double-click empty list | Spawn a default shell |
| Right panel | Enter focus mode |
| Drag | Select text (auto-copy) |
| Alt/⌥+Drag | Box (rectangular) select |
| Status bar | Exit focus mode |
| Scroll wheel | Scroll output |
Focus mode: All mouse events (click, drag, scroll) on the output panel are forwarded to the child process as SGR escape sequences. Modified keys (Shift-Enter, Ctrl/Alt combos) are forwarded via the kitty keyboard protocol when the child negotiates it. Esc/Shift-Tab exit focus, but are forwarded to children that consume them (the status bar then shows "click to exit"). Text selection is only available in Browse mode — exit focus first (click left panel, status bar, or press Esc).
| Feature | panex | concurrently | mprocs | turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Split-pane TUI | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| PTY support (QR codes) | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Zero config | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| npm install | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| No monorepo required | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
tmux is a vastly more powerful and mature tool. panex solves a narrower problem with less friction.
tmux is a terminal multiplexer — it manages persistent shell sessions with arbitrary layouts, remote detach/reattach, scripting, plugins, and deep customization. It's industry-standard for remote work, server administration, and complex terminal workflows. Decades of development, massive community, battle-tested everywhere.
panex is a process runner — it runs N commands in parallel with a built-in UI for monitoring and managing them. No config files, no session concepts, no learning curve.
| Capability | tmux | panex |
|---|---|---|
| Session persistence | Detach/reattach across disconnections, reboots (with tmux-resurrect) | Sessions die when you quit |
| Remote work (SSH) | Start on server, detach, reconnect later — processes survive | Local only |
| Window/pane layouts | Unlimited windows, arbitrary splits, zoom, resize, rearrange | Fixed split: process list + output |
| Scripting & automation | tmuxinator, teamocil, tmuxp — define complex workspaces in YAML | CLI args only |
| Plugin ecosystem | TPM with dozens of plugins (resurrect, yank, powerline, etc.) | No plugins |
| Customization | Hundreds of options in .tmux.conf — keys, status bar, hooks, themes |
CLI flags only |
| Copy mode | Vi/emacs navigation, search with /, jump through history |
Basic visual select (v/V) |
| Shared sessions | Multiple users attach to the same session (pair programming) | Single-user only |
| Maturity | Decades old, massive community, endless documentation | New, small user base |
| Capability | panex | tmux |
|---|---|---|
| Zero config | panex "cmd1" "cmd2" — done |
Need tmuxinator/scripts for multi-process startup |
| Process lifecycle | r restart, x kill, Shift-r restart all — from the UI |
Process dies? Navigate to pane, retype command |
| Process status | Built-in list showing running/exited/crashed with exit codes | No process awareness — just shell panes |
| Learning curve | ? shows help, mouse works, usable immediately |
Steep — prefix keys, no on-screen hints, needs cheat sheets |
| Layout | Automatic — all processes shown immediately | Manual splits, or write a config/script |
| npm install | npx panex "cmd1" "cmd2" |
Not applicable — system package |
Use tmux if you need: remote work, session persistence, complex layouts, shared sessions, deep customization, or long-running server processes.
Use panex if you need: run a handful of dev commands in parallel (API + frontend + worker), see their status, restart them easily, and not think about configuration. It's the difference between a Swiss Army knife and a purpose-built tool.
They're not mutually exclusive — you can run panex inside a tmux session.
# Clone
git clone https://github.com/king8fisher/panex
cd panex
# Build (requires Rust)
cargo build --release -p panex
# Run locally
./panex-rs/target/release/panex "echo hello" "sleep 2 && echo world"
# Or with mise
mise run build
mise run dev# Create and push a release tag (triggers CI build + npm publish)
mise run release 1.0.0- Rust
- ratatui (TUI framework)
- portable-pty (PTY support)
- clap (CLI parsing)
MIT Anton Veretennikov (king8fisher)