ezpn

Dead simple terminal pane splitting with session persistence. Think tmux, but instant.

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Why ezpn?

# tmux: 4 steps
tmux new-session -d -s dev
tmux split-window -h
tmux split-window -v
tmux attach -t dev

# ezpn: 1 step
ezpn -l ide

• Zero config — Works out of the box. No .tmux.conf needed.
• Instant layouts — ezpn -l ide gives you an IDE layout in one command.
• Session persistence — Ctrl+B d to detach, ezpn a to reattach. Processes keep running.
• Mouse-first — Click to focus, drag to resize, scroll to browse output.
• Project-aware — Drop .ezpn.toml in your project root, run ezpn, done.

Install

cargo install ezpn

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/subinium/ezpn
cd ezpn && cargo install --path .

Quick Start

ezpn                    # 2 panes (or load .ezpn.toml)
ezpn 2 3                # 2x3 grid (6 panes)
ezpn -l ide             # IDE layout preset
ezpn -e 'npm dev' -e 'cargo watch -x test'   # per-pane commands

Sessions (tmux-compatible)

ezpn                    # Creates a session + attaches
# Ctrl+B d              # Detach (session keeps running in background)
ezpn a                  # Reattach to most recent session
ezpn ls                 # List active sessions
ezpn kill myproject     # Kill a session
ezpn -S myproject       # Create a named session
ezpn rename old new     # Rename a session

Tabs (tmux windows)

Key	Action
Ctrl+B c	New tab
Ctrl+B n / p	Next / previous tab
Ctrl+B 0-9	Jump to tab by number
Ctrl+B ,	Rename current tab
Ctrl+B &	Close current tab

Tab bar appears automatically when you have 2+ tabs. Click tabs to switch.

Command Palette

Ctrl+B : opens a command prompt (like tmux/vim). Commands:

split                  Split horizontally (alias: split-window)
split -v               Split vertically
new-tab                Create new tab (alias: new-window)
next-tab / prev-tab    Switch tabs (alias: next-window / previous-window)
close-pane             Close active pane (alias: kill-pane)
close-tab              Close current tab (alias: kill-window)
rename-tab <name>      Rename tab (alias: rename-window)
layout <spec>          Change layout (alias: select-layout)
equalize               Equalize pane sizes (alias: even)
zoom                   Toggle zoom
broadcast              Toggle broadcast mode

All tmux command aliases (split-window, kill-pane, new-window, etc.) are supported for muscle memory compatibility.

Controls

Mouse

Action	Effect
Click pane	Focus
Double-click	Zoom toggle
Click tab bar	Switch tab
Click [x]	Close pane
Drag border	Resize
Drag text	Select + copy (OSC 52)
Scroll wheel	Scrollback history

Keyboard

Direct shortcuts:

Key	Action
Ctrl+D	Split left / right
Ctrl+E	Split top / bottom
Ctrl+N	Next pane
F2	Equalize all sizes
Ctrl+G	Settings panel
Ctrl+W	Kill session

Prefix mode (Ctrl+B then):

Key	Action
Tabs
c	New tab
n / p	Next / previous tab
0-9	Go to tab
,	Rename tab
&	Close tab
Panes
% / "	Split H / V
o / Arrow	Next / navigate pane
x	Close pane
z	Zoom toggle
{ / }	Swap pane prev / next
E / Space	Equalize
Modes
R	Resize mode (hjkl/arrows, q to exit)
[	Scroll mode (j/k/g/G, q to exit)
B	Broadcast (type in all panes)
:	Command palette
?	Help overlay
Session
d	Detach (session keeps running)
s	Toggle status bar
q	Pane numbers + quick jump

Alt+Arrow navigates between panes directionally. This requires your terminal to send Option as Meta:

• iTerm2: Preferences > Profiles > Keys > Left Option Key > Esc+
• Terminal.app: Settings > Profiles > Keyboard > Use Option as Meta Key
• Ghostty: Works by default

Layout Presets

ezpn -l dev       # 7:3 — main + side
ezpn -l ide       # 7:3/1:1 — editor + sidebar + 2 bottom
ezpn -l monitor   # 1:1:1 — 3 equal columns
ezpn -l quad      # 2x2 grid
ezpn -l stack     # 1/1/1 — 3 stacked rows
ezpn -l main      # 6:4/1 — wide top pair + full bottom
ezpn -l trio      # 1/1:1 — full top + 2 bottom

Custom ratios: ezpn -l '7:3/5:5' — 2 rows, first 70/30, second 50/50.

Presets work in .ezpn.toml too: layout = "ide".

Project Config (.ezpn.toml)

Drop .ezpn.toml in your project root. Run ezpn init to generate a template.

[workspace]
layout = "ide"

[[pane]]
name = "server"
command = "npm run dev"
cwd = "./frontend"
restart = "on_failure"

[pane.env]
NODE_ENV = "development"
PORT = "3000"

[[pane]]
name = "tests"
command = "cargo watch -x test"
restart = "always"

[[pane]]
name = "logs"
command = "tail -f /var/log/app.log"
shell = "/bin/bash"

Per-pane fields: command, cwd, name, env, restart (never/on_failure/always), shell.

Also auto-detects Procfile when no .ezpn.toml exists:

ezpn from Procfile   # Generate .ezpn.toml from Procfile

Global Config

~/.config/ezpn/config.toml:

border = rounded        # single | rounded | heavy | double
shell = /bin/zsh
scrollback = 10000
status_bar = true
tab_bar = true
prefix = b              # prefix key (Ctrl+<key>), default: b

Options

Flag	Description	Default
-l, --layout <SPEC>	Layout spec or preset	—
-e, --exec <CMD>	Command per pane (repeatable)	$SHELL
-S, --session <NAME>	Custom session name	auto from dir
-r, --restore <FILE>	Restore workspace snapshot	—
-b, --border <STYLE>	Border style	rounded
-d, --direction <DIR>	h or v	h
-s, --shell <SHELL>	Shell path	$SHELL
--no-daemon	Single-process mode (no detach)	—

Session Management

ezpn runs as a daemon by default. When you run ezpn, it:

1. Starts a background server (manages PTYs)
2. Connects a thin client (renders + handles input)
3. Ctrl+B d detaches the client; server keeps running
4. ezpn a reconnects

ezpn ls                 # List sessions
ezpn a [name]           # Attach (most recent, or by name)
ezpn kill [name]        # Kill session (most recent, or by name)
ezpn rename old new     # Rename session
ezpn -S myproject       # Start with custom name
ezpn init               # Generate .ezpn.toml template
ezpn from Procfile      # Generate .ezpn.toml from Procfile

Multiple sessions are supported. ezpn a without a name attaches to the most recently used session.

Features

Broadcast mode — Ctrl+B B sends keystrokes to all panes simultaneously. All borders turn orange. Press again to stop.

Mouse wheel scrollback — Scroll through terminal output. [SCROLL] indicator in title bar. New output snaps back to live.

Auto-restart — Panes with restart = "on_failure" or "always" in .ezpn.toml respawn automatically with backoff.

Text selection — Drag to select text in any pane. Copies via OSC 52 (works over SSH).

OSC 52 passthrough — Clipboard operations from child processes (vim, neovim) are forwarded to your terminal.

Focus events — FocusIn/FocusOut forwarded to active pane. vim auto-reloads on focus.

Bracketed paste — Paste operations are properly wrapped when the child process requests it.

Kitty keyboard protocol — Shift+Enter, Ctrl+Arrow, and other modified keys work correctly. (Requires Ghostty/Kitty/WezTerm)

24-bit color — Full truecolor support. COLORTERM=truecolor set automatically.

CJK/Unicode — Proper width calculation for Korean, Chinese, Japanese characters and emoji.

Dead pane recovery — Process exits show dimmed overlay. Press Enter to respawn.

Settings panel — Ctrl+G opens a modal for border style, status bar toggle, split actions.

Border styles — --border or change in settings:

single           rounded (default) heavy            double
┌──────┬──────┐  ╭──────┬──────╮  ┏━━━━━━┳━━━━━━┓  ╔══════╦══════╗
│      │      │  │      │      │  ┃      ┃      ┃  ║      ║      ║
└──────┴──────┘  ╰──────┴──────╯  ┗━━━━━━┻━━━━━━┛  ╚══════╩══════╝

ezpn-ctl (IPC)

Control a running instance from another terminal:

ezpn-ctl list                    # List panes
ezpn-ctl split horizontal       # Split active pane
ezpn-ctl exec 1 'cargo test'    # Run command in pane 1
ezpn-ctl save session.json      # Save workspace
ezpn-ctl load session.json      # Restore workspace

vs. tmux / Zellij

	tmux	Zellij	ezpn
First use	Empty screen, read docs	Tutorial mode	ezpn -l ide
Config	.tmux.conf required	KDL files	Works out of the box
Sessions	tmux a	zellij a	ezpn a
Split	Ctrl+B %	Mode switch	Ctrl+D / click
Resize	:resize-pane	Resize mode	Drag / Ctrl+B R
Project setup	tmuxinator (gem)	—	.ezpn.toml (built-in)
Broadcast	:setw synchronize-panes	—	Ctrl+B B
Auto-restart	—	—	restart = "always"
Scrollback	Ctrl+B [	Scroll mode	Mouse wheel
Kitty keyboard	Not supported	Supported	Supported
Render quality	May tear	Synchronized	Synchronized
Plugin system	—	WASM	—
Ecosystem	Massive (30 years)	Growing	New

Choose ezpn when you want terminal splits that just work — zero config, instant layouts, project-aware.

Choose tmux when you need maximum scripting, plugin ecosystem, or your team already uses it.

Choose Zellij when you want a modern UI with plugin extensibility.

Architecture

src/
├── main.rs        CLI routing, direct mode, shared helpers
├── server.rs      Daemon event loop (PTY management, rendering, client I/O)
├── client.rs      Thin terminal proxy (raw mode, event forwarding)
├── protocol.rs    Binary wire protocol (TLV framing)
├── session.rs     Session naming, discovery, daemon spawning
├── tab.rs         Tab (window) manager with save/restore
├── layout.rs      Binary split tree + named presets
├── pane.rs        PTY + VT100 emulation + scrollback + input encoding
├── render.rs      Incremental render + border cache + tab bar + status bar
├── settings.rs    Settings modal UI
├── project.rs     .ezpn.toml parsing + Procfile import
├── ipc.rs         JSON IPC for ezpn-ctl
├── workspace.rs   Snapshot save/load
├── config.rs      Global config (~/.config/ezpn/config.toml)
└── bin/ezpn-ctl.rs  External control client

The server renders frames server-side with BeginSynchronizedUpdate/EndSynchronizedUpdate to prevent tearing. Only dirty panes are redrawn. Border geometry is cached and recomputed only on layout changes. The wire protocol uses 5-byte TLV headers with zero-copy frame transfer.

License

MIT