# Install tmuxai with Homebrew, Nix

AI-powered, non-intrusive terminal assistant. Version 2.3.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-26. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#tmuxai.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:tmuxai
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install tmuxai
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#tmuxai
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/tm/tmuxai/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:tmuxai
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.3.1
- **Source summary:** AI-powered, non-intrusive terminal assistant
- **Homepage:** <https://tmuxai.dev/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/alvinunreal/tmuxai>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-26T00:50:42+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- tmuxai (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.3.1
## Project history and usage

TmuxAI is a newer AI terminal assistant built around tmux rather than around a separate terminal emulator or chat UI. Its official documentation describes it as an assistant that lives inside tmux sessions, observes visible panes, chats in a dedicated pane, and can execute approved commands in a separate execution pane.

### Project history

The project presents itself as part of the post-ChatGPT wave of command-line AI tools, but with a tmux-first design: it assumes the user's existing terminal workspace is already in tmux and uses that workspace as model context. The official README and site emphasize Unix-like systems, a single `tmuxai` command, configuration in `~/.config/tmuxai/config.yaml`, and installation via a shell installer, release binaries, Homebrew, or `go install` from the main branch.

Because the upstream public history is still thin, the safest history claim is about design lineage rather than age: TmuxAI extends the tmux ecosystem from session management into AI-assisted terminal observation and controlled command execution. Its docs also include knowledge bases, model configuration, context squashing, MCP server tools, and watch/prepare modes, showing a tool aimed at long-running terminal workflows rather than one-shot prompts.

### Adoption history

Package-manager adoption is visible in the supplied package facts: the project is packaged for Homebrew and Nix. That matters for this niche because tmux users often expect portable CLI tools to be installed into a dotfile-managed Unix environment, and Homebrew/Nix coverage puts TmuxAI in the same installation path as tmux itself.

### How it is used

A typical use is to start `tmuxai` inside an existing tmux window, configure a model provider and API key, then ask for help while the assistant reads visible pane context. Its observe mode proposes commands and asks for confirmation before running them; prepare mode improves shell command tracking; watch mode monitors pane output for a stated goal.

### Why package nerds care

For package nerds, TmuxAI is notable less as a mature historical utility and more as an example of AI tooling moving into established terminal multiplexers. It packages AI assistance as a normal Unix command with config files, Homebrew/Nix distribution, and tmux pane semantics, rather than as a proprietary terminal app.

### Timeline

- Current: Official docs describe install-script, Homebrew, release-binary, and Go-from-main installation paths.
- Current: Official docs describe observe, prepare, watch, knowledge-base, squashing, web fetch/search, and MCP server features.
- 2026: Supplied package facts list Homebrew and Nix package-manager coverage.

### Related projects

- Related to tmux as its host environment, and adjacent to terminal AI assistants that provide command suggestions or shell automation.
- Related in workflow to tmux session tools such as tmuxinator and tmuxp, but focused on interactive AI assistance rather than declarative session layout.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/BoringDystopiaDevelopment/tmuxai#readme>
- <https://tmuxai.dev/getting-started/>
- input source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for tmuxai. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.



## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: ~/.config/tmuxai/config.yaml, ~/.config/tmuxai/mcp.json

## Credential files

- Unix: ~/.config/tmuxai/config.yaml
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - tmuxai: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/tm/tmuxai/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/tmuxai.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/tmuxai.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph