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wmux — Development Guide

Electron-based Windows terminal multiplexer for AI agents. TypeScript, React 19, Zustand, xterm.js, node-p CC7B ty.

Owner: amirlehmam (GitHub) — speaks French, prefers fast pragmatic solutions, tests live. Repo: github.com/amirlehmam/wmux | Site: wmux.org (Netlify, static from site/)

Build & Dev

npm run dev            # Vite (port 5199) + Electron hot-reload
npm run build:main     # tsc main/preload/cli only (fast iteration)
npm run build:renderer # Vite production build: BOTH entries (desktop index.html + remote/index.html), writes dist/renderer/remote-manifest.json (the console server refuses to serve without it)
npm run build          # Full: tsc + vite + electron-builder
npm test               # Vitest unit tests
npm run test:watch     # Vitest watch mode
npx vitest run tests/unit/pty-manager.test.ts  # Single file
npm run lint           # ESLint src/

Known Build Gotcha

Project lives in OneDrive - Pulsa (path with spaces). This breaks:

  • npm link / node-gyp (can't build node-pty)
  • electron-builder winCodeSign (symlink errors)

Releases are built by CI on a clean path, so this only affects local builds.

Architecture

src/
  main/           Electron main process
  renderer/       React UI (Vite)
  preload/        contextBridge (window.wmux)
  cli/            CLI → named pipe (\\.\pipe\wmux)
  shared/         Shared types (IPC channels, branded IDs)
  shell-integration/  Shell hooks (bash/zsh/PowerShell/cmd)

resources/        Runtime assets (icons, themes, sounds, shell-integration, CLI)
  wmux-orchestrator/  Claude Code plugin — DEPRECATED, no longer installed (#239)
site/             Landing page (static HTML, Netlify)
tests/            Unit + e2e (Vitest)
docs/             Planning docs

Main Process (src/main/)

By area: the rules code in other files must follow. ls src/main lists the modules, and each one's design notes are in its own comments, starting with its header. Read them before changing it.

  • App: index.ts is the entry point, auto-save and the V2 pipe handlers; ipc-handlers.ts holds every IPC handler. awake-manager.ts owns Keep Windows awake, and renderers read it via awake.getState, never a copy. gpu-watchdog.ts: main decides, the renderer only reports a stall. renderer-recovery.ts offers a reload, never automatically. wmux's own files go in getAppDataDir(), never app.getPath('userData') (chromium-profile.ts).
  • Closing and quitting: quits, relaunches and programmatic closes never prompt (close-guard.ts). quit-sequence.ts drains ConPTY exit callbacks before app.exit(). session-flush.ts holds the last close or the quit for each window's session:save, up to 1 s. exit-watchdog.ts is never a .cmd or PowerShell helper.
  • Terminals: pty-crash-guard.ts must be installed at module load, before the first pty.spawn. PtyManager delivers startup commands (startup-commands.ts), and no caller may type them itself. pty-keys.ts is the one named-key table, shared by every writer. powershell-shim.ts: the wmux.ps1 dir goes on PATH only after a probe has run in every installed PowerShell host. With WMUX_NODE_ELECTRON set, WMUX_NODE must run under ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 (node-runtime.ts).
  • Pipe: pipe-server.ts serves V1 text (shell hooks) and V2 JSON-RPC (CLI and agents) on \\.\pipe\wmux: one request per connection, closed with destroy(), never end().
  • Browser: cdp-proxy.ts impersonates Chrome, so its routes accept what real Chrome accepts. Hidden panes must use visibility, never display: none (browser-keep-rendering.ts). Every browser <webview> gets its hardened prefs from the HOST window's will-attach-webview (webview-prefs.ts).
  • Agent browser (agent-browser-*.ts): run the binary with spawn resolved on exit, never execFile or a .cmd shim. agent-browser-runtime.ts holds the single SessionRegistry and DashboardDaemon: never construct another, and take dashboard refs only there. Only isWmuxSessionName decides what wmux may close, and a dashboard it adopted is never stopped.
  • Agents: agent-integration.ts is the consent gate for every write outside %APPDATA%\wmux (#132), and the *-context.ts writers are called only through it. Before changing *-context.ts, *-resume.ts or codex-launcher.ts, load the wmux-agent-integration skill (.agents/skills/wmux-agent-integration/SKILL.md). agent-state.ts is declared run state (#128): answering never clears blocked, and a PTY exit keeps session handles. agent-spawn-target.ts: a named pane is authoritative, and pane and surface lookups ask every window.
  • File access: resolveInRoot in explorer-fs.ts is the jail every explorer and code read goes through; the renderer sends only relative paths. file-grants.ts is the single gate for every renderer→disk write: only a path opened into a live pane in this window and session through the jail, unchanged on disk since. The unjailed markdown:read-file never grants.
  • Remote: remote-console/* is the phone Remote Console (#254), off by default, loopback by default. Before changing anything there, read src/main/remote-console/AGENTS.md: the seven invariants (I1–I7), the lazy-loaded runtime, teardown on will-quit, and the binding replay. ssh-argv.ts is the single funnel for every ssh detection source, and in ssh-detect.ts the process probe may only corroborate a session, never establish one.
  • Workspaces: only the close dialog may remove a git-worktree.ts checkout, never any other close path. Manifests (workspace-*.ts, #284) have no --trust flag, and their commands never enter the store or session.json.
  • Windows: win32-process.ts and system32.ts resolve Windows tools by absolute path, so a writable PATH entry cannot shadow them. zip-updater.ts detects a portable install by electron-builder's Uninstall wmux.exe, so renaming productName or executableName breaks it.

Renderer (src/renderer/)

As above: the rules other files must follow, with the design notes in each module's comments.

Components (in components/):

  • SplitPane/: surface-label.ts is the one tab-caption chain, and customTitle is only for names a human chose. use-osc-title.ts is the single reader of a program's window title (#221), so its pref gate cannot differ between callers
  • Terminal/: anything floating over the xterm container is position: absolute, never a flow sibling, or the PTY keeps its old row count and the bottom rows hide underneath (#82). PromptsPane is a surface rather than an overlay, so that rule does not apply to it
  • Browser/: utils/browser-start-page.ts is the one rule for what a surface opens on when nobody said (#232): blank, never a page on the internet
  • Sidebar/: workspace-status.ts holds the three chains that must agree about one row (status words, status colour, state dot), so a priority added to one belongs in all three. Every UI place that names a workspace reads it through use-osc-title.ts (useWorkspaceLabel(s) / getStoredWorkspaceLabel), never ws.title; it is display only, and the CLI still answers the stored title
  • Settings/: ChangelogSettings (#211) shows notes from the network, so they only go through renderMarkdown, where DOMPurify runs
  • Markdown/: markdown-document.ts and markdown-hydrate.ts add math, mermaid and local images (#380) as inert placeholders filled in after sanitizing. renderMarkdown stays without them because it also renders the changelog
  • Git/: its review context lives on the surface, never on focus, so clicking into another agent's pane never moves it (#362)
  • Diff/: the explorer opens it through openDiffView (open-diff.ts, #325), which pins the tab to the explorer's root. Diff/diff-render.tsx is shared with Git/

Remote Console phone UI (renderer/remote/, #254): a SECOND Vite entry (remote/index.html), served by main's console server and never loaded by the desktop window. Before changing it, read src/renderer/remote/AGENTS.md: the import-graph rule, the chunk it shares with the desktop window, npm run dev not serving it, and the mirror's clipping and key-bar rules.

Keystrokes: utils/shortcut-binding.ts's claimsKeyEvent is the one answer to "does wmux take this keystroke?" (#225): useKeyboardShortcuts and useTerminal's key handler must both use it, or a key reaches nobody.

Pipe Bridge (pipe-bridge.ts): exposes store operations as window.__wmux_* globals, which main calls through executeJavaScript for V2 pipe commands. The split tree lives only in the store, so main asks here for a surface's browser engine before routing a browser.* verb.

Store (Zustand, in store/):

  • osc-title-slice.ts: a program's window title is never a SurfaceRef field, which would persist it into session.json
  • prompt-slice.ts: line: null means "not jumpable"; a view must never read it as line 0
  • prompt-actions.ts: the shortcut table and the command palette both go through it, because the palette hands an action it does not recognise to a console.log

Preload API (window.wmux)

src/preload/index.ts is the list of bridges, with the reason for each one's shape in its comments. A jailed bridge takes a surfaceId and a relative path, never an absolute one: main derives the root, or it is not a jail.

Key Design Decisions

No MCP — CLI Only

Do NOT build MCP servers. Use the wmux CLI (wmux <command>) via Bash instead. The CLI talks to the named pipe, which is simpler and more reliable. For new Claude Code integrations, add CLI commands in src/cli/wmux.ts.

Branded ID Types

WorkspaceId, PaneId, SurfaceId, WindowId — branded string types in src/shared/types.ts. Pattern: surf-{uuid}, pane-{uuid}, ws-{uuid}, win-{uuid}.

Keep-Alive Tabs

Terminal tabs in a pane are ALL rendered simultaneously (hidden with visibility: hidden). When switching tabs, only CSS changes — the xterm instance stays alive, no PTY reconnection needed. The surfaceId is passed to pty.create() so PTY ID = Surface ID (enables reliable re-attachment).

Keep-Alive Terminals (issue #346)

A split-tree change remounts the panes it moves, but not their terminals. TerminalHost (mounted once in App.tsx) portals one TerminalPane per terminal surface into an element owned by components/Terminal/terminal-keepalive.ts, and a pane renders only a KeptAliveTerminal slot that the element moves into. Two consequences for code outside it: React events from inside a terminal bubble through the host, not the pane, so the leaf's click-to-focus is a native listener on the slot (onActivate); and a same-commit move changes no prop, so attachGeneration re-runs the show path. utils/remount-snapshot.ts remains only as the fallback for a terminal that really is rebuilt. The design notes are in those files.

Split Tree

Pane layouts use an immutable binary tree (SplitNode). Each leaf = one pane with N surfaces (tabs). Mutations go through splitNode(), removeLeaf(), findLeaf(), getAllPaneIds() in split-utils.ts.

Prompt Boundaries — One Producer, Four Views (issue #207)

Highlighting a prompt, pinning it, anchoring the view at the start of an answer and listing prompts as jump marks all depend on one fact: where a user prompt starts. utils/prompt-log.ts is the one producer, and the four views are separate toggles. Rules for code outside it:

  • Two sources, ranked and never merged. agent is a hook and carries the text. shell is OSC 133 and carries only a boundary. There is no heuristic third source: with neither present the log stays empty and every view is inert.
  • A shell's command text never crosses the pipe. The renderer reads it out of the buffer, because a command line is where a credential reliably shows up.
  • One OSC 133 parse. utils/alt-screen-owner.ts (#357) gets its marks from handlePromptMark, never from a second handler.
  • Changing an existing prompt default needs a promptDefaultRev bump and a PROMPT_PROMOTIONS entry, or it reaches nobody.

The design notes are in utils/prompt-marks.ts (the tint and its content check), utils/prompt-anchor.ts (armed versus engaged), store/prompt-slice.ts and PromptPrefs in store/settings-slice.ts (the defaults). Read them before changing the feature.

Release Process

CI builds and publishes every release when a v<version> tag is pushed (.github/workflows/release.yml): the NSIS installer, the portable zip and latest.yml. Never build or upload one by hand, and never dispatch the workflow to test: every run publishes. For anything else about a release, load the wmux-release skill (.agents/skills/wmux-release/SKILL.md).

Named Pipe V2 Handlers

pipeServer.on('v2') in src/main/index.ts answers V2 JSON-RPC, with routeSpecialV2 and the v2-bridge.ts table in front of its switch. Most methods ask the renderer through the window.__wmux_* globals in pipe-bridge.ts. Before adding or changing a method or CLI verb, load the wmux-pipe-method skill (.agents/skills/wmux-pipe-method/SKILL.md).

wmux-orchestrator Plugin

Deprecated in 2.12.0 (#239). wmux no longer installs this Claude Code plugin, and removes it if a previous version did. removeOrchestratorPlugin in claude-context.ts records why it never loaded.

The source still ships in resources/wmux-orchestrator/, with its layout in that README. scripts/launch-agent.js is the shared agent-command registry that the omp-context and pi-context tests read. The sidebar orchestration panel (orchestration-watcher.ts), wmux agent spawn and the OpenCode plugin, which the orchestrator consent feature still controls, aren't deprecated.

CLI Reference

wmux help lists every command, and wmux <command> --help (or wmux help <command>) prints the usage text kept in COMMAND_SPECS in src/cli/wmux.ts. Read those rather than a copy here. The one verb that behaves differently on the two browser engines (wmux browser wait <ref> [ms] drops the timeout in agent mode) is documented at KNOWN ENGINE DIVERGENCE in src/main/agent-browser-verbs.ts.

Shell Integration

The scripts live in src/shell-integration/. resources/shell-integration/ is a byte-identical mirror that tests/unit/resources-sync.test.ts enforces, so every edit is made in both. Before changing either, load the wmux-shell-integration skill (.agents/skills/wmux-shell-integration/SKILL.md).

Env vars set by wmux in spawned shells: WMUX=1, WMUX_SURFACE_ID, WMUX_PIPE, WMUX_CLI, WMUX_NODE (+ WMUX_NODE_ELECTRON when it is wmux's own binary — issue #187).

Website (wmux.org)

Static site in site/, deployed to Netlify with npx netlify deploy --prod --dir site. site/i18n.js switches language by URL hash (#<code>).

Agent Skills

Task procedures live in repo skills, loaded only when a task matches. .agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md is the source of truth, and Codex reads it there. .claude/skills/ is a generated copy for Claude Code: edit .agents/skills/, then run npm run sync:skills. npm test fails while the two differ, and when a SKILL.md uses frontmatter outside the Agent Skills spec, since the same file has to load in both agents.

Conventions

  • State: Zustand slices in src/renderer/store/, composed in index.ts
  • IPC: Channels defined in IPC_CHANNELS in src/shared/types.ts, never use magic strings
  • CSS: src/renderer/styles/, class prefix per component (.pane-wrapper__*, .surface-tab__*)
  • Immutable trees: Split tree mutations always produce new objects via patchLeaf()
  • French comms: User communicates in French, code/docs in English
  • This file: a module's design notes and post-mortems go in its own comments or the PR description, not here. Add text only for a rule that crosses modules
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