Terminal + Neovim + Tmux Workflow

This repo contains my daily driver setup on macOS: Alacritty + tmux + Neovim (LazyVim). It’s tuned for fast window/pane navigation, clipboard integration, and a rich Neovim keymap for search, snippets, notes, and utilities.

Quick Start

• Install Alacritty, tmux, Neovim (via Homebrew).
• Launch Alacritty; it auto-starts zsh and attaches/creates a tmux session.
• Use Command-based shortcuts in Alacritty to drive tmux; inside tmux, use C-a as prefix.
• Open Neovim and use <leader>j prefixed keymaps for personal commands.

Alacritty

• Config: alacritty/alacritty.toml:60
• Highlights
  • Cmd-s sends Ctrl-s to terminal for Neovim save: alacritty/alacritty.toml:63
  • Cmd-Shift-f toggles fullscreen: alacritty/alacritty.toml:82
  • Cmd-a sends tmux prefix C-a: alacritty/alacritty.toml:64
  • Cmd-t new tmux window, Cmd-[ prev window, Cmd-] next window: alacritty/alacritty.toml:72
  • Cmd-Shift-x instant kill active pane/window via tmux X: alacritty/alacritty.toml:80
  • Cmd-1…9 switch tmux windows directly: alacritty/alacritty.toml:84
• Shell integration: starts zsh and runs t to attach tmux: alacritty/alacritty.toml:96

tmux

• Config: tmux/.tmux.conf:1
• Prefix: C-a (unbind default C-b): tmux/.tmux.conf:1
• Splits: - vertical, | horizontal with cwd preserved: tmux/.tmux.conf:13, tmux/.tmux.conf:14
• Resize: prefix + h/j/k/l resizes by 5: tmux/.tmux.conf:17
• Kill pane
  • x asks confirm: tmux/.tmux.conf:7
  • X instant kill (pane if multiple; otherwise window): tmux/.tmux.conf:10
• Clipboard: copy-mode y pipes to macOS clipboard: tmux/.tmux.conf:28
• Vim navigation passthrough (C-h/j/k/l between tmux panes and Neovim): tmux/.tmux.conf:96
• Plugins via TPM: yank, copycat, resurrect, continuum (auto-restore), prefix-highlight, tmux-powerline, open: tmux/.tmux.conf:71
• Session switch menu script: tmux/scripts/session-menu.sh:1

Neovim (LazyVim)

• Entry: nvim/init.lua:1 autoloads LazyVim and all lua/user/* modules.
• Options: nvim/lua/config/options.lua:4
  • FZF as picker, animations off, autoformat off, spell on.
• Personal keymap prefix: <leader>j: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:2

Neovim Keymap Highlights

• Navigation/UI
  • File tree: <leader>e neotree reveal float: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:57
  • FZF launcher: <leader>F: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:59
  • Buffers grep: <leader>jba: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:89
  • Open files in ~ via FZF: <leader>jfo: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:426
• Daily notes
  • Open goals: <leader>jD: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:67
  • Open notes: <leader>jN: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:68
• Clipboard helpers
  • Copy path: <leader>jf1 abs, <leader>jf2 rel, <leader>jf3 name: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:72
• Tasks/Markdown
  • Toggle checkbox: <leader>jt0: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:232
  • Status stamps: done/bug/in-progress/etc: <leader>jtx, tb, tp…: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:164
  • Bold/italic/strikethrough line: <leader>jm5, jm6, jm4: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:257
  • Open task list: <leader>jtd and add: <leader>jtn: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:242
• Grep by project roots
  • ~/app: <leader>jfa, ~/web: <leader>jfw, notes/snippets: <leader>jfx, jfs: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:73
• Snippets (nvim-scissors)
  • Add: <leader>jsa, Edit: <leader>jse: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:75
• S3 utilities
  • Upload current buffer: <leader>jf7: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:93
  • Pick from screenshots dir: <leader>jf6: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:94
  • Upload any file: <leader>jf5: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:95
  • MOV→MP4 with external audio (YouTube-ready): <leader>jf8: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:298
• Editing utilities
  • Remove inner whitespace, keep indent: <leader>jrw: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:406
  • Search/replace prompts: <leader>jR, jrc, jrd, jra: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:458
  • Strip +/- from selected lines: visual <leader>jrm: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:499
  • Tabs/spaces toggle: <leader>jb<tab>, force spaces: jbs, force tabs: jbt: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:687
  • Reveal file in Finder: <leader>jbf: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:691
  • Print buffer via TextEdit: <leader>jp: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:716
• Git helpers
  • Open modified files in new tabs: <leader>jgo: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:654
• App launcher
  • Spotlight-like app/folder open: <Leader>A: nvim/lua/config/keymaps.lua:780

Workflow

• Windowing: Use Alacritty Cmd-1…9, Cmd-[, Cmd-] to move between tmux windows. Cmd-t to create new tmux window.
• Panes: Split with prefix + - (vertical) or prefix + | (horizontal). Resize with prefix + h/j/k/l.
• Kill: Cmd-Shift-x for instant kill via tmux X, or prefix + x for confirm.
• Copy: In tmux copy-mode press y to yank to macOS clipboard.
• Neovim: Use <leader>j groups for tasks, grep, snippets, S3 uploads, and utilities.

Scripts

• Session menu: tmux/scripts/session-menu.sh:1 shows a popup menu to switch sessions.

Setup Notes

• Fonts: JetBrainsMono Nerd Font: alacritty/alacritty.toml:29
• Terminal type: TERM=alacritty: alacritty/alacritty.toml:1
• Fullscreen on launch: startup_mode = "SimpleFullscreen": alacritty/alacritty.toml:18
• Mouse + vi copy-mode in tmux enabled: tmux/.tmux.conf:40

Optional Terminals

• WezTerm and Ghostty also work well. If you prefer them, replicate the tmux passthrough and window bindings accordingly.

Troubleshooting

• Clipboard not working: ensure pbcopy exists; tmux config also tries xclip/wl-copy for Linux: tmux/.tmux.conf:42
• S3 uploads: requires aws CLI and proper credentials; ffmpeg for video conversion.

Enjoy the workflow, and tweak bindings to taste.

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