CLI Actions

A note about pane ids: Since terminal panes and plugin panes can have overlapping IDs, they are differentiated by prefixing the pane type, eg. terminal_1 is a different pane than plugin_1. The ID of terminal panes is the same one that can be discovered through the ZELLIJ_PANE_ID environment variable. When a --pane-id flag accepts a pane id, it can be specified as terminal_1, plugin_2, or just 3 (equivalent to terminal_3).

apply-floating-swap-layout

Apply the floating swap layout with the given name. The visibility of floating panes and the focus are left unchanged. Exits with status 1 if no floating swap layout with that name fits the current number of panes.

ARGS: The name of the floating swap layout, as declared in the layout file

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action apply-floating-swap-layout spread
$ zellij action apply-floating-swap-layout spread --tab-id 3

apply-tiled-swap-layout

Apply the tiled swap layout with the given name. The visibility of floating panes and the focus are left unchanged. Exits with status 1 if no tiled swap layout with that name fits the current number of panes.

Unlike next-swap-layout, which moves through the swap layouts in order, this selects one directly.

ARGS: The name of the tiled swap layout, as declared in the layout file (eg. swap_tiled_layout name="vertical")

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action apply-tiled-swap-layout vertical
$ zellij action apply-tiled-swap-layout stacked --tab-id 3

are-floating-panes-visible

Check if floating panes are visible in the specified tab (or active tab). Prints "true" to stdout and exits 0 if visible. Prints "false" to stdout and exits 1 if not visible.

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action are-floating-panes-visible
$ zellij action are-floating-panes-visible --tab-id 3

change-floating-pane-coordinates

Given a pane id, and coordinates, will change the coordinates of this pane.

ARGS: The pane id (see example below - these can be discovered through the $ZELLIJ_PANE_ID env var) OPTIONS:

    -b, --borderless <BORDERLESS>  Change the border state of the pane
        --border-style <STYLE>     Border line style, eg. "double" or "top:double,left:single,rounded"
        --height <HEIGHT>          The height if the pane is floating as a bare integer (eg. 1) or
                                   percent (eg. 10%)
    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>        The pane_id of the floating pane, eg.  terminal_1, plugin_2 or 3
                                   (equivalent to terminal_3)
        --pinned <PINNED>          Whether to pin a floating pane so that it is always on top
        --width <WIDTH>            The width if the pane is floating as a bare integer (eg. 1) or
                                   percent (eg. 10%)
    -x, --x <X>                    The x coordinates if the pane is floating as a bare integer (eg. 1)
                                   or percent (eg. 10%)
    -y, --y <Y>                    The y coordinates if the pane is floating as a bare integer (eg. 1)
                                   or percent (eg. 10%)

eg.

zellij action change-floating-pane-coordinates --pane-id terminal_15 --height 10 --width 10 -x 10 -y 10
zellij action change-floating-pane-coordinates --pane-id terminal_15 --border-style double

The format of --border-style is described under set-pane-border-style.

clear

Clear all buffers for a focused pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID (eg. terminal_1, plugin_2 or 3)

eg.

$ zellij action clear
$ zellij action clear --pane-id terminal_3

close-pane

Close the focused pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID (eg. terminal_1, plugin_2 or 3)

eg.

$ zellij action close-pane
$ zellij action close-pane --pane-id terminal_3

close-tab

Close the current tab

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by stable ID

eg.

$ zellij action close-tab
$ zellij action close-tab --tab-id 5

close-tab-by-id

Close a tab by its stable ID

ARGS: The tab ID (integer)

eg.

$ zellij action close-tab-by-id 5

current-tab-info

Get information about the currently active tab. Returns the tab name and ID by default.

OPTIONS:

    -j, --json    Output as JSON with full TabInfo

eg.

$ zellij action current-tab-info

Sample output:

name: Tab #1
id: 0
position: 0

With --json:

$ zellij action current-tab-info --json

Sample output:

{
  "position": 0,
  "name": "Tab #1",
  "active": true,
  "panes_to_hide": 0,
  "is_fullscreen_active": false,
  "is_sync_panes_active": false,
  "are_floating_panes_visible": false,
  "other_focused_clients": [],
  "active_swap_layout_name": "default",
  "is_swap_layout_dirty": false,
  "viewport_rows": 24,
  "viewport_columns": 80,
  "display_area_rows": 26,
  "display_area_columns": 80,
  "selectable_tiled_panes_count": 2,
  "selectable_floating_panes_count": 0,
  "tab_id": 0,
  "has_bell_notification": false,
  "is_flashing_bell": false
}

detach

Detach from the current session, leaving it running in the background

eg.

$ zellij action detach

dismiss-info-popups

Close the information popups that do not take the keyboard, such as the notices opened by zellij prompt notify.

eg.

$ zellij action dismiss-info-popups

dump-layout

Dumps the current Layout of the session to STDOUT

eg.

$ zellij action dump-layout

dump-screen

Dumps the viewport of a pane to a file or to STDOUT. Optionally includes the full scrollback.

OPTIONS:

        --path <PATH>          File path to dump content to (if omitted, prints to STDOUT)
    -f, --full                 Dump the pane with full scrollback
    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID (if not specified, dumps the focused pane)
    -a, --ansi                 Preserve ANSI styling in the dump output

eg.

$ zellij action dump-screen --path /tmp/screen-dump.txt
$ zellij action dump-screen --full --ansi
$ zellij action dump-screen --pane-id terminal_3 --full

edit

Open the specified file in a new zellij pane with your default EDITOR. Returns the created pane ID.

ARGS: The path to the file to open (eg. /tmp/my-file.rs)

OPTIONS:

    -d, --direction <DIRECTION>    Direction to open [right|down] (conflicts with --floating)
    -f, --floating                 Open in floating mode
    -i, --in-place                 Open in place of the focused pane
        --close-replaced-pane      Close the replaced pane instead of suspending (requires --in-place)
    -l, --line-number <LINE_NUMBER>
        --cwd <CWD>               Working directory for the editor pane
    -x, --x <X>                    X coordinate for floating pane (requires --floating)
    -y, --y <Y>                    Y coordinate for floating pane (requires --floating)
        --width <WIDTH>            Width for floating pane (requires --floating)
        --height <HEIGHT>          Height for floating pane (requires --floating)
        --pinned <PINNED>          Pin the floating pane (requires --floating)
        --near-current-pane        Open near the current pane rather than following focus
        --no-focus                 Open the pane without changing the focus of any client
        --tab-id <TAB_ID>         Target a specific tab by ID (conflicts with --in-place, --near-current-pane)
    -b, --borderless <BORDERLESS>  Start without a border
        --border-style <STYLE>     Border line style, eg. "double" or "top:double,left:single,rounded"

eg.

$ zellij action edit ./my-file.rs -f
$ zellij action edit ./my-file.rs --in-place
$ zellij action edit ./my-file.rs -f --border-style "heavy,rounded"

The format of --border-style is described under set-pane-border-style.

Note: it is also possible to issue this action without the action prefix:

eg.

$ zellij edit ./my-file.rs -f

edit-scrollback

Open the pane scrollback in your default editor

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID
    -a, --ansi                 Preserve ANSI styling in the scrollback dump

eg.

$ zellij action edit-scrollback
$ zellij action edit-scrollback --pane-id terminal_3 --ansi

focus-last-pane

Change focus back to the pane that was focused before the currently focused one. Works across floating and tiled panes, and swaps the pane in place when the focused pane is fullscreen.

eg.

$ zellij action focus-last-pane

focus-next-pane

Change focus to the next pane

eg.

$ zellij action focus-next-pane

focus-pane-id

Focus a specific pane by its ID.

ARGS: The pane ID (eg. terminal_1, plugin_2, or 3 which is equivalent to terminal_3)

eg.

$ zellij action focus-pane-id terminal_1
$ zellij action focus-pane-id 3

focus-previous-pane

Change focus to the previous pane

eg.

$ zellij action focus-previous-pane

go-to-next-attention

Jump to the next pane that needs attention in any running session, switching session if needed. See the inbox for how panes come to need attention.

eg.

$ zellij action go-to-next-attention

go-to-next-session

Go forward in this client's session history (the sessions it switched between). Use after go-to-previous-session.

eg.

$ zellij action go-to-next-session

go-to-next-tab

Go to the next tab

eg.

$ zellij action go-to-next-tab

go-to-previous-session

Go back to the previous session in this client's session history (the sessions it switched between).

eg.

$ zellij action go-to-previous-session

go-to-previous-tab

Go to the previous tab

eg.

$ zellij action go-to-previous-tab

go-to-tab

Go to tab with index [index]

ARGS: The tab index (eg. 1)

eg.

$ zellij action go-to-tab 1

go-to-tab-by-id

Go to a tab by its stable ID

ARGS: The tab ID (integer)

eg.

$ zellij action go-to-tab-by-id 5

go-to-tab-name

Go to tab with name [name]. When --create is used and a tab is created, outputs the new tab ID.

ARGS: The tab name (eg. "Tab #1")

OPTIONS:

    -c, --create        Create a tab if one does not exist

eg.

$ zellij action go-to-tab-name "Tab #1"

half-page-scroll-down

Scroll down half page in focus pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action half-page-scroll-down

half-page-scroll-up

Scroll up half page in focus pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action half-page-scroll-up

hide-bars

Hide UI bars (eg. the tab-bar and status-bar) in every tab of the session. The bars can be shown again with show-bars or toggle-bars.

ARGS (optional): The bars to hide: tab-bar, status-bar, compact-bar, a plugin alias or plugin location, or all. If none are given, all bars are hidden.

eg.

$ zellij action hide-bars
$ zellij action hide-bars tab-bar
$ zellij action hide-bars tab-bar status-bar

See also the bars_hidden_on_start, hidden_bars_notification and mode_hints_when_bars_hidden options.

hide-floating-panes

Hide all floating panes in the specified tab (or active tab). Returns exit code 0 if changed, 2 if already hidden, 1 if the tab was not found.

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action hide-floating-panes
$ zellij action hide-floating-panes --tab-id 3

ignore-pane-output

Stop reporting new output of a pane as something that needs attention, or start reporting it again (toggle). Defaults to the focused pane. See the inbox.

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID (eg. terminal_1 or 3)

eg.

$ zellij action ignore-pane-output
$ zellij action ignore-pane-output --pane-id terminal_3

launch-or-focus-plugin

Launch a plugin if it is not loaded somewhere in the session, focus it if it is. Returns the plugin pane ID.

ARGS: The plugin URL (eg. file:/path/to/my/plugin.wasm)

OPTIONS:

    -f, --floating                 Open in floating mode when launching
    -i, --in-place                 Open in place of the focused pane when launching
        --close-replaced-pane      Close the replaced pane (requires --in-place)
    -m, --move-to-focused-tab      Move the plugin to the focused tab if already running
    -c, --configuration <CONFIG>   Plugin configuration (key=value pairs)
    -s, --skip-plugin-cache        Skip the plugin cache and force reloading
        --tab-id <TAB_ID>          Target a specific tab by ID (conflicts with --in-place)

eg.

zellij action launch-or-focus-plugin zellij:strider --floating
zellij action launch-or-focus-plugin zellij:strider --in-place --move-to-focused-tab

launch-plugin

Launch a new plugin instance. Unlike launch-or-focus-plugin, this always launches a new instance. Returns the plugin pane ID.

ARGS: The plugin URL (eg. file:/path/to/my/plugin.wasm)

OPTIONS:

    -f, --floating                 Open in floating mode
    -i, --in-place                 Open in place of the focused pane
        --close-replaced-pane      Close the replaced pane (requires --in-place)
    -c, --configuration <CONFIG>   Plugin configuration (key=value pairs)
    -s, --skip-plugin-cache        Skip the plugin cache and force reloading
        --tab-id <TAB_ID>          Target a specific tab by ID (conflicts with --in-place)
        --no-focus                 Open the plugin pane without changing the focus of any client

eg.

zellij action launch-plugin file:/path/to/plugin.wasm --floating
zellij action launch-plugin zellij:session-manager --no-focus

list-clients

List all clients connected to the current session, their focused pane id and their running program (if it's not the default shell and if Zellij can detect it).

eg.

$ zellij action list-clients

CLIENT_ID ZELLIJ_PANE_ID RUNNING_COMMAND
1         plugin_2       zellij:session-manager
2         terminal_3     vim /tmp/my-file.txt

list-panes

List all panes in the current session with optional detail fields.

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab          Include tab information
    -c, --command      Include running command information
    -s, --state        Include pane state (focused, floating, exited, etc.)
    -g, --geometry     Include geometry (position, size)
    -a, --all          Include all available fields
    -j, --json         Output as JSON

eg.

$ zellij action list-panes

Sample output (default):

PANE_ID      TYPE      TITLE
terminal_1   terminal  /bin/bash
plugin_0     plugin    tab-bar
terminal_2   terminal  vim main.rs

With --all:

$ zellij action list-panes --all

Sample output:

TAB_ID  TAB_POS  TAB_NAME  PANE_ID      TYPE      TITLE          COMMAND        CWD                      FOCUSED  FLOATING  EXITED  X  Y   ROWS  COLS
0       0        Tab #1    terminal_1   terminal  /bin/bash      bash           /home/user/project       true     false     false   0  1   24    80
0       0        Tab #1    plugin_0     plugin    tab-bar        zellij:tab-bar -                        false    false     false   0  0   1     80
1       1        Tab #2    terminal_2   terminal  vim main.rs    vim main.rs    /home/user/project/src   true     false     false   0  1   24    80

With --json:

$ zellij action list-panes --json

Sample output:

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "is_plugin": false,
    "is_focused": true,
    "is_fullscreen": false,
    "is_floating": false,
    "is_suppressed": false,
    "title": "/bin/bash",
    "exited": false,
    "exit_status": null,
    "is_held": false,
    "pane_x": 0,
    "pane_content_x": 1,
    "pane_y": 1,
    "pane_content_y": 2,
    "pane_rows": 24,
    "pane_content_rows": 22,
    "pane_columns": 80,
    "pane_content_columns": 78,
    "cursor_coordinates_in_pane": [0, 5],
    "terminal_command": null,
    "plugin_url": null,
    "is_selectable": true,
    "tab_id": 0,
    "tab_position": 0,
    "tab_name": "Tab #1",
    "pane_command": "bash",
    "pane_cwd": "/home/user/project"
  },
  {
    "id": 0,
    "is_plugin": true,
    "is_focused": false,
    "is_fullscreen": false,
    "is_floating": false,
    "is_suppressed": false,
    "title": "tab-bar",
    "exited": false,
    "exit_status": null,
    "is_held": false,
    "pane_x": 0,
    "pane_content_x": 0,
    "pane_y": 0,
    "pane_content_y": 0,
    "pane_rows": 1,
    "pane_content_rows": 1,
    "pane_columns": 80,
    "pane_content_columns": 80,
    "cursor_coordinates_in_pane": null,
    "terminal_command": null,
    "plugin_url": "zellij:tab-bar",
    "is_selectable": false,
    "tab_id": 0,
    "tab_position": 0,
    "tab_name": "Tab #1"
  }
]

list-tabs

List all tabs with their information.

OPTIONS:

    -s, --state         Include state information (active, fullscreen, sync, floating visibility)
    -d, --dimensions    Include dimension information
    -p, --panes         Include pane counts
    -l, --layout        Include layout information (swap layout name and dirty state)
    -a, --all           Include all available fields
    -j, --json          Output as JSON

eg.

$ zellij action list-tabs

Sample output (default):

TAB_ID  POSITION  NAME
0       0         Tab #1
1       1         editor
2       2         logs

With --all:

$ zellij action list-tabs --all

Sample output:

TAB_ID  POSITION  NAME    ACTIVE  FULLSCREEN  SYNC_PANES  FLOATING_VIS  VP_ROWS  VP_COLS  DA_ROWS  DA_COLS  TILED_PANES  FLOAT_PANES  HIDDEN_PANES  SWAP_LAYOUT  LAYOUT_DIRTY
0       0         Tab #1  true    false       false       false         24       80       26       80       2            0            0             default      false
1       1         editor  false   false       false       false         24       80       26       80       1            0            0             -            false
2       2         logs    false   false       false       true          24       80       26       80       1            1            0             default      true

With --json:

$ zellij action list-tabs --json

Sample output:

[
  {
    "position": 0,
    "name": "Tab #1",
    "active": true,
    "panes_to_hide": 0,
    "is_fullscreen_active": false,
    "is_sync_panes_active": false,
    "are_floating_panes_visible": false,
    "other_focused_clients": [],
    "active_swap_layout_name": "default",
    "is_swap_layout_dirty": false,
    "viewport_rows": 24,
    "viewport_columns": 80,
    "display_area_rows": 26,
    "display_area_columns": 80,
    "selectable_tiled_panes_count": 2,
    "selectable_floating_panes_count": 0,
    "tab_id": 0,
    "has_bell_notification": false,
    "is_flashing_bell": false
  },
  {
    "position": 1,
    "name": "editor",
    "active": false,
    "panes_to_hide": 0,
    "is_fullscreen_active": false,
    "is_sync_panes_active": false,
    "are_floating_panes_visible": false,
    "other_focused_clients": [],
    "active_swap_layout_name": null,
    "is_swap_layout_dirty": false,
    "viewport_rows": 24,
    "viewport_columns": 80,
    "display_area_rows": 26,
    "display_area_columns": 80,
    "selectable_tiled_panes_count": 1,
    "selectable_floating_panes_count": 0,
    "tab_id": 1,
    "has_bell_notification": false,
    "is_flashing_bell": false
  }
]

mark-all-seen

Mark every pane of every running session as seen, clearing their past events. See the inbox.

OPTIONS:

        --this-session    Only mark the panes of the current session

eg.

$ zellij action mark-all-seen
$ zellij action mark-all-seen --this-session

mark-pane-seen

Mark a pane as seen, clearing its past events. Defaults to the focused pane. See the inbox.

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID (eg. terminal_1 or 3)

eg.

$ zellij action mark-pane-seen
$ zellij action mark-pane-seen --pane-id terminal_3

move-focus

Move the focused pane in the specified direction.

ARGS: The direction to move [right|left|up|down]

eg.

$ zellij action move-focus left

move-focus-or-tab

Move focus to the pane or tab (if on screen edge) in the specified direction

ARGS: The direction to move [right|left|up|down]

eg.

$ zellij action move-focus-or-tab left

move-pane

Change the location of the focused pane in the specified direction

ARGS (optional): The direction to move [right|left|up|down]

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action move-pane left
$ zellij action move-pane --pane-id terminal_3 right

move-pane-backwards

Rotate the location of the focused pane backwards in the layout order

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action move-pane-backwards

move-tab

Move the focused tab in the specified direction.

ARGS: The direction to move [right|left]

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action move-tab right
$ zellij action move-tab left --tab-id 3

mute-pane

Mute or unmute the attention status of a pane (toggle). Defaults to the focused pane. See the inbox.

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID (eg. terminal_1 or 3)

eg.

$ zellij action mute-pane
$ zellij action mute-pane --pane-id terminal_3

mute-session

Mute or unmute the attention status of the whole session (toggle). See the inbox.

eg.

$ zellij action mute-session

mute-tab

Mute or unmute the attention status of all panes in a tab (toggle). Defaults to the active tab. See the inbox.

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by its ID

eg.

$ zellij action mute-tab
$ zellij action mute-tab --tab-id 2

new-pane

Open a new pane in the specified direction or as a floating pane. If no direction is specified, will try to use the biggest available space. Returns the created pane ID.

ARGS (optional): the command to run inside the pane in place of the default shell (must be preceded by a double-dash --)

OPTIONS:

    -c, --close-on-exit                Close the pane immediately when its command exits
        --cwd <CWD>                    Change the working directory of the new pane
    -d, --direction <DIRECTION>        Direction to open the new pane in (conflicts with --floating)
    -f, --floating                     Open the new pane in floating mode
    -i, --in-place                     Open in place of the focused pane (conflicts with --floating/--direction)
        --close-replaced-pane          Close the replaced pane instead of suspending (requires --in-place)
    -n, --name <NAME>                  Name of the new pane
    -p, --plugin <PLUGIN>              Plugin URL to load (conflicts with command and --direction)
        --configuration <CONFIG>       Plugin configuration (requires --plugin)
        --skip-plugin-cache            Skip the plugin cache (requires --plugin)
    -s, --start-suspended              Start the command suspended
        --notify                       Watch the pane: notify each time its command finishes or its
                                       output goes quiet, until the watch is turned off (requires a command)
    -x, --x <X>                        X coordinate for floating pane (requires --floating)
    -y, --y <Y>                        Y coordinate for floating pane (requires --floating)
        --width <WIDTH>                Width for floating pane (requires --floating)
        --height <HEIGHT>              Height for floating pane (requires --floating)
        --pinned <PINNED>              Pin the floating pane (requires --floating)
        --stacked                      Open in stacked mode (conflicts with --floating/--direction)
        --tab-id <TAB_ID>             Target a specific tab by ID (conflicts with --in-place, --near-current-pane)
        --pane-id <PANE_ID>            The pane to replace when using --in-place (default: the focused pane)
    -b, --blocking                     Block until the pane exits
        --block-until-exit-success     Block until the command exits with status 0
        --block-until-exit-failure     Block until the command exits with non-zero status
        --block-until-exit             Block until the command exits regardless of status
        --near-current-pane            Open near the current pane rather than following focus
        --no-focus                     Open the pane without changing the focus of any client
        --borderless <BORDERLESS>      Start without a border
        --border-style <STYLE>         Border line style, eg. "double" or "top:double,left:single,rounded"

eg.

$ zellij action new-pane -f # open a new floating pane with the default shell
$ zellij action new-pane --name "follow this log!" -- tail -f /tmp/my-log-file
$ zellij action new-pane --stacked
$ zellij action new-pane --in-place -- htop
$ zellij action new-pane --in-place --pane-id terminal_4 -- htop
$ zellij action new-pane --plugin zellij:strider --floating
$ zellij action new-pane --no-focus -- tail -f /tmp/my-log-file
$ zellij action new-pane --notify -- cargo build
$ zellij action new-pane --floating --border-style "double,rounded"

Note about --notify: the new pane is watched as with watch-pane. A notification is sent each time its command finishes or its output goes quiet, until the watch is turned off. See the inbox for where these notifications appear.

Note about --border-style: the format is described under set-pane-border-style.

Note about --no-focus: the pane is opened without changing the focus of any connected client. Its placement is relative to the pane the command was issued from rather than to the focused pane.

Note: This can also be shortened to zellij run

eg.

$ zellij run -- tail -f /tmp/my-log-file

new-tab

Create a new tab, optionally with a specified tab layout and name. Returns the created tab's ID.

Specifying a path to a layout file with --layout will start that tab with the specified layout.

If the --cwd flag is included with the --layout flag, all relative paths in that layout will start from this cwd. Replacing the global cwd in the layout if it exists. See layout CWD composition for more info.

ARGS (optional): A command to run in the initial pane (must be preceded by a double-dash --, conflicts with --initial-plugin)

OPTIONS:

    -c, --cwd <CWD>                    Working directory for the new tab
    -l, --layout <LAYOUT>              Layout to use
        --layout-dir <LAYOUT_DIR>      Default folder for layouts (requires --layout)
        --layout-string <LAYOUT_STRING>  Raw KDL layout string to use directly (conflicts with --layout)
    -n, --name <NAME>                  Name of the new tab
        --initial-plugin <PLUGIN>      Plugin to load in the initial pane (conflicts with command)
        --close-on-exit                Close the initial pane when its command exits (requires command)
        --start-suspended              Start the command suspended (requires command)
        --block-until-exit-success     Block until the command exits with status 0
        --block-until-exit-failure     Block until the command exits with non-zero status
        --block-until-exit             Block until the command exits regardless of status
        --no-focus                     Create the tab without changing the focus of any client

eg.

$ zellij action new-tab --layout /path/to/layout.kdl --name "my tab"
$ zellij action new-tab -- htop
$ zellij action new-tab --no-focus --name "background tab"

Note about --no-focus: the new tab is created in the background without changing the focus of any connected client. When a layout is used, its focus properties are suppressed as well.

next-swap-layout

Switch to the next swap layout for the current tab

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action next-swap-layout

To select a swap layout by name, see apply-tiled-swap-layout and apply-floating-swap-layout.

open-context-menu

Open the right-click menu for the focused pane, at that pane's position. See the right-click menu.

eg.

$ zellij action open-context-menu

override-layout

Override the layout of the active tab with the specified layout file.

ARGS (optional): Path to the layout file - either this or --layout-string must be provided

OPTIONS:

        --layout-dir <LAYOUT_DIR>              Default folder for layouts
        --layout-string <LAYOUT_STRING>        Raw KDL layout string to use directly (conflicts with layout path arg)
        --retain-existing-terminal-panes       Retain existing terminal panes that do not fit the new layout
        --retain-existing-plugin-panes         Retain existing plugin panes that do not fit the new layout
        --apply-only-to-active-tab             Only apply the layout to the active tab

eg.

$ zellij action override-layout /path/to/layout.kdl
$ zellij action override-layout /path/to/layout.kdl --retain-existing-terminal-panes --apply-only-to-active-tab
$ zellij action override-layout --layout-string 'layout { pane; pane; }'

Note: layouts provided with --layout-string (here and in new-tab / switch-session) are parsed and validated before being sent to the session, so syntax errors are reported immediately.

page-scroll-down

Scroll down one page in focus pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action page-scroll-down

page-scroll-up

Scroll up one page in focus pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action page-scroll-up

paste

Paste text to the terminal using bracketed paste mode

ARGS: The text to paste

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action paste "Hello, World!"

pipe

Send data to one or more plugins via a pipe. Plugins will be launched if they are not already running.

ARGS (optional): Payload data to send. If blank, listens on STDIN.

OPTIONS:

    -n, --name <NAME>                        Name of the pipe
    -a, --args <ARGS>                        Arguments for the pipe (key=value pairs)
    -p, --plugin <PLUGIN>                    Plugin URL to direct the pipe to
    -c, --plugin-configuration <CONFIG>      Plugin configuration (key=value pairs)
    -l, --force-launch-plugin                Launch a new plugin even if one is already running
    -s, --skip-plugin-cache                  Skip the plugin cache and force reloading
    -f, --floating-plugin <BOOL>             Whether the launched plugin should be floating
    -i, --in-place-plugin <BOOL>             Launch plugin in place (conflicts with --floating-plugin)
    -w, --plugin-cwd <CWD>                   Working directory for the launched plugin
    -t, --plugin-title <TITLE>               Pane title for the launched plugin
        --popup <PLACEMENT>                  Open the launched plugin as a popup (conflicts with
                                             --floating-plugin and --in-place-plugin)
        --popup-no-focus                     The popup does not take key focus (requires --popup)
        --popup-capture-all-keys             Send every key to the popup, including keys bound to
                                             Zellij actions (requires --popup)
        --popup-outside-click <BEHAVIOR>     What a click outside the popup does: block or close
                                             (requires --popup)

eg.

$ zellij action pipe --name "my-pipe" --plugin "file:/path/to/plugin.wasm" "some payload"
$ echo "data from stdin" | zellij action pipe --name "my-pipe" --plugin "my-plugin-alias"
$ zellij action pipe --plugin "file:/path/to/plugin.wasm" --popup center --popup-outside-click close

The --popup* flags are described in Opening plugins as popups. The exit status of this command can be set by the plugin, see Zellij Pipe.

previous-swap-layout

Switch to the previous swap layout for the current tab

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action previous-swap-layout

query-tab-names

Query all tab names (receive a textual list on the command line)

eg.

$ zellij action query-tab-names

rename-pane

Renames the focused pane (title will appear on the pane frame)

ARGS: the pane name

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action rename-pane "alice the cat"
$ zellij action rename-pane --pane-id terminal_3 "my pane"

rename-session

Rename the current session

ARGS: The new session name

eg.

$ zellij action rename-session "my-new-session-name"

rename-tab

Renames the focused tab

ARGS: the tab name

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action rename-tab "alice the cat"
$ zellij action rename-tab --tab-id 3 "my tab"

rename-tab-by-id

Rename a tab by its stable ID

ARGS: The tab ID (integer) followed by the new name (string)

eg.

$ zellij action rename-tab-by-id 5 "my new tab name"

resize

Resize the focused pane in the specified direction.

ARGS: The resize direction [right|left|up|down|+|-]

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action resize left
$ zellij action resize --pane-id terminal_3 +

save-session

Save the current session state to disk immediately. Useful for triggering a manual serialization outside the automatic interval.

eg.

$ zellij action save-session

scroll-down

Scroll down 1 line in the focused pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action scroll-down

scroll-to-bottom

Scroll down to bottom in the focused pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action scroll-to-bottom

scroll-to-top

Scroll up to top in the focused pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action scroll-to-top

scroll-up

Scroll up 1 line in the focused pane

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action scroll-up

send-keys

Send one or more keys to the terminal. Keys are specified as space-separated names (eg. "Ctrl a", "F1", "Alt Shift b").

ARGS: One or more key names (space-separated)

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action send-keys "Ctrl a"
$ zellij action send-keys --pane-id terminal_3 "Alt b" "Enter"

set-dark-theme

Switch the theme to dark (uses the configured theme_dark).

eg.

$ zellij action set-dark-theme

set-light-theme

Switch the theme to light (uses the configured theme_light).

eg.

$ zellij action set-light-theme

set-pane-border-style

Change the border line style of an existing pane. Leaving out --border-style returns the pane to the default border.

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>          Target pane by ID (required), eg. terminal_1, plugin_2 or 3
        --border-style <STYLE>       Border line style, eg. "double" or "top:double,left:single,rounded"

The --border-style value (here and in new-pane, edit, run, plugin and change-floating-pane-coordinates) is a comma-separated list of:

  • A line style on its own, which applies to all four sides (eg. double)
  • <side>:<line style> or <side>=<line style>, where <side> is one of all, top, right, bottom or left (eg. top:double)
  • rounded for rounded corners, or rounded:true / rounded:false

The line styles are single, double, heavy (also accepted as bold or thick), dashed and heavy_dashed.

eg.

$ zellij action set-pane-border-style --pane-id terminal_3 --border-style double
$ zellij action set-pane-border-style --pane-id terminal_3 --border-style "top:double,left:single,rounded"
$ zellij action set-pane-border-style --pane-id terminal_3

set-pane-borderless

Set the borderless state of a specific pane

OPTIONS (required):

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>        Target pane by ID (required)
    -b, --borderless <BORDERLESS>  Whether the pane should be borderless (required)

eg.

$ zellij action set-pane-borderless --pane-id terminal_3 --borderless true

set-pane-frame-style

Set the style of the pane frames for the whole session at runtime. This is the runtime equivalent of the pane_frame_style configuration option.

ARGS: The frame style - one of full (a full border around each pane), titles (a single title line above each pane) or none (no frames)

eg.

$ zellij action set-pane-frame-style titles
$ zellij action set-pane-frame-style full
$ zellij action set-pane-frame-style none

set-pane-color

Set the default foreground and/or background color of a pane. Colors can be specified as hex (eg. "#00e000") or rgb notation (eg. "rgb:00/e0/00").

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target pane by ID (defaults to $ZELLIJ_PANE_ID)
        --fg <FG>              Foreground color (eg. "#00e000", "rgb:00/e0/00")
        --bg <BG>              Background color (eg. "#001a3a", "rgb:00/1a/3a")
        --reset                Reset pane colors to terminal defaults (conflicts with --fg, --bg)

eg.

$ zellij action set-pane-color --fg "#00e000" --bg "#001a3a"
$ zellij action set-pane-color --pane-id terminal_3 --reset

set-resurrect-command

Set the command a terminal pane will be resurrected with, instead of the command Zellij detects running in it. This lets a program that knows how to resume itself (eg. by a session id) register the exact command to run when the session is resurrected.

The command set this way takes the place of the detected command and is not passed through the post_command_discovery_hook. It stays in effect until it is removed with --clear or until the pane is closed. It can only be set for terminal panes.

ARGS: The command and its arguments (must be preceded by a double-dash --). Required unless --clear is given.

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    The terminal pane, eg. terminal_1 or 3 (defaults to $ZELLIJ_PANE_ID)
        --cwd <CWD>            Working directory to resurrect the pane in (conflicts with --clear)
        --clear                Remove a previously set resurrect command (conflicts with a command)

A relative --cwd is resolved from the folder the command is run in.

eg.

$ zellij action set-resurrect-command -- opencode -s ses_abc
$ zellij action set-resurrect-command --pane-id terminal_3 --cwd /home/user/project -- htop
$ zellij action set-resurrect-command --clear

show-bars

Show all hidden UI bars. See hide-bars.

eg.

$ zellij action show-bars

show-floating-panes

Show all floating panes in the specified tab (or active tab). Returns exit code 0 if changed, 2 if already visible, 1 if the tab was not found.

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action show-floating-panes
$ zellij action show-floating-panes --tab-id 3

start-or-reload-plugin

Launch a plugin if it is not loaded or reload it (skipping cache) if it is. Mostly useful for plugin development.

ARGS: The plugin URL (eg. file:/path/to/my/plugin.wasm)

OPTIONS:

    -c, --configuration <CONFIG>    Plugin configuration (key=value pairs)

eg.

zellij action start-or-reload-plugin zellij:strider
zellij action start-or-reload-plugin file:/path/to/plugin.wasm -c "key=value"

stack-panes

Given a list of pane ids, turns them into a stack. (pane ids can be discovered through the $ZELLIJ_PANE_ID env var).

ARGS: A list of panes (see example below)

eg.

# This will create a stack of 3 panes (terminal with ID 1, plugin with ID 1 and terminal with ID 2)
$ zellij action stack-panes -- terminal_1 plugin_1 terminal_2

switch-mode

Switch input mode of all connected clients

ARGS: The mode to switch to [locked|pane|tab|resize|move|search|session|tmux]

eg.

$ zellij action switch-mode locked

switch-session

Switch to a different session

ARGS: The session name to switch to

OPTIONS:

        --tab-position <TAB_POSITION>    Tab position to focus after switching
        --pane-id <PANE_ID>              Pane ID to focus after switching
    -l, --layout <LAYOUT>                Layout to apply when switching
        --layout-dir <LAYOUT_DIR>        Default folder for layouts (requires --layout)
        --layout-string <LAYOUT_STRING>  Raw KDL layout string to use directly (conflicts with --layout)
    -c, --cwd <CWD>                      Working directory when switching
        --close-current                  Close the current session after switching, if no command
                                         has been run in it and no other client is attached

eg.

$ zellij action switch-session my-other-session
$ zellij action switch-session my-session --tab-position 2 --layout /path/to/layout.kdl
$ zellij action switch-session my-other-session --close-current

To move between the sessions this client has visited, see toggle-session, go-to-previous-session and go-to-next-session.

toggle-active-sync-tab

Toggle between sending text input to all panes in the current tab and just to the focused pane (the default)

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-active-sync-tab

toggle-bars

If any UI bars are hidden, show all of them. Otherwise hide the named bars (all bars if none are named), as hide-bars does.

ARGS (optional): The bars to hide: tab-bar, status-bar, compact-bar, a plugin alias or plugin location, or all

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-bars
$ zellij action toggle-bars status-bar

toggle-floating-panes

Toggle the visibility of all floating panes in the current Tab, open one if none exist

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-floating-panes

toggle-fullscreen

Toggle between fullscreen focus pane and normal layout

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-fullscreen

toggle-mirror-resize

Toggle whether the live view of a pane shown inside the focused plugin pane resizes the program of the pane it shows. See also the mirror_resizes_source_pane option.

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-mirror-resize

toggle-no-ui-fullscreen

Toggle between fullscreen focus pane and normal layout, with the pane taking up the entire display - including the space normally occupied by the UI bars (eg. the tab-bar and status-bar). This is unlike toggle-fullscreen, which keeps the UI bars visible.

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID
    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>      Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-no-ui-fullscreen
$ zellij action toggle-no-ui-fullscreen --pane-id terminal_3

toggle-pane-borderless

Toggle the borderless state of a specific pane

OPTIONS (required):

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target pane by ID (required)

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-pane-borderless --pane-id terminal_3

toggle-pane-embed-or-floating

Embed focused pane if floating or float focused pane if embedded

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-pane-embed-or-floating

toggle-pane-frames

Toggle frames around panes in the UI

Note: Zellij relies on frames to display parts of the UI, removing them might make certain things a little confusing to those not used to the app.

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-pane-frames

toggle-pane-pinned

If the current pane is a floating pane, toggle its pinned state (always on top).

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-pane-pinned

toggle-session

Switch to the session this client was in before. Running it again returns to the first session. If there is no previous session, switch to the next running session.

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-session

toggle-stack-list-orientation

Switch a stack between showing its pane titles in a column (vertical) and in a row (horizontal). Defaults to the focused stack. See also the stacked_pane_list_orientation option.

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target the stack holding a specific pane by ID (eg. terminal_1, plugin_2, or 3)

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-stack-list-orientation
$ zellij action toggle-stack-list-orientation --pane-id terminal_3

toggle-theme

Toggle between the dark and light themes (uses the configured theme_dark and theme_light).

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-theme

toggle-tray-icon

Show or hide the tray / menu-bar icon of the desktop app until the app restarts. Sessions and notifications continue either way. This action is sent to the desktop app rather than to a session. It exits with status 1 and prints "The Zellij desktop app is not running." if the app is not running.

eg.

$ zellij action toggle-tray-icon

undo-rename-pane

Remove a previously set pane name

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action undo-rename-pane

undo-rename-tab

Remove a previously set tab name

OPTIONS:

    -t, --tab-id <TAB_ID>    Target a specific tab by ID

eg.

$ zellij action undo-rename-tab

watch-pane

Watch a pane: a notification is sent each time its command finishes or its output goes quiet, until the watch is turned off by running this action again (toggle). Defaults to the focused pane. A pane can also be watched from the start with zellij run --notify or zellij action new-pane --notify. See the inbox.

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID (eg. terminal_1 or 3)

eg.

$ zellij action watch-pane
$ zellij action watch-pane --pane-id terminal_3

write

Write bytes to the focused pane

ARGS: An array of bytes to write

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action write 102 111 111

write-chars

Write characters to the focused pane

ARGS: A string of characters to write

OPTIONS:

    -p, --pane-id <PANE_ID>    Target a specific pane by ID

eg.

$ zellij action write-chars "Hi there!"