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https://github.com/jaclu/tmux-keybtest

Check what keys tmux can detect from the terminal being used.
https://github.com/jaclu/tmux-keybtest

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Check what keys tmux can detect from the terminal being used.

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# tmux-keybtest



Check what keys tmux can detect from the terminal being used.



When a key is pressed and it was identified, its tmux name is displayed

on the status line, like `C-M-Up`



Terminals often have some issues, for some keys they might generate the

wrong thing, or even nothing. Using this can give help to select the

right terminal, or if one is already selected, it can show what keys

are available to use. Some terminals offer good suport in defining what

sequence can be sent when pressing a key,

this is unfortunately not always the case.



If the Operating System or terminal binds some keys, they will not be

detected by tmux.

Sometims it is possible to disable such usages of a key that would make

more sense to handle by tmux.



 I have only defined the letters a-z and the Swedish umlauts,

 contributions for other characters would be apreciated!



## Usage



Clone this, then run `keybtest.sh`



This will start a tmux session that will display the tmux notation for

any key pressed that tmux could recognize. Be aware that some keys might

not send the intended sequence, so tmux will interperate it as something

else!



The tmux key name prefixes are:



- `S-` Shift was pressed together with the key

- `C-` Control was pressed together with the key

- `M-` Alt was pressed together with the key



Use the names displayed here in your tmux.conf to bind that key to a desired

action matching the current terminals capabilities.



It might be obvious, but this should not be run this inside another tmux

session, since that would typically bind some keys.



The exit sequence `C-x` `C-x` is displayed in the status line, so usage

should be self-explainatory, without any need to memorize the exit sequence.



## Keys not tested



### Shift S-



- The shifted regular keys are not tested, instead of binding `S-a` or

`S-A` use `A`



### Control C-



- cant be bound: `~ $ % & * { } | "`

- Case is ignored, binding `C-A` after `C-a` will drop the `C-a` bind,

thus only binding lowercase here. Case is also ignored for key presses,

so if binding `C-a` pressing ctrl+A will trigger that action and

vice-versa.

- Skipped to avoid collision

  - `C-i` is the same as `Tab`

  - `C-m` is the same as `Enter`

  - `C-[` is the same as `Escape`



### Control Shift C-S-



- Regular keys Not tested, same as with `S-`



### Meta Shift  M-S-



- Regular keys Not tested, same as with `S-`



### Control Meta  C-M-



- cant be bound: `~ $ % & * { } | "`

- Case is ignored, binding `C-M-A` after `C-M-a` will drop the `C-M-a` bind,

thus only binding lowercase here. Case is also ignored for key presses,

so if binding `C-M-a` pressing ctrl+alt+A will trigger that action and

vice-versa.



- Skipped to avoid collision

  - `C-M-i` is the same as `C-M-tab`

  - `C-M-m` is the same as `C-M-Enter`

  - `C-M-[` is the same as `C-M-Escape`



### Control Meta Shift  C-M-S-



- cant be bound: `~ $ % & * { } | "`

- Since this is using shift, no lower case keys are bound here



## Other things



In the tmux universe the key for Insert is called `IC` and Delete is

called `DC` so if those are spotted, the terminal is doing the right thing!



If a key generates an unrecognized code, there is a high likelyhood that the

terminal will beep, so if in a public spot, muting the sound might come

in handy before running this.



Unrecognized keys will be printed.



If time allows, please submit such output in an issue, and I will add it!

I will only need the character/character sequence displayed for a given key,

ideally also what keyboard type generated it, but that is optional.



## If terminal cant be made to send the correct sequence



If what is generated is understood by tmux, but not what was intended,

like if `S-F3` is generated by Alt+Up and `S-F3` wont be used.

Just bind the action intended for Alt+Up to `S-F3` - problem solved!



If it is not possible to alter what the terminal generates,

but a key does generate something unique that tmux doesnt recognize,

that sequence can be bound to the desired action by using user-keys.



Tmux is picky about notation for defining user-keys.

Remember to use octals prefixed by `\\` and always give three digits,

so if the octal is 73 give it as `\\073`



Octals are normally in the middle column when using `showkeys -a`



It might be somewhat confusing, when defining a user-key an index is used,

but when binding it, the index is used as a suffix to `User`.

See this sample:



```tmux

set -s user-keys[101] "\\342\\201\\204"

bind -n User101 send-keys F1

```



## What does the terminal generate for a given key



 To check what sequence a key generates by the terminal, here are some

 suggestions, should be run outside tmux, since it might capture keys.



- showkeys -a

- xxd