panex

A terminal UI for running multiple processes in parallel. Like Turborepo's TUI, without the monorepo.

Features

• Split-pane TUI - See all your processes at once
• Full PTY support - QR codes, colors, interactive prompts work
• Scroll pinning - Freeze output to inspect, toggle with g
• Zero config - Just pass commands as arguments
• Cross-platform - macOS, Linux, Windows
• Native binary - Fast startup, no runtime dependencies
• Wrapped lines - Optional line wrapping per pane (:w label suffix)
• Interactive mode - Focus a pane for full interactivity (with Mouse support)
• Mouse forwarding - Mouse clicks/drags/scrolls forwarded to child TUI apps in focus mode
• Nestable - Run panex inside panex, or any TUI app, with correct rendering

Installation

# Run directly with npx or bunx
npx panex "npm run api" "npm run web"
bunx panex "bun run api" "bun run web"

# Or install globally
npm install -g panex

Usage

Quick Start

# Run multiple commands
panex "npm run api" "npm run web" "npm run mobile"

# With custom names
panex -n api,web,mobile "npm run api" "npm run web" "npm run mobile"

# Full key passthrough for TUI apps (append ! to name)
# Esc and Shift-Tab forwarded to process, click left panel to exit
panex "tui" "npm run dev" -n "tui!,server"

# Enable line wrapping (append :w to name)
panex "npm run build" -n "build:w"

# Combine suffixes (either order works)
panex "helix" "npm run build" -n "helix!:w,build:w"

# Custom shutdown timeout (default: 500ms)
panex -t 1000 "npm run dev"  # 1 second graceful shutdown

# Disable auto-copy on mouse select (require y/Enter/Ctrl-C to copy)
panex --no-auto-copy "npm run api" "npm run web"

Keyboard Shortcuts

| Key | Action | | ----------- | --------------------------------- | | ↑/↓ | Navigate process list | | Enter/Tab | Focus process (interactive mode) | | Esc | Exit focus mode | | Shift-Tab | Exit focus mode (unless disabled) | | r | Restart selected process | | x | Kill selected process | | A | Restart all processes | | w | Toggle line wrapping | | g | Toggle pin (freeze/follow output) | | t | Jump to top | | b | Jump to bottom | | PgUp/PgDn | Scroll output | | ? | Show help | | v | Visual select (char-wise) | | V | Visual select (line-wise) | | y/Enter | Copy selection to clipboard | | q | Quit panex |

Mouse

Browse mode:

| Click | Action | | ------------ | ----------------------- | | Left panel | Exit focus, select item | | Right panel | Enter focus mode | | Drag | Select text (auto-copy) | | Alt/⌥+Drag | Box (rectangular) select| | Status bar | Exit focus mode | | Scroll wheel | Scroll output |

Focus mode: All mouse events (click, drag, scroll) on the output panel are forwarded to the child process as SGR escape sequences. Text selection is only available in Browse mode — exit focus first (click left panel, status bar, or press Esc).

Why panex?

| Feature | panex | concurrently | mprocs | turbo | | ---------------------- | ----- | ------------ | ------ | ----- | | Split-pane TUI | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | | PTY support (QR codes) | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | | Zero config | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | npm install | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | | No monorepo required | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |

panex vs tmux

tmux is a vastly more powerful and mature tool. panex solves a narrower problem with less friction.

tmux is a terminal multiplexer — it manages persistent shell sessions with arbitrary layouts, remote detach/reattach, scripting, plugins, and deep customization. It's industry-standard for remote work, server administration, and complex terminal workflows. Decades of development, massive community, battle-tested everywhere.

panex is a process runner — it runs N commands in parallel with a built-in UI for monitoring and managing them. No config files, no session concepts, no learning curve.

Where tmux wins

| Capability | tmux | panex | | --- | --- | --- | | Session persistence | Detach/reattach across disconnections, reboots (with tmux-resurrect) | Sessions die when you quit | | Remote work (SSH) | Start on server, detach, reconnect later — processes survive | Local only | | Window/pane layouts | Unlimited windows, arbitrary splits, zoom, resize, rearrange | Fixed split: process list + output | | Scripting & automation | tmuxinator, teamocil, tmuxp — define complex workspaces in YAML | CLI args only | | Plugin ecosystem | TPM with dozens of plugins (resurrect, yank, powerline, etc.) | No plugins | | Customization | Hundreds of options in .tmux.conf — keys, status bar, hooks, themes | CLI flags only | | Copy mode | Vi/emacs navigation, search with /, jump through history | Basic visual select (v/V) | | Shared sessions | Multiple users attach to the same session (pair programming) | Single-user only | | Maturity | Decades old, massive community, endless documentation | New, small user base |

Where panex wins

| Capability | panex | tmux | | --- | --- | --- | | Zero config | panex "cmd1" "cmd2" — done | Need tmuxinator/scripts for multi-process startup | | Process lifecycle | r restart, x kill, A restart all — from the UI | Process dies? Navigate to pane, retype command | | Process status | Built-in list showing running/exited/crashed with exit codes | No process awareness — just shell panes | | Learning curve | ? shows help, mouse works, usable immediately | Steep — prefix keys, no on-screen hints, needs cheat sheets | | Layout | Automatic — all processes shown immediately | Manual splits, or write a config/script | | npm install | npx panex "cmd1" "cmd2" | Not applicable — system package |

When to use which

Use tmux if you need: remote work, session persistence, complex layouts, shared sessions, deep customization, or long-running server processes.

Use panex if you need: run a handful of dev commands in parallel (API + frontend + worker), see their status, restart them easily, and not think about configuration. It's the difference between a Swiss Army knife and a purpose-built tool.

They're not mutually exclusive — you can run panex inside a tmux session.

Development

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/king8fisher/panex
cd panex

# Build (requires Rust)
cargo build --release -p panex

# Run locally
./panex-rs/target/release/panex "echo hello" "sleep 2 && echo world"

# Or with mise
mise run build
mise run dev

Releasing

# Create and push a release tag (triggers CI build + npm publish)
mise run release 1.0.0

Tech Stack

• Rust
• ratatui (TUI framework)
• portable-pty (PTY support)
• clap (CLI parsing)

License

MIT Anton Veretennikov (king8fisher)