MY MTM SETUP

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| tl;dr                                                            |
|                                                                  |
| mtm gives me simple pane management inside a single terminal.    |
| One st window, multiple panes, keyboard-driven workflow.         |
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OVERVIEW

I use mtm to avoid opening many terminal windows.

Instead of managing multiple st instances, I keep everything
inside a single terminal with lightweight pane splitting.

Setup:

    st + mtm + nvi + coreutils

Simple, fast, and easy to manage.


BACKGROUND

mtm is the Micro Terminal Multiplexer.

It focuses on:

    - simplicity
    - compatibility
    - small size
    - stability

Unlike larger terminal multiplexers, mtm intentionally avoids
dozens of commands, modes, plugins, or complex configuration.

The entire workflow stays minimal and predictable.

The upstream project describes mtm as:

    "There are no modes, no dozens of commands,
     no crazy feature list."

This matches my workflow very well. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}


WHY I MOVED FROM GNU SCREEN

GNU screen is stable and powerful, but its split workflow
always felt awkward for local desktop usage.

Creating splits usually requires multiple steps:

    - create split
    - change focus
    - create shell/window manually

mtm behaves more naturally:

    - create pane
    - shell already available
    - start working

Pane movement and navigation also feel simpler and more direct.

GNU screen exposes more internal concepts like:

    - windows
    - regions
    - copy modes

mtm keeps the interaction model much smaller.


WORKFLOW

A typical workflow looks like:

    - one st window
    - multiple panes
    - each pane running a shell or nvi

Most of my work happens inside a single mtm session.

Examples:

    - editing files with nvi
    - monitoring logs
    - running kubectl commands
    - checking git repositories
    - using shell utilities side by side

The goal is simple:

    one terminal, everything inside


NAVIGATION

mtm uses a very small set of keyboard commands.

The default command prefix is:

    Ctrl+g

Movement between panes:

    Ctrl+g + Arrow Keys

Examples:

    Ctrl+g Left Arrow
    Ctrl+g Right Arrow
    Ctrl+g Up Arrow
    Ctrl+g Down Arrow

Switch to previous pane:

    Ctrl+g o

Scrolling is straightforward:

    PgUp
    PgDown
    End

No complicated copy mode or extra navigation layers are required.


PANE MANAGEMENT

Pane management is intentionally minimal.

Create horizontal split:

    Ctrl+g h

Create vertical split:

    Ctrl+g v

Close current pane:

    Ctrl+g w

Redraw screen:

    Ctrl+g l

The workflow feels lightweight because new panes immediately
start with a shell already available.

There is no need to manually create shells after splitting,
which makes the workflow faster than GNU screen for local use.


DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

mtm intentionally avoids runtime configuration complexity.

Most customization happens at compile time through:

    config.h

This matches my preference for:

    - small tools
    - simple defaults
    - keyboard-driven workflows
    - predictable behavior

The source code itself stays very small compared to larger
terminal multiplexers. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}


CHEATSHEET

File: ~/.mtm-cheatsheet.txt

    PREFIX: Ctrl+g

    Panes:
      Ctrl+g h       horizontal split
      Ctrl+g v       vertical split
      Ctrl+g w       close pane
      Ctrl+g l       redraw screen

    Navigation:
      Ctrl+g Left    focus left
      Ctrl+g Right   focus right
      Ctrl+g Up      focus up
      Ctrl+g Down    focus down
      Ctrl+g o       previous pane

    Scrollback:
      PgUp           scroll up
      PgDown         scroll down
      End            recenter

    Sessions:
      mtm            start mtm


QUICK ACCESS

    alias mtmhelp='cat ~/.mtm-cheatsheet.txt'

Then:

    $ mtmhelp


ADVANTAGES

    - very small and lightweight
    - simple pane workflow
    - predictable navigation
    - minimal interface
    - fast local workflow
    - integrates naturally with st and dwm
    - almost no configuration required


LIMITATIONS

    - fewer advanced features
    - smaller ecosystem compared to tmux
    - not focused on remote session persistence
    - customization mostly done at compile time


CONCLUSION

mtm fits my workflow better than GNU screen for local desktop use.

It focuses on the things I actually need:

    - panes
    - shells
    - keyboard navigation
    - simplicity

One terminal.
Multiple panes.
No unnecessary complexity.


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Last Modified: 2026-05-09