tmux-python / tmux-python/libtmux

feat: Add search_pane_contents() using tmux's native content search

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enhancement
Dominant language
Python
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Problem

libtmux has no high-level API for searching text visible in pane contents. Users must manually iterate panes and call capture_pane() on each — slow for many panes.

tmux native support

tmux's format system includes a C modifier that searches pane contents in C via window_pane_search() (in window.c). This reads directly from the internal grid data structure — no serialization or fork overhead.

The fastest programmatic approach is list-panes -f "#{C:pattern}", which:

  • Runs content matching in C (not Python)
  • Returns only matching panes
  • Supports flags: #{C/i:pattern} (case-insensitive), #{C/r:pattern} (POSIX regex), #{C/ri:pattern} (both)

This is the same mechanism behind find-window -C, but returns structured output instead of entering interactive window-tree mode.

Proposed API

# Server-wide search
server.search_pane_contents("error", case_sensitive=False)
# → list of Pane objects whose visible content matches

# Session-scoped search
session.search_pane_contents("error")

Implementation: call server.cmd('list-panes', '-a', '-f', '#{C/i:pattern}', '-F', '#{pane_id}'), then resolve matching pane IDs to Pane objects.

Context

The libtmux-mcp server has a search_panes MCP tool that would be a consumer of this API. Currently it calls server.cmd() directly — a proper API method would be cleaner.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by inspecting the existing server.cmd('list-panes', ...) entry point and the libtmux-mcp search_panes consumer described in the issue. Confirm how matching pane IDs can be resolved to Pane objects, then verify that server- and session-scoped searches return only panes whose visible contents match the requested pattern and flags.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
api, cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
50/100

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