{"slug": "rex-wants-to-make-tmux-obsolete", "title": "Rex Wants to Make tmux Obsolete", "summary": "Mitchell Hashimoto, the creator of the Ghostty terminal and founder of HashiCorp, has launched Rex through his new startup Superlogical, a terminal that aims to replace the terminal-plus-SSH-plus-tmux setup with persistent sessions and remote machine access in a single app. Rex uses a client-server architecture in which a background server holds running programs while the Rex app renders them natively via the Ghostty engine, and it connects to remote hosts through native Tailscale integration. The launch matters because tmux persistence has long required a separate text-based interface with its own scrolling, selection, pane management, keybindings and configuration, which Rex is designed to eliminate.", "body_md": "## The laptop closes. The work doesn’t.\n\nYour MacBook goes to sleep, then wakes up. Meanwhile, an AI task you started in your terminal on a remote Mac continues to run without interruption. That’s the core promise of **Rex**, a new terminal from Ghostty creator Mitchell Hashimoto.\n\nRex aims to make traditional setups—piecing together a terminal, **SSH**, and **tmux**—obsolete. It offers persistent terminal sessions and remote machine access all within a single application, letting you close your laptop and pick up work exactly where you left off.\n\nMitchell Hashimoto is a name familiar to many in the dev world. He founded HashiCorp, the company behind influential tools like Terraform, and developed the Ghostty terminal. Now, his new startup, Superlogical, is behind Rex.\n\nThis new terminal is a **drop-in replacement** for your current one, designed to provide an instant user experience upgrade. Rex handles the multiplexing and native Tailscale connections, ensuring your sessions persist and run on remote machines seamlessly.\n\nUnlike older multiplexers, Rex operates with a client-server architecture. The Rex server runs in the background, holding onto your programs, while the Rex app acts as a window onto that server, rendering everything natively with the Ghostty engine.\n\n## Why tmux persistence comes with a trade-off\n\nOrdinary terminal windows typically own the processes they start; close the app, and every running program ends. That’s why many users rely on **tmux**, a terminal multiplexer that runs in the background, keeping programs alive even after the client terminal closes. You can then detach from a session and reattach later, picking up exactly where you left off.\n\nBut tmux persistence comes with a trade-off: a compromised user experience. Tmux reads all program output, then redraws it in its own text-based interface. This introduces a separate set of behaviors for scrolling, text selection, and pane management, along with its own distinct keybindings and configuration to learn. It’s an extra layer of abstraction between you and your work.\n\nGhostty, the terminal from Rex’s creator, already offers local split panes. But local splits alone don't keep programs alive if you quit the terminal app. Rex aims to solve this by fundamentally rethinking how terminals and persistent sessions interact, without forcing you to adopt tmux’s complex interface and separate text-based rendering.\n\n## Rex separates the session from the window\n\nRex, from Ghostty’s creator just launched, splits the terminal experience into two parts: a background **server** that holds your running programs and sessions, and the Rex app itself, which acts as a mere display window. This client–server model is key to its persistence. You can quit the app, but the server keeps your work alive.\n\nUnlike `tmux`, Rex doesn't draw a terminal UI inside another terminal. Instead, the app uses Ghostty’s rendering engine to display everything itself. This means panes, scrolling, and text selection feel native, just like any other Mac app, complete with responsive trackpad gestures and proper font rendering.\n\nFor remote work, Rex integrates directly with Tailscale. You install Rex on both machines, sign in to the same Tailscale account, enable HTTPS certificates, and then add your remote host. Your work persists on the host machine, not your sleeping laptop. If you want to try it yourself, you can find detailed instructions at [Installation · Rex Docs - Superlogical](https://www.superlogical.com/rex/docs/installation).\n\nThis setup allows seamless transitions. Start a long-running [Claude](https://www.stork.ai/en/poe-claude) task on your Mac mini, close your MacBook, go to a coffee shop, and reopen the MacBook. Your session on the mini remains active, and Rex on your laptop simply reconnects to the remote server, showing you the continued progress.\n\nEnjoying this? Get one like it in your inbox each morning.\n\none email a day · unsubscribe in two clicks · no third-party tracking\n\n## A cleaner workflow—with real limits\n\nRex offers a compelling vision for a cleaner terminal workflow, especially for Mac users. Its host selection, persistent sessions, and integrated interface make switching between local and remote machines feel remarkably straightforward. If you primarily work across your own Mac devices, the unified experience is genuinely appealing.\n\nBut the video highlights real limits. The desktop app is Mac-only at the time of recording. Cross-machine use requires Rex installed on both ends and a Tailscale setup for secure, native connectivity. This isn't a casual drop-in for every scenario.\n\nTry Rex if you seek a polished, Mac-centric experience for consistent work across your personal machines. Its deep integration with macOS features, like native scrolling and text selection, provides a superior user experience compared to traditional multiplexers.\n\nKeep **tmux** for broad server access over SSH; its ubiquity across virtually any Linux or Unix server remains unmatched. Consider alternatives like **Herder** if open-source or cross-platform support on Windows or Linux matters more than Rex’s combined app experience.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions\n\n### What is Rex?\n\nRex is a terminal app from Mitchell Hashimoto that pairs a native graphical client with a background server to keep terminal sessions running.\n\n### How does Rex keep terminal sessions alive?\n\nThe Rex server runs programs and maintains sessions separately from the app window, so closing the client does not end the work.\n\n### Does Rex work across multiple machines?\n\nYes. The video describes installing Rex on each machine and using Tailscale to connect to a remote host and its sessions.\n\n### Is Rex a replacement for tmux?\n\nIt may suit users who want persistent sessions in a native app, but tmux remains useful on SSH-accessible servers and across many terminal types.\n\n### Which platforms does Rex support?\n\nThe video describes the desktop app as Mac-only at the time of recording.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/rex-wants-to-make-tmux-obsolete", "canonical_source": "https://www.stork.ai/blog/rex-wants-to-make-tmux-obsolete", "published_at": "2026-11-06 08:16:58+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-11-06 08:52:27.524290+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "ai-tools", "ai-agents"], "entities": ["Rex", "Mitchell Hashimoto", "Superlogical", "Ghostty", "HashiCorp", "Terraform", "Tailscale", "Claude"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/rex-wants-to-make-tmux-obsolete", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/rex-wants-to-make-tmux-obsolete.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/rex-wants-to-make-tmux-obsolete.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/rex-wants-to-make-tmux-obsolete.jsonld"}}