Byobu Scripting

mybyobu.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

_SESSION_NAME="dev" # arbitrary name for our session, must be unique

# Man pages: https://manpages.ubuntu.com/cgi-bin/search.py?q=byobu
# Good read: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Byobu
# Understand all of the parameters for sub commands: https://fig.io/manual/tmux
# TL;DR: Byobu is an opinionated wrapper/config around tmux (default), or screen, two popular terminal multiplexers
# Everything that is applicable to tmux is generally applicable to byobu,
# just remember the byobu prefix is ctrl-a, tmux default is ctrl-b
# https://pragprog.com/titles/bhtmux2/tmux-2/
# https://github.com/rothgar/awesome-tmux

# byobu useful hotkeys
# byobu-hotkeys will print them all to terminal
# NOTE: Windows terminal CAN hijack some function keys
# F2, create a new window
# F3/F4, move to the previous window, next window
# alt left arrow, alt right arrow: same as above
# F6, detach from the session and logout (aka disconnect SSH)
# Shift-F6, detach from the session but don't logout (aka drop back to the shell)
# F7, enter scrollback/search mode. Can use vim style find commands in terminal scrollback, /somthing, n, N
# Shift-F7, open scrollback for current pane in an editor
# F8, rename the current window
# shift-F8, toggle through different split layouts, continue pressing to return to original layout
# Alt-F9, toggle synchronize panes, aka send typed output to all windows
# shift-F11, toggle fullscreen on a pane (will add a little *Z to your window title)
# Ctrl-a ? : list prefix keybindings. 
# NOTE: Ctrl is the default bound command/prefix key. So when you see C-<someletter>, 
# know that it's talking about the bound prefix command key, which by default is ctrl, byobu also utilizes F12,
# so F12 and Ctrl can be used interchangably
# Some examples:
# C-a z : zoom the active pane
# C-a = : select paste buffer from list
# C-a q : display pane numbers
# C-a E : Resize all panes to balanced proportions

# byobu list-commands is worth looking at, we've barely scratched the surface of what's possible here

# most byobu commands can be sent to named sessions, or the current session (if used with the -t param)

# windows are the active window (aka the selected tab at the bottom)
# panes are the splits within the window

# configure the first run prompt:
byobu-ctrl-a screen

# create a new detatched (-d) named session (-s)
byobu new-session -d -s $_SESSION_NAME

# enable mouse mode
byobu set-option mouse on
byobu set-option mouse-utf8 on

# rename our selected window
byobu rename-window "${_SESSION_NAME}-window"

# Create our quad split, note that every time we split, the focus goes to the newly created pane
# usage: split-window [-bdefhIPvZ] [-c start-directory] [-e environment] [-F format] [-l size] [-t target-pane] [command]
byobu split-window -v # focus is now on the bottom pane
byobu split-window -h # focus is now on the bottom right pane
byobu select-pane -t 0 # focus is now on the top pane
byobu split-window -h # focus is now on the top right pane
# alternatively, we could have used the -t param to specify which pane to split
# alternatively, we could have used byobu-layout
# byobu-layout list|save|restore
# byobu-layout restore tiled

# send commands to some panes
byobu send-keys -t 0 "echo 'top left'" Enter
byobu send-keys -t 1 "echo 'top right'" Enter
byobu send-keys -t 2 "echo 'bottom left'" Enter
byobu send-keys -t 3 "echo 'bottom right'" Enter
# turn our bottom right pane into a clock
byobu clock-mode -t 3
byobu send-keys -t 0 C-q

# attach to the session
# NOTE: Once we attach, this script won't continue execution until we detach or exit the active byobu process
byobu attach -t $_SESSION_NAME

# kill the session and all active panes/windows
# byobu kill-session -t $_SESSION_NAME
# or just byobu kill-session from any of the active panes/windows in that session

# Some other fun stuffs:
# Monitor a pane for a specific string, when found-- run another command
# while ! byobu capture-pane -p -t 1 | grep "findme" ; do sleep 1; done; echo "found it"

# Wait for a command to be completed before proceeding to the next scripted byobu command
# byobu send-keys -t work 'ping -c 5; byobu wait-for -S ping-completed' C-m\; wait-for ping-completed