Guide · Agent skill
How to use the OpenRig cmux Terminal Views agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The openrig-cmux skill is an agent skill for OpenRig users who run their AI agents in the cmux terminal app. It teaches your agent to take a group of OpenRig-managed agents, such as a rig, pod, mission, slice or saved view, and display their terminals as tiles in cmux using the command rig terminal --provider cmux. This guide covers what the skill does, how to install it, how to ask for it in plain language, and what it needs before you start.
OpenRig cmux Terminal Viewsmvschwarz/openrig · Apache-2.0 Download the skill Quick start
- 1Install OpenRig and cmux. Confirm the rig command works and that the cmux terminal app is installed. The skill needs both.
- 2Make sure agents run under the daemon. The agent sessions you want to view must be managed by the OpenRig daemon.
- 3Install the skill. Unzip the downloaded ZIP into ~/.claude/skills/ or a project's .claude/skills/ folder, or upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- 4Ask for the view in cmux. Name the cmux provider and the rig, pod, mission, slice or saved view you want to see.
- 5Check the result. Read the opened, absent and degraded report and re-run with rig terminal status --provider cmux if tiles are missing.
What the openrig-cmux skill makes the agent do
Normally you would open a view yourself from the command line. With this skill loaded, you can ask your agent to open a view into cmux and it will run the right OpenRig command. OpenRig decides which agents belong to a view; the cmux provider only renders their terminals as tiles.
The skill follows the same view rules as the sibling openrig-herdr skill. Mission and slice views are read-only, so you can watch those agents without typing into them. When something cannot be shown, the skill reports why instead of silently dropping that agent. cmux is a best-effort provider: a miss in cmux is not treated as a failure, and herdr is the default provider.
- Opens a rig, pod, mission, slice or saved view as tiles in cmux
- Reports which agents opened, were absent, or degraded, and why
- Keeps mission and slice views read-only
- Can reopen any saved view in cmux
Install the openrig-cmux skill
Download the skill ZIP from the page where you found this guide. Unzip it into your personal skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder if you want the skill available only in that project.
Alternatively, upload the ZIP in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills. The skill's package contains a single file, SKILL.md, which holds all of its instructions.
- Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
- Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP
Trigger the skill with natural requests
You do not need to name the skill. Describe what you want to see in cmux, and mention cmux explicitly, because the skill is meant for cmux specifically. If you do not ask for cmux, the default herdr provider is the one normally used.
The skill underlying commands are the same three verbs with the --provider cmux flag: rig terminal open <view> --provider cmux to open a view, rig terminal views to list the saved view library, and rig terminal status --provider cmux to check cmux health. A view can be a rig name, pod:<rig>/<podNamespace>, mission:<id>, slice:<id>, or a saved-view name.
- "Open the backend rig in cmux as tiles."
- "Show the pod pod:billing/review in cmux."
- "Open mission 42 in cmux, read-only."
- "Reopen my saved view called on-call in cmux."
- "Check whether cmux is healthy for OpenRig."
rig terminal open <view> --provider cmux [--json]
rig terminal views [--json]
rig terminal status --provider cmux [--json]Understand the results and partial opens
Each agent in a view ends up as opened, absent, or degraded, and the skill names each outcome. A partial open, where some tiles appear, exits with status 0. If no panes open at all, the command exits non-zero. An agent on an http-registered host degrades with the reason, because its tiles need ssh.
cmux uses open-or-focus per agent. If a seat is already tiled in cmux, expect it to receive focus rather than a duplicate tile.
- opened: the tile is shown
- absent: the agent is not running or not found
- degraded: shown with a reason, such as an http-registered host needing ssh
Know the safety rules before you use it
A tile is a view of a daemon-owned session. Closing a tile only detaches one client and leaves the session running. The skill never moves, joins, kills or re-parents a daemon-owned pane. Read-only panes use tmux attach -r, so keystrokes cannot reach the agent.
The skill warns not to change tmux options on a running production agent seat. Test in an isolated environment first. The skill's package includes no scripts and makes no network calls, according to its listing.
- Closing a tile does not stop the agent
- Read-only panes cannot send keystrokes to the agent
- Test in an isolated environment before using it on production seats
- Tile labels are plain text in v1; duplicate views use same-size panes
What people use it for
- Watching the agents of one rig side by side in cmux while they work
- Keeping a read-only tile wall for a mission or slice during a review
- Reopening a hand-written saved view on a new day with one request
- Checking cmux health before an operator session
Frequently asked questions
Is the openrig-cmux skill free?
The skill is released under the Apache-2.0 licence, as listed on its page. OpenRig itself and the cmux terminal app are separate tools, and this guide does not state their prices.
What do I need to use the openrig-cmux skill?
You need OpenRig installed with the rig command available, the cmux terminal application installed, and agent sessions managed by the OpenRig daemon. The skill does not work without OpenRig's rig, pod and view commands.
How do I install the openrig-cmux skill?
Download the ZIP and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or a project's .claude/skills/ folder for one project. You can also upload the ZIP in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
Is cmux or herdr the better provider?
herdr is the default and the proof-gated provider. cmux is best-effort, so use it when you specifically want cmux, and the skill itself recommends preferring openrig-herdr otherwise.
Why did some agents not appear in my cmux view?
The skill reports each agent as opened, absent or degraded with a reason. An agent may be absent because it is not running, or degraded because its host is http-registered and tiles need ssh. Run rig terminal status --provider cmux to check cmux health.
Can the skill change or stop my agents?
Tiles are views of daemon-owned sessions, and closing a tile only detaches one client. Read-only mission and slice views cannot send keystrokes. The skill still advises testing in an isolated environment before touching production seats.
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Our verdict
Use openrig-cmux if you already run OpenRig, use cmux as your terminal, and want your agent to show several agent terminals side by side. Skip it if you do not run OpenRig, need a guaranteed result, or want the default herdr provider, since cmux is explicitly best-effort.
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