Katu

A minimalist terminal multiplexer with first-class AI context. Semantic verbs instead of cryptic flags, sessions that survive disconnects, and agent-awareness built in from the start.

Quick start View on GitHub

Two katu windows with splits and the katu status bar

Why “Katu”

Katu is Tupi-Guarani for “good,” “proper,” or “well made” — the standard a tool has to meet before it earns a place in a terminal you live in all day. tmux does everything; Katu is smaller, built around the two things you actually do — juggle panes and run AI agents — with nothing else demanding to be configured first.

Semantic verbs

start, join, list, stop — no cryptic flags. Sessions survive disconnects and start the server on first use.

First-class AI context

Every session exposes its own KATU_AI_CONTEXT file, so your assistant switches context when you switch sessions — without Katu ever talking to an AI API.

Agent-aware status line

A robot marker per window, colored by state — waiting, busy, idle — plus an OSC 9 notification the moment an agent needs you.

Splits, windows, copy mode

wezterm-style Alt chords, mouse-free copy mode with OSC 52 yank, and a built-in HTTP request tool for testing APIs.

Get going

katu                     # attach to the last session, or create "main"
katu start api           # create and attach to session "api"
katu split               # split the current pane side by side
katu window new          # open a new window (tab)

Then read the Quick start or jump to the Keybindings.