Tmux will not stop automatic window renaming

Question

The problem with Tmux is that in the .tmux.conf file I told him not to rename the windows after I set their names, but it seems that this is not "respect for my authority" :).

My system:

• OSX El Capitan
• Tmux 2.1 (installed via Brew)
• Zshell

Here is my ~ / .tmux.conf content (I apologize for this for quite some time):

 # set correct term set -g default-terminal screen-256color # set prefix key to ctrl+a #unbind Cb set -g prefix Ca # reload config without killing server bind R source-file /users/edchigliak/.tmux.conf # enable wm window titles set -g set-titles on # disable auto renaming set -g automatic-rename off # border colour set -g pane-border-fg blue set -g pane-border-bg default set -g pane-active-border-fg blue set -g pane-active-border-bg default # wm window title string (uses statusbar variables) set -g set-titles-string "tmux:#I [ #W ]" # initialize sessions bind S source-file ~/.tmux.conf bind I source-file ~/.tmux.conf # environment set -g update-environment "DISPLAY SSH_ASKPASS SSH_AUTH_SOCK SSH_AGENT_PID SSH_CONNECTION WINDOWID XAUTHORITY" # statusbar -------------------------------------------------------------- set -g window-status-format "#I:#W" set -g window-status-current-format "#I:#W" set -g status-keys vi bind-key -t vi-edit Up history-up bind-key -t vi-edit Down history-down set -g status-interval 1 set -g status-justify centre # center align window list # default statusbar colors # wm window title string (uses statusbar variables) set -g set-titles-string "tmux:#I [ #W ]" # initialize sessions bind S source-file ~/.tmux.conf bind I source-file ~/.tmux.conf # environment set -g update-environment "DISPLAY SSH_ASKPASS SSH_AUTH_SOCK SSH_AGENT_PID SSH_CONNECTION WINDOWID XAUTHORITY" # statusbar -------------------------------------------------------------- set -g window-status-format "#I:#W" set -g window-status-current-format "#I:#W" set -g status-keys vi bind-key -t vi-edit Up history-up bind-key -t vi-edit Down history-down set -g status-interval 1 set -g status-justify centre # center align window list # default statusbar colors set -g status-fg white set -g status-bg default # default window title colors set-window-option -g window-status-fg black set-window-option -g window-status-bg default set-window-option -g window-status-attr dim # active window title colors set-window-option -g window-status-current-fg white set-window-option -g window-status-current-bg default set-window-option -g window-status-current-attr dim # command/message line colors set -g message-fg white set -g message-bg black set -g message-attr bright # Statusbar starting in X or not # if '[ -n "$DISPLAY" ]' 'source-file ~/.tmux/inx' # if '[ -z "$DISPLAY" ]' 'source-file ~/.tmux/xless' 

If I try:

~> echo $ TERM

I understood correctly:

Screen-256-color

which makes me believe that it is looking for the correct .conf file. In addition, DO control key bindings vary from Ctrl+b to Ctrl+a . However, the window names that I change through Ctrl + a , and then , simply will not remain.

Any ideas what is going on? Thanks!

Answer 1

The likely reason for this is that zsh is configured to update the window title when the program starts or when prompted. This is done using the terminal escape sequence \ek<TEXT>\e\\ , where <TEXT> is the window title.

To prevent this, you have two options:

• Disable window renaming in tmux configuration.

  Just add

   set allow-rename off 

  to your ~/.tmux.conf . This prevents any program from changing the window title using the terminal escape sequence mentioned above.

• Track the setting in your zsh configuration and disable it.

  If you are using oh-my-zsh, it should be enough to install

   DISABLE_AUTO_TITLE="true" 

  in your ~/.zshrc (or just uncomment it if you use the default .zshrc template oh-my-zsh).

  If you use your own configuration or some other configuration structure, you should be able to track it by looking for \ek (remember to quote a backslash if your search tool requires it).