Raycast, Warp, Tmux?! My terminal stack after 30 dev experiments

For devs obsessed with keyboard-driven workflows and terminal superpowers

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Introduction: 30 tools, 3 survivors

If you’ve ever found yourself tweaking your .zshrc at 2AM instead of sleeping or worse, actually working you’re not alone. Some devs binge Netflix. I binge terminal tools.

I went through a phase (fine, a 3-month obsession) where I tried nearly every tool promising to make my terminal “blazingly fast,” “modern,” or “AI-powered.” Most of them slowed me down more than they helped. A few nuked my entire config. One somehow broke copy-paste.

But out of the 30+ apps, plugins, shells, and launchers I tested… three stood the test of time: Raycast, Warp, and Tmux.

This isn’t a “best of” list or some productivity guru stack. It’s just what actually worked for me after throwing too many hours at the problem. Tools I use every day, that made my workflow cleaner, faster, and way more keyboard-driven.

If you spend hours in the terminal (and love keyboard shortcuts as much as coffee), this might be your jam.

Let’s break down the why and more importantly, the how.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: 30 tools, 3 survivors
2. Why your terminal setup matters
3. Raycast The launcher that does everything but make coffee
4. Warp Finally, a terminal that respects modern devs
5. Tmux Still the GOAT of terminal multitasking
6. How Raycast, Warp, and Tmux work together
7. Final thoughts: You don’t need 20 tools
8. Helpful resources & links

Why your terminal setup matters

If you’re a developer, your terminal is basically your cockpit. You deploy from it. You test from it. You debug from it. It’s where your job happens right between your IDE and your browser.

And yet, most devs stick with whatever terminal came pre-installed. A black box, white text, no persistence, and the occasional crash when you accidentally nudge the wrong tab.

The thing is: the terminal hasn’t changed much in decades but you have.

You now work across multiple repos, tools, cloud environments, containers, and workflows. You might be jumping between microservices, running background builds, or toggling through log output while testing API calls. And you’re doing it all… in one little window.

Keyboard-first workflows make that manageable.
They keep you in the zone. No clicking. No reaching for the mouse. No hunting for tabs. You stay focused and move fast like a dev version of a speedrunner.

Optimizing your terminal stack isn’t about showing off screenshots. It’s about spending less time fiddling with your environment and more time shipping code.

Raycast — The launcher that does everything but make coffee

I thought launchers were just a nicer way to open VS Code. Then I used Raycast and realized how much context switching I was doing manually.

Raycast doesn’t just replace Spotlight it replaces whole chunks of your workflow. It’s now the first thing I open every morning.

What I actually use it for:

• Script commands I keep tiny shell scripts for spinning up projects, tailing logs, or cleaning up junk. Raycast runs them instantly — no terminal open required.

#!/bin/bash
cd ~/projects/api-server && warp .

(This drops me straight into the right folder, in Warp, ready to code.)

• Quicklinks I have entries for my most-used dev tasks — stuff like starting a Tmux session or jumping into a repo.

pgsql:

Name: Open Dev Tmux Session  
Command: tmux attach-session -t dev

Yes, Raycast can even launch terminal sessions. Wild.

• Extensions The GitHub one lets me open issues and pull requests without even opening a browser. I also use clipboard history, window snapping, and the emoji picker constantly.
• Global search + keyboard shortcuts Need to kill a process? Open a Notion doc? Trigger a deploy? It’s all a keystroke away. My mouse is collecting dust.

Raycast has basically become my command center. It’s not just a launcher it’s a dev-native productivity layer. And it’s free.

raycast.com

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Warp — Finally, a terminal that respects modern devs

Most terminals feel like they were designed in the 90s and never got the memo that developers moved on. Then I tried Warp, and for the first time, I didn’t feel like I had to fight my terminal to get work done.

Warp combines the raw power of a terminal with the UX of a modern IDE and no, that’s not just hype.

Why I stuck with it:

• Command blocks Every command you run becomes a block you can collapse, copy, rerun, or share. It’s like git commits for your terminal output super helpful when you’re debugging or deploying.
• AI autocomplete that doesn’t suck Warp suggests full CLI commands like it knows what you’re trying to do. It’s been especially good with git, Docker, and long npm scripts.

# Warp suggests this before I finish typing:
git checkout -b feature/user-auth

Yes, like GitHub Copilot, but for your CLI.

• Command palette + keyboard-first nav Everything from split panes to settings is accessible via Cmd + P. I haven’t clicked a menu item in weeks.

Cmd + P → Split Vertically  
Cmd + Shift + F → Search Command History  
Cmd + . → Show AI Suggestions

• Fast as hell It’s GPU-accelerated and written in Rust, which means it feels instant. Scrolling back through 1,000 lines of log output? Zero lag.
• Cloud sync My settings and themes sync between machines. I didn’t even notice when I switched laptops everything just worked.

I still use Tmux inside Warp for session management, but Warp itself is the cleanest terminal experience I’ve ever had.

warp.dev

Tmux — Still the GOAT of terminal multitasking

I’ve tried tabbed terminals. I’ve tried split layouts in Warp. But nothing beats Tmux when it comes to doing 5 things at once without losing your place.

It’s minimal, scriptable, battle-tested, and still the king of terminal multitasking. It doesn’t try to look fancy it just does its job, and does it forever.

What makes it essential:

• Persistent sessions Close your terminal window? Mac restarts? Wi-Fi dies mid-deploy? Tmux doesn’t care your session is still running.

tmux new -s dev-session

Start a new session. Come back to it later with tmux attach -t dev-session.

• Pane splits that don’t glitch out I typically run tests in one pane, watch logs in another, and run a local server in a third all within the same window.

tmux new-session \; <br>  split-window -h \; <br>  split-window -v \; <br>  send-keys 'npm run dev' C-m

Three panes: horizontal + vertical, ready to go.

• Custom config = fast muscle memory My .tmux.conf sets a custom prefix, enables mouse support, and uses vi-style navigation.

# ~/.tmux.conf
set-option -g prefix C-a
unbind-key C-b
bind-key C-a send-prefix
setw -g mode-keys vi

No more Ctrl+B gymnastics. Just one smooth setup.

• Plugins if you want them I use Tmux Plugin Manager (TPM) to add a few extras like battery indicators and a status bar clock. But you can go full vanilla too it works either way.
• Runs beautifully inside Warp I launch Warp via Raycast, then Tmux inside Warp. It’s a smooth, modern shell on top of an old-school workhorse.

I’ve been through 30+ terminal tools, and Tmux is the only one I trust to never break mid-task. It’s ugly. It’s perfect.

github.com/tmux/tmux

How Raycast, Warp, and Tmux work together

Each tool on its own is solid. But when you stack them right, they create a smooth, keyboard-driven workflow that’s fast, minimal, and low-friction. It’s not about fancy themes or overengineering it’s about flow.

Here’s how they fit together in my daily routine:

Step 1: Raycast starts the engine

I launch everything from Raycast. It’s faster than reaching for the dock or Finder and keeps my hands on the keyboard. For example, I have a Quicklink that spins up my entire dev session:

Name: Start Dev Env  
Command: warp -e "tmux attach -t dev || tmux new -s dev"

This opens Warp, checks if a Tmux session named dev exists, and either attaches or creates it.

I also use Raycast for:

• Opening GitHub issue
• Running custom scripts
• Jumping to project folders
• Managing Docker containers

Step 2: Warp handles the terminal layer

Once Warp is open, it becomes my primary interface. It’s where I:

• Run CLI tools
• Manage git branches
• Use AI autocomplete for long commands
• Collapse or share command output as needed

It feels like a terminal built for 2025, not 2005.

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Step 3: Tmux runs inside Warp for multitasking

Warp gives me the modern shell. Tmux gives me the multitasking muscle.

Once inside Warp, I launch a Tmux session for each project:

tmux new -s dev

Inside that session, I split panes:

# Logs | Server | Tests
tmux split-window -h
tmux split-window -v

Now I’ve got everything I need in one view: logs, a running dev server, and a test watcher all persistent, even if I close my laptop or get kicked off SSH.

Real-world flow

1. Cmd + Space → launch Raycast
2. Type: Start Dev Env → opens Warp + Tmux
3. One pane runs npm run dev, another tails logs, third runs tests
4. Push to git, open PR via Raycast GitHub extension
5. Done

Final thoughts: The stack I actually kept

I didn’t set out to build some ultimate terminal setup. I just wanted something fast, consistent, and low maintenance a stack I could rely on without fiddling every week.

After testing more than 30 tools, the three that actually made my workflow better were:

• Raycast for fast, keyboard-driven navigation and script automation
• Warp for a modern, GPU-powered terminal with AI and command blocks
• Tmux for persistent sessions and multitasking that never breaks

They’re simple, powerful, and don’t try to do too much. I launch everything from Raycast, live inside Warp, and rely on Tmux to hold the whole session together like duct tape for devs.

This stack works because it gets out of the way.
I’m not fighting my tools anymore I’m just shipping code.

If you’re still hopping between tabs, clicking into five apps just to test something, or using the default terminal that came with your OS… try this combo. You don’t need to use my exact config but building your own flow makes all the difference.

Helpful resources & links

• Raycast — The launcher with extensions, scripts, and fast everything
• Warp — GPU-accelerated terminal with blocks and AI autocomplete
• Tmux — Split panes, persistent sessions, config heaven
• Tmux Plugin Manager (TPM) — For themes, battery meters, and more

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