I Added Smart Automation to My Zellij Workflow

Tags: #zellij #terminal #productivity #shell #opensource

Terminal multiplexers are amazing, but...

The friction was killing me:

• Spend 5 minutes naming sessions 🙄
• "Was it my-app or myapp?" every. single. time.
• Manually set up the same 4-pane layout daily
• Lose flow setting up what should be automatic

Zellij is incredible, but I needed some automation to actually use it consistently.

So I automated the annoying parts

zellij-utils = smart session management that actually works.

Auto-names sessions (finally)

cd ~/work/my-awesome-api && zj
# → session "my-awesome-api" ✨

cd ~/projects/portfolio-site && zj  
# → session "portfolio-site" ✨

Git repo? Uses repo name. Project directory? Uses folder name. It just works.

Instant dev layouts

zjdev
# → Editor + terminal + git + logs
# In one command. No setup.

Safe session cleanup

zjd                    # Pick sessions to delete (with fzf)
zjd old-project       # Delete specific (with confirmation)
zjd --all             # Nuclear option (except current)

Why Zellij > tmux

tmux = memorizing weird keybinds

Zellij = just works, looks modern, has sane defaults

The remote dev flex 🔥

Start coding on laptop → close laptop → SSH from phone → everything's still there.

Perfect for:

• AI models that take hours to train
• Long-running processes
• Working from anywhere (literally anywhere with internet)

Try it (30 seconds)

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tranqy/zellij-utils/main/scripts/install.sh)

Restart terminal. Done.

It's actually production-ready

• CI/CD tested on Ubuntu + Alpine
• Security audited (input validation, injection prevention)
• Works on Linux, macOS, WSL
• Won't break your existing setup

What's your terminal setup?

Drop feedback, feature requests, or just roast my code:

🔗 GitHub: tranqy/zellij-utils

💬 Discussions

⭐ Star if it's useful

Still using tmux? Screen? Just raw terminals like a psychopath? Let me know in the comments what your workflow looks like.