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> The second thing I noticed is that it uses ctrl-r as a core shortcut. Mega problem: ctrl-r is a built-in bash feature which I use every day to recall previous commands. This makes me think I can't use this tool at all.

In fairness, ctrl-a (screen default) and ctrl-b (tmux default) are also super useful readline shortcuts in bash (c-a = go to beginning of line, c-b = back one character).

EDIT: Sorry, I just realized - ctrl-r isn't a prefix, it's a shortcut, isn't it? And they have lots more? Yeah, that's ... a pretty questionable approach; it'll interfere with lots of things.

Oddly enough, almost nothing binds the space bar. I've been using ctrl-spc as my tmux prefix for years without a single conflict. I think this is because there is somewhat limited support for ctrl-space on older terminal emulators.

Also C-space sets the mark on Emacs.

I have been exposed as someone who doesn't use emacs :)

Sadly for CJK users, C-space is used to trigger the input methods in some operating systems, e.g., MS Windows

This is a very good one! I've used it for a while before discovering I prefer to use ctrl-spc to trigger intellisense in neo vim.

> Ctrl-b is what tmux uses, so you know it's safe

Ctrl-b is "back one character" in most apps that use readline (including bash) and emacs.

For that reason I change my Tmux prefix to Ctrl+Y (I also think it is more ergonomic).

But Ctrl+Y is what I use to scroll up in vim! Ultimately I think all ctrl combinations were taken long before tmux came around, you just set it to the one that annoys you less. Ctrl+a seems to be a popular choice. I personally just leave it on the default.

C-b is what tmux uses because it was developed in screen and and C-a was taken. I always change my tmux config to C-a leader and C-a-a for literal C-a

C-a is "go to beginning of line" in emacs-bindings for bash, which I use quite often...

There's no way to please everyone :-)

Hence the C-a-a for a literal C-a. It's not the same but hitting control a a isn't much worse than just control a.

C-y is yank though (in both emacs and readline); I definitely use yank more than C-b.

I switched my .screenrc to use ^O as the escape key; in vim insert mode it's "take the next keystroke(s) from the normal mode keymap" so you can `^O d t $` from insert mode to delete up the end of the line or whatever. I never use that in vim. I don't even remember what exactly it does in emacs, something that inserts a newline. In readline I think it's "accept-and-...something-else", that I also never use.

I usually run a single actual terminal, running a "meta" screen session, with one sub-screen session for each project or environment. The outer screen uses ^Z as the escape key because I hardly ever use this for she'll job control (I have ~infinity screen windows, after all).

You can lock the interface with ctrl-g and then all keys pass through.

See that's also interesting, thanks for the heads up. I saw "lock" previously and pressed it, and it did something besides what I expected. When I think lock, I think it's literally locking the interface in some way so someone can't interact with the software, including myself unintentionally. That's what it means in Windows, MacOS, and even tmux. I would consider just starting out "locked" but change the paradigm. It's not locked, it's just that the menu isn't active. "Unlocking" now becomes enabling the menu/interface - until you disable the menu.

Keybindings are a hard problem. Doubly so when you're a wrapper that has to also not collide with everyone else's keybindings. :)

The idea was that users should spend most of their time in "normal" mode, deferring to "locked" mode only for cases like you mentioned (ctrl-r in bash or in vim). The modal ergonomics are built on that.

I'd ideally like to find one word that describes locked mode better than "locked", which I agree is not ideal. I spent quite some time thinking about it and asking others, but most of us are not native English speakers - so maybe there's something obvious we're missing. :)

Wouldn't the word "passthrough" be the right word for this feature?

That's a cool idea! I'll run it by some old/new users, see how they react. Thanks!

ctlr+r is a very heavily used shortcut for some people. Perhaps that can be configurable?

All of the shortcuts are configurable: https://zellij.dev/documentation/keybindings.html

I think ctrl r is used frequent enough to warrant a single keychord instead of having to chain though.

Regarding the prefix key, I agree CTRL+R may not be the best default choice.

But if it is easy to change then I think it is OK.

One of the first things I do on a new system with tmux is remap CTRL+B to CTRL+A, as a screen hangover and I think it is more ergonomic anyway.

Though it means I've completely given up using CTRL+A / CTRL-X for incrementing / decrementing numbers in vim.

I can't think of any programs that have an important use for CTRL-B, that's the tradeoff between uniqueness and usability I guess.

I don't think there will be a choice to keep everyone happy or that is totally conflict free.