Terminal-First Workflow with Tmux, uv, and Neovim

tmux nvim python uv gen-ai terminal

A fast, minimal, and repeatable development setup built around the terminal—using tmux, Neovim, and Python + uv—to power my GenAI workflow.

In this post, I’m documenting my current development workflow—one that I’ve shaped over time to stay fast, focused, and distraction-free. It’s a terminal-first setup centered around tmux, Neovim, and uv, optimized specifically for fast prototyping and iterating on GenAI applications in Python.

While IDEs are getting heavier and more AI-assisted every year, I’ve stuck to a lightweight stack that’s entirely keyboard-driven, reproducible, and persistent across sessions.

Terminal workflow with Tmux, Neovim and Python

🔧 Tools I Rely On

Here’s a breakdown of the tools and plugins that make up my daily environment:

  • tmux – Terminal multiplexer for splitting windows, managing panes, and quickly switching between projects.
  • tmux-resurrect – Saves and restores tmux sessions, windows, and panes after a restart.
  • tpm (Tmux Plugin Manager) – Manages my tmux plugins with a simple prefix + I keybind to install.
  • vim-tmux-navigator – Allows seamless navigation between tmux panes and Neovim splits using <C-h/j/k/l>.
  • uv – A super-fast Python package manager and runtime built in Rust. It replaces pip + venv and drastically reduces Python project startup time.
  • IPython – For fast prototyping and testing, IPython inside a uv shell is my go-to REPL.
  • Neovim via LazyVim – My IDE setup is based on LazyVim, providing a modern, minimal Neovim config with lazy-loaded plugins and tight performance.

🧠 Why This Setup?

I work primarily with Python in GenAI and LLM-related projects, where iteration speed and reproducibility matter. This setup gives me:

  • Instant context switching across panes and projects
  • Persistent development sessions I can resume anytime
  • Blazingly fast Python environment creation and package installs
  • Snappy, customized editing experience in Neovim
  • Seamless navigation between editor and shell

All of this, without leaving the terminal.

🛠️ How It All Comes Together

Here’s how I usually structure my workspace:

  1. Start a new tmux session for each project: 
    tmux new-session -s my-genai-project
  2. Create tmux windows for:
  • nvim – for coding
  • uv venv && ipython – for REPL-based prototyping
  • Logs / server output / pytest runs
  1. Use tmux-resurrect to save the session:
# Save session
prefix + Ctrl-s
 
# Restore session later
prefix + Ctrl-r
  1. To move between Neovim and shell panes:
# Ctrl-h/j/k/l will move across tmux and Neovim splits
  1. Run python in uv
uv init --no-workspace .
uv add openai transformers
uv run ipython
  1. My entire setup is version-controlled in my dotfiles repo, making it portable and repeatable across systems.

📦 Example: Setting Up a New Project

# Create a new directory and init Python env
mkdir langchain-memory-rag
cd langchain-memory-rag
uv init --no-workspace .
uv add llama-index langchain openai
 
# Launch REPL
uv run ipython

Launch your tmux + Neovim session from here and you’re set.

🔗 References