Resurrect needs a terminal to restore cursor.

[Mikilio]

Summary

I wanted to use tmux-continuum to restore my session in the background before I even start my first terminal (via start-server). Unfortunately, tmux-resurrect seems to not have been made with this in mind. In particular, the tmux switch-client commands do not work when tmux has not attached to some proper terminals. I have verified that a PTY is not enough for this as well.

What works without terminal

• restoring sessions, windows and panes
• restoring running commands with correct strategy

What does not work without terminal

• Restore active and last session
• Restore active window and pane

Solutions

I am aware that a rewrite could result in a big PR and would abandon a lot of logic that has been working for years. I would be happy to eventually see one, but for now I propose the following workarounds:

• Start tmux automatically in an actual terminal. Many Desktops support hiding such windows.
• Use a VT (lookup agetty) to start tmux. (REQUIRES ROOT)
• Use the following systemd service:

# /home/mikilio/.config/systemd/user/tmuxd.service
[Install]
WantedBy=graphical-session.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/nix/store/w1m8fvzdbkpl402c1q481yly5dx1p9ki-resurrect.exp
ExecStop=/nix/store/2ldgm1x51p6bxahb78ffhkmbmj4jp6ad-tmuxplugin-resurrect-unstable-2022-05-01/share/tmux-plugins/resurrect/scripts/save.sh
ExecStop=/nix/store/5r10w0nb4m0k6i36a5isgvbmzirfwhms-tmux-3.5a/bin/tmux kill-server
Type=forking

[Unit]
After=graphical-session.target
Description=tmux user server
Documentation=man:tmux(1)
PartOf=graphical-session.target

replacing nix paths with your actual paths
The resurrect script looks something like this:

 #!/usr/bin/env expect
set env(TERM) xterm
spawn tmux
sleep 2
send "\x00"
send "\x12"
sleep 5

And is just a slight change from this