Zellij Multiplexer Config and Layout Presets Overview

Zellij is the recommended terminal multiplexer in Salchipapa.Dots. Its configuration and layout files live under SalchipapaZellij/zellij/ and are symlinked to ~/.config/zellij by the installer. The setup uses a completely custom KDL keybind scheme with clear-defaults=true, a locked default mode to prevent accidental multiplexer input while typing, a zjstatus status bar with git branch and clock display, and six themed layout presets that each load a matching Solarized Osaka or community color scheme. The default shell is fish and the default layout is work_solarized_osaka.

Installation

Create the symlink

Link the Zellij config directory into the XDG config location:

ln -s ~/Salchipapa.Dots/SalchipapaZellij/zellij ~/.config/zellij

Install plugins

Place the following .wasm plugin binaries in ~/.config/zellij/plugins/:

zjstatus.wasm — status bar with git branch, datetime, and mode indicator
zellij_forgot.wasm — floating keybind reference panel (Alt+y)

Launch Zellij

Fish shell’s config.fish auto-starts Zellij when you open a new terminal that is not already inside a Zellij session. You can also start it manually:

zellij

Or open a specific themed layout:

zellij --layout work_solarized_osaka

All six layout presets are stored in ~/.config/zellij/layouts/. Run zellij --layout <name> (without the .kdl extension) to start with any of them: work, work_solarized_osaka, work_kanagawa, work_everforest, work_sakura, work_oldWorld.

Default Mode: Locked

config.kdl sets default_mode "locked". In locked mode all keystrokes pass directly to the running program — Zellij does not intercept any input. This prevents accidental multiplexer commands while typing in editors or interactive CLIs.

Action	Key
Enter normal mode (unlock)	`Ctrl+g`
Return to locked mode	`Ctrl+g` (from any mode)
Quit Zellij	`Ctrl+q` (from any unlocked mode)

Keybindings

All keybinds use clear-defaults=true, meaning only the bindings listed below are active — no Zellij defaults are inherited.

Pane Mode (`p` from normal mode)

Key	Action
`h` / `←`	Focus pane left
`j` / `↓`	Focus pane down
`k` / `↑`	Focus pane up
`l` / `→`	Focus pane right
`d`	New pane downward, return to locked
`r`	New pane to the right, return to locked
`n`	New pane (default direction), return to locked
`x`	Close focused pane, return to locked
`f`	Toggle fullscreen, return to locked
`e`	Embed or float focused pane, return to locked
`w`	Toggle all floating panes, return to locked
`z`	Toggle pane frames, return to locked
`c`	Rename pane (enter renamepane mode)
`Tab`	Switch focus to next pane

Tab Mode (`t` from normal mode)

Key	Action
`h` / `k` / `←` / `↑`	Go to previous tab
`j` / `l` / `↓` / `→`	Go to next tab
`1`–`9`	Jump directly to tab N, return to locked
`n`	New tab, return to locked
`x`	Close tab, return to locked
`r`	Rename tab (enter renametab mode)
`b`	Break focused pane into a new tab, return to locked
`[`	Break pane left into adjacent tab
`]`	Break pane right into adjacent tab
`Tab`	Toggle between last two tabs

Resize Mode (`r` from normal mode)

Key	Action
`h` / `←`	Increase size left
`j` / `↓`	Increase size down
`k` / `↑`	Increase size up
`l` / `→`	Increase size right
`H`	Decrease size left
`J`	Decrease size down
`K`	Decrease size up
`L`	Decrease size right
`+` / `=`	Increase pane size
`-`	Decrease pane size

Scroll Mode (`s` from normal mode)

Key	Action
`PageUp` / `h` / `←`	Page scroll up
`PageDown` / `l` / `→`	Page scroll down
`j` / `↓`	Scroll down one line
`k` / `↑`	Scroll up one line
`u`	Half page scroll up
`d`	Half page scroll down
`e`	Open scrollback in `nvim`, return to locked
`f`	Enter search mode
`Ctrl+c`	Scroll to bottom, return to locked

Shared Bindings (normal + locked modes)

Key	Action
`Alt+y`	Open `zellij_forgot` floating keybind reference
`Alt+h` / `Alt+←`	Move focus or tab left
`Alt+j` / `Alt+↓`	Move focus down
`Alt+k` / `Alt+↑`	Move focus up
`Alt+l` / `Alt+→`	Move focus or tab right
`Alt+n`	New pane
`Alt+f`	Toggle floating panes
`Alt+[`	Previous swap layout
`Alt+]`	Next swap layout
`Alt+i` / `Alt+o`	Move tab left / right
`Alt++` / `Alt+=`	Resize increase
`Alt+-`	Resize decrease

Available Layouts

Each layout opens with two tabs — nvim (focused) and shell — and a zjstatus status bar at the top coloured to the layout’s theme.

work.kdl

Default work layout. Uses the Rose Pine Moon palette for the status bar (soft purple/teal tones, #e0def4 foreground).

work_solarized_osaka.kdl

Default on startup. Solarized Osaka theme — deep dark #001419 background, #268bd3 active tab, #29a298 normal-mode indicator, #849900 git branch.

work_kanagawa.kdl

Kanagawa Wave theme — #7E9CD8 blues and #C34043 reds. Status bar uses #9ccfd8 for active tabs.

work_everforest.kdl

Everforest theme — muted greens (#a7c080), earthy yellows (#dbbc7f), soft reds (#e67e80).

work_sakura.kdl

Sakura theme — pink/rose tones (#c5a3a9) on a very dark background (#1c1a1c), lavender/blue accents.

work_oldWorld.kdl

Old World theme — light grey text (#C9C7CD) on pure black (#000000), with peach (#F5A191) and lavender blue (#92A2D5) accents.

Plugins

zjstatus

zjstatus.wasm replaces the default Zellij tab bar with a fully customizable status line. Each layout configures its own colors. The shared format across all layouts is:

format_left   "{mode} #[fg=<color>,bold]{session}{tabs}"
format_right  "{command_git_branch} {datetime}"
format_space  ""

Left: current mode indicator pill + session name + tab list
Right: current git branch (polled every 10 seconds via git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD) + datetime (%A, %d %b %Y %H:%M, Europe/Berlin timezone)

zellij_forgot

zellij_forgot.wasm is a floating keybind cheat-sheet triggered by Alt+y from any mode. It lists every custom keybind defined in config.kdl in a scrollable floating pane, so you never need to leave the terminal to look up a shortcut.

Fish Auto-Start

The Fish shell config at SalchipapaFish/fish/config.fish automatically launches Zellij when a new terminal session starts and no Zellij session is already active. This means opening any new terminal window drops you straight into the configured multiplexer layout without any manual step.

Global Options (config.kdl)

Option	Value
`default_mode`	`"locked"`
`default_layout`	`"work_solarized_osaka"`
`default_shell`	`"fish"`
`theme`	`"solarized_osaka"`
`scrollback_editor`	`"nvim"`

Available built-in themes

The following themes are defined directly in config.kdl and can be activated by changing the theme option:

Theme name	Background	Foreground	Accent
`solarized_osaka`	`#001419`	`#839395`	`#268bd3`
`kanagawa_wave`	`#1F1F28`	`#DCD7BA`	`#7E9CD8`
`kanagawa_dragon`	`#282828`	`#dcdccc`	`#8BA4B0`
`everforest`	`#282828`	`#d3c6aa`	`#a7c080`
`rose_pine_moon`	`#191724`	`#e0def4`	`#9ccfd8`
`sakura`	`#1c1a1c`	`#c5a3a9`	`#878fb9`
`oldWorld`	`#000000`	`#C9C7CD`	`#92A2D5`

Get Started

Shell

Terminal & Multiplexer

Neovim

Tools & Integrations

Zellij Multiplexer Config and Layout Presets Overview

Installation

Default Mode: Locked

Keybindings

Pane Mode (`p` from normal mode)

Tab Mode (`t` from normal mode)

Resize Mode (`r` from normal mode)

Scroll Mode (`s` from normal mode)

Shared Bindings (normal + locked modes)

Available Layouts

work.kdl

work_solarized_osaka.kdl

work_kanagawa.kdl

work_everforest.kdl

work_sakura.kdl

work_oldWorld.kdl

Plugins

zjstatus

zellij_forgot

Fish Auto-Start

Global Options (config.kdl)

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Shell

Terminal & Multiplexer

Neovim

Tools & Integrations

Documentation Index

​Installation

​Default Mode: Locked

​Keybindings

​Pane Mode (p from normal mode)

​Tab Mode (t from normal mode)

​Resize Mode (r from normal mode)

​Scroll Mode (s from normal mode)

​Shared Bindings (normal + locked modes)

​Available Layouts

work.kdl

work_solarized_osaka.kdl

work_kanagawa.kdl

work_everforest.kdl

work_sakura.kdl

work_oldWorld.kdl

​Plugins

​zjstatus

​zellij_forgot

​Fish Auto-Start

​Global Options (config.kdl)

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Installation

Default Mode: Locked

Keybindings

Pane Mode (`p` from normal mode)

Tab Mode (`t` from normal mode)

Resize Mode (`r` from normal mode)

Scroll Mode (`s` from normal mode)

Shared Bindings (normal + locked modes)

Available Layouts

Plugins

zjstatus

zellij_forgot

Fish Auto-Start

Global Options (config.kdl)