AI agents and persistent terminals

The browser can close. The agent keeps working.

Ronin runs each terminal agent inside tmux on your machine. tmux keeps the live terminal separate from the browser that happens to be viewing it, so you can leave and reconnect to the same session later.

You do not need to set up tmux.

Ronin includes and manages the tmux layer it needs. This page explains what that layer does and why it matters when several AI agents are working at once.

Ask the session you are in

See how your own session works

Copy this into any Ronin agent session. The agent will inspect its own tmux context without changing it, then explain the result using your real session instead of an abstract example.

Explain how tmux is keeping this exact Ronin session alive.

Use read-only checks only. Do not create, kill, restart, detach, rename, or modify sessions. Do not send keys to any pane.

1. Identify this session's tmux server, session, window, and pane using the current environment and read-only tmux commands.
2. Explain each of those four terms in plain language using the values you found here.
3. Explain how this session appears in Ronin's Roster and how a Cowork tile connects to it.
4. Tell me what happens to this agent if I close the browser, lose the VPN connection, restart the Cowork web application, end the session, or reboot the host machine.
5. Explain the difference between the live tmux terminal and Ronin Services' optional unlocked recorded-text view.
6. If a read-only check reveals a health or ownership problem, report it but do not fix it.

Finish with a short summary of what tmux owns and what Ronin Cowork adds around it.

A terminal window is usually temporary

Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and other terminal agents run as interactive programs. In an ordinary terminal, the program is tied closely to that terminal connection. Close a remote shell, lose a network connection, or close the terminal window, and the work can be interrupted.

tmux puts a durable terminal layer between the program and the screen used to view it. The agent runs in the tmux-managed terminal on the Ronin machine. Your browser is a viewer and input device, not the owner of the agent process.

The tmux server owns the live terminals

A tmux server is one background process on the Ronin machine. It holds the sessions, manages their terminals, and keeps track of what is running inside them. It does not run at Ronin HQ and it does not move your terminal into the cloud.

Ronin deliberately runs the tmux server separately from the Cowork web application. Updating or restarting Cowork can replace the browser-facing application without taking the active agent sessions with it.

A Ronin session is a named tmux session

tmux groups terminals into named sessions. Ronin uses those names to discover running work, show it in the Roster, and place a session into a Cowork tile. The tile is not a copy of the terminal. It is a way into the existing session.

server The background process that owns all tmux state.

session A named group of terminal work. Ronin lists it in the Roster.

window A group of one or more panes inside a session.

pane The terminal area containing the running agent program.

Disconnecting is not ending the session

When you close a Ronin browser tab, the browser disconnects from the tmux session. The tmux server, terminal, and agent remain on the Ronin machine. Open Cowork again and Ronin reconnects the tile to that same session.

This is useful for long-running AI agent work and remote machines. You can start a session from a laptop, close the laptop, and later inspect the same live terminal from another computer or a phone.

What persistence does and does not mean

Closing the browser does not stop the agent.
A dropped browser or VPN connection does not stop the agent.
Restarting the Cowork web application does not stop the tmux server.
Ending the session in Ronin does stop that session.
If the agent exits by itself, its terminal work has ended.
Turning off or rebooting the host ends the live processes. tmux is not a virtual machine or checkpoint system.

Why tmux works well for several AI agents

Terminal agents already know how to run as CLI programs. tmux gives each one a stable place to run without replacing the agent, provider, account, or project directory. Ronin adds the shared edges around those sessions: the Roster, tiles, roles, tasks, groups, handoffs, macros, and coordination.

That is the division of work. tmux maintains the live terminals. Ronin makes several of those terminals manageable as a coworking space.

Common questions

Persistent AI agent sessions with tmux

Does an AI agent keep running after I close Ronin?

Yes, if you only close the browser. The agent continues in its tmux session on the Ronin machine. The machine must remain on and the agent process must still be running.

Does tmux keep sessions through a reboot?

No. tmux keeps programs alive across disconnected terminals, not across a machine shutdown or reboot. A reboot ends the processes running in memory.

Do I have to learn tmux commands to use Ronin?

No. Ronin installs and operates its tmux layer. Cowork gives you the Roster, session launcher, tiles, and controls in the browser.

Is the browser showing a copy of the terminal?

In Ronin's standard locked mode, the tile is connected to the live tmux terminal. Input goes back to that terminal and screen changes come from it. Ronin Services can optionally add an unlocked recorded text view for independent scrolling, summaries, and voice.

Give terminal agents a place to stay.

Install Ronin on the machine that will host the sessions.

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