Mastering Large Codebases: Terminal-Driven Development with Neovim and tmux AI Workflows

Navigating and understanding huge codebases can feel like exploring a dense forest without a map.
Modern IDEs offer some help, but sometimes, the best tools are those you master in your terminal — lightweight, fast, and highly customizable.

In this post, I’ll share how I use Neovim paired with tmux to power through large projects.
I’ll also explain how running multiple AI agents in parallel tmux sessions supercharges my workflow, letting me explore, refactor, and debug faster than ever — all without leaving the terminal.

Why Terminal-Based Development?

You might wonder: Why not just use a full IDE with all the bells and whistles?

The terminal-first approach offers unique advantages:

• Speed and responsiveness — no heavy UI slowing you down.
• Resource efficiency — critical when working on remote servers or low-powered machines.
• Custom workflows — chain powerful CLI tools exactly how you want.
• Focus and minimal distraction — no popups or unrelated panels stealing your attention.

For large codebases, this means blazing fast navigation and seamless multitasking.

Neovim: The Editor That Scales

I use Neovim as my primary editor — a modern, extensible Vim fork that combines modal editing with powerful plugins.

How Neovim Handles Large Codebases

• Fuzzy file searching with plugins like Telescope.nvim lets me quickly open files by name or content without indexing delays.
• Syntax-aware navigation via LSP integrations: jump to definitions, references, and implementations instantly.
• Lightweight buffers let me keep dozens of files open without slowdown.
• Powerful text manipulation commands help me refactor code quickly.

All of this runs lightning fast even on gigantic projects, including multi-language monorepos.

tmux: Terminal Multiplexing for the Win

While Neovim handles editing and navigation, tmux takes multitasking to the next level by allowing me to split my terminal into multiple panes and sessions.

Why Use tmux with Large Codebases?

• Multiple parallel views — one pane running tests, another tailing logs, and another editing code — all side by side.
• Persistence — sessions stay alive even if I disconnect from SSH or close the terminal.
• Session management — switch between projects and workflows instantly.

Running AI Agents in Parallel tmux Sessions

One of my biggest productivity hacks is running multiple AI assistants in separate tmux sessions simultaneously.

How This Works in Practice

• Session 1: AI helps generate code snippets or refactor code.
• Session 2: AI runs unit tests, explains error messages, or debugs complex bugs.
• Session 3: AI summarizes documentation or helps write commit messages.

This setup lets me talk to multiple specialized AI agents at once, all while coding, testing, and navigating the codebase without context switching out of the terminal.

Typical Workflow Example for Apache Superset

1. Start tmux — attach to the session containing all of my projects and windows default to last one visited.
2. Multiple windows — first window runs Neovim for code editing, second window runs the frontend dev-server, third is for unit tests etc. All the way to window 7.
3. Create AI sessions — additional tmux windows run AI agents connected via CLI tools or APIs.
4. Seamless interaction — ask one AI to help write the tests for current feature branch while another debugs a React component.
5. Rapid iteration — jump back into Neovim to edit, commit, and push — all without leaving the terminal.

Why This Approach Scales Better Than GUI-Only Tools

• You never leave your context — no app switching, no waiting for IDEs to load or sync.
• You can customize AI assistants per session, tailoring them to specific tasks.
• Cross-platform and remote-friendly — perfect for server work or cloud development.
• Lightweight and accessible — works on virtually any machine, even over slow connections.

Getting Started: Basic tmux + Neovim Setup

If you want to try this yourself i have my dotfiles available on GitHub, which include my Neovim and tmux configurations. Although be warned, they are tailored to my personal preferences and may require some adjustments to fit your workflow. Also it takes an upfront investment of time to set up and learn the tools.

1. Install Neovim and telescope
2. Install tmux — use your OS package manager:

   # For Fedora
   sudo dnf install tmux