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The send command transmits a message to an AI coding tool running in a worktree's tmux session. The message is sent as input to the AI agent and the status tracking is updated.

Usage

bash
owt send <name> "message" [OPTIONS]

Arguments

ArgumentDescription
nameTarget worktree name
"message"Message or instruction to send to the AI agent

Options

OptionDescription
--allBroadcast message to ALL worktrees
--workingBroadcast only to WORKING worktrees
--pane <n>Target pane index (default: 0)

When using --all or --working, omit the <name> argument:

bash
owt send --all "Run tests and fix any failures"
owt send --working "Wrap up and commit your changes"

Examples

Send a Task

bash
owt send add-auth "Implement JWT authentication middleware"

Send to a Specific Pane

bash
# Send a shell command to pane 1 (e.g., for running tests)
owt send add-auth "npm test" --pane 1

Send a Detailed Task

bash
owt send api-v2 "Implement the user endpoints:
1. GET /api/users - list all users with pagination
2. POST /api/users - create a new user
3. PUT /api/users/:id - update user
4. DELETE /api/users/:id - soft delete user"

Delegate Work Across Worktrees

bash
# Send tasks to multiple worktrees
owt send add-auth "Build the login and registration forms"
owt send api-v2 "Create the authentication API endpoints"
owt send fix-nav "Fix the navigation bar responsive layout"

How It Works

The send command uses tmux's send-keys to transmit text to the target pane:

  1. The message text is sent to the specified pane in the worktree's tmux session
  2. Enter is pressed to submit the message
  3. The worktree's status tracking is updated with the new task

Long Prompts

Orchestrated and batch agents use tmux paste-buffer for prompt delivery, which handles arbitrarily long text without truncation.

Use Cases

Delegating Feature Work

bash
owt send add-auth "Build the authentication system with JWT tokens"

Running Commands in Another Pane

bash
# Run tests in pane 1 while the AI works in pane 0
owt send add-auth "npm test" --pane 1

Sending Follow-Up Instructions

bash
# After the AI completes the initial task
owt send add-auth "Now add input validation to all the endpoints you created"

Broadcast Examples

Tell All Agents to Run Tests

bash
owt send --all "Run tests and fix any failures"

Tell Working Agents to Wrap Up

bash
owt send --working "Wrap up and commit your changes"

Broadcast to All Agents

Broadcast to all agents with owt send --all. (In the Control Plane, a attaches to the selected row's session -- it does not broadcast.)

See Also

  • owt switch -- Jump to the worktree to see the AI's response
  • owt (Control Plane) -- Attach to and manage worktrees from the Control Plane UI
  • owt note -- Share persistent context across all agents
  • owt new -- Create a worktree (initial task is sent automatically)