Macvim can not load custom Powerline fonts when started from tmux session

fontmacvimtmuxvi

I have a really strange issue with MacVim + Tmux + Powerline Fonts.

I can run MacVim from the dock or terminal and it correctly starts with Powerline fonts.
When I start a tmux session, and launch macvim from tmux, any custom Font will not load. If I open the graphical font browser, the font is listed and selected, it just does not modify the font in the UI. If I select another system font, the UI font will change!!

I've tried copying the shell environments between tmux and the standard terminal, but it does not have any affect.

Does anyone know how tmux could be breaking my fonts in macvim session?

I'm seeing this issue in Sierra and the exact same config works in El Capitan.

Best Answer

I stumbled over the solution with some searching. The issue issue can be fixed with the reattach-to-user-namespace tool.

$ brew install reattach-to-user-namespace

Add the following line to the end of your ~/.tmux.conf file

set-option -g default-command "reattach-to-user-namespace -l zsh"

Related Solutions

Are there any ways to improve the font rendering in X11.app / XQuartz

Warning: this is not my final answer, it will take some time to provide a better one.

Tested on OS X 10.8.5 with XQuartz 2.7.4 (xorg-server 1.13.0) and:

meld - installed via brew install meld
xterm
xclock

To tune the fonts create a file ~/.Xresources and put this:

Xft.dpi:        96
Xft.antialias:  true
Xft.hinting:    true
Xft.autohint:   true
Xft.rgba:       rgb
Xft.hintstyle:  hintfull

XTerm*faceName: DejaVu Sans Mono
*faceName: DejaVu Sans Mono

Inside ~/.gtkrc-2.0:

style "user-font" {
    font_name = "Lucida Grande 10"
}
widget_class "*" style "user-font"

gtk-font-name="Lucida Grande 10"
gtk-enable-mnemonics = 0

Feel free to post your modifications, as long they are using standard Fonts available on OS X, I would like to make this drop-in recipe.

The last file has an effect on meld and other gtk apps.

Note, the font is the same as the one used in OS X UI but the rendering is still a little bit different.

In iTerm2 Command Click on URLS does not work when inside a tmux session

To use the normal mouse behavior in tmux you have to keep alt pressed. So click on the link while pressing cmd+alt. The same applies when selecting text.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Are there any ways to improve the font rendering in X11.app / XQuartz

In iTerm2 Command Click on URLS does not work when inside a tmux session

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