bmuxA profile stores cookies, site storage, history, bookmarks, extensions, permissions, and connection settings. Sessions organize windows; they are not profiles. A pane keeps its profile after a page is loaded.
Choose a profile #
Open profile details from the profile icon beside the pane address. Panes with the same profile share settings and logins. Click the profile name to edit it, and press Enter or Save. Escape or Cancel discards the edit. A split inherits its source profile unless another is specified. Create a new pane when you need a different profile:
bmux profile create review
bmux split-window -t PANE_ID -h --profile review
Set the profile for future regular sessions in the session picker; create a new profile there if needed. New sessions use the saved choice without asking each time. Private sessions use an isolated temporary browser partition, do not use this setting, and show no profile icon. Their cookies, site storage, and extension data are discarded when the session closes. The profile panel can change a session's default profile at any time; loaded panes keep their existing profiles. On a blank pane, use the profile button beside its address to choose a different profile before loading a page. After navigation, the button remains visible only for panes that differ from the session default.
If you close a session and later give a fresh, unvisited session the same name, bmux restores the closed session's default profile. Explicitly changing the session default or loading a page prevents that restoration.
The default profile throttles inactive pages. The bot profile keeps background
pages running; profile create NAME --background creates another such profile.
Profiles are not an authorization boundary against the local CLI.
Configure a proxy #
In profile details, find Connection. Choose Custom, then HTTP, HTTPS, or SOCKS5. Enter the host and port. Enable authentication when needed and enter both credentials. Turn on Use for new panes to save these settings as the default.
Saved proxies (all profiles) lists connections already configured in any profile. Selecting one fills the endpoint and saved username and reuses its encrypted credentials when you save. New panes using an existing profile show the default selected when they were created.
Changes apply to newly created panes and windows. Existing panes retain their connection, including after restart. Previous endpoints and their encrypted credentials remain available in Saved proxies (all profiles).
Each connection uses separate browser site storage. On first use, a new connection copies cookies from the previous default to preserve most logins; local storage and IndexedDB remain separate. Existing panes are not reloaded. Cookies already present in the destination are preserved. Cookies Chromium rejects are skipped without blocking navigation.
Credentials are encrypted with Electron safeStorage and stored separately from ordinary profile state. Saving credentials fails if OS encryption is unavailable. Authenticated SOCKS5 uses a private loopback relay because Chromium does not directly support SOCKS5 credentials.
Turn off Use for new panes to select the system connection for new panes. The displayed settings stay available for testing and reuse. This does not disable a system VPN or proxy. HTTP/HTTPS describes the proxy protocol, not the destination's security.
Verify and troubleshoot #
Choose Test connection to check the settings currently shown, including unsaved changes, whether Use for new panes is on or off. Testing does not replace the saved connection. Success shows the reported exit IP. Authentication failures require the provider’s service credentials. Open the Proxy panel from the proxy icon to inspect the connection and reported region when available.
Verification is a point-in-time result, not a guarantee about all traffic or another website's location detection. A profile proxy is not a system-wide VPN and does not make a signed-in account anonymous.
At startup, configured proxies are verified before page navigation is restored. If setup or verification fails, affected profile pages are paused. The notification offers Proxy settings. Choosing a new default leaves paused panes on their original connection. Check protocol, host, port, credentials, and service availability. This startup protection is not a general system-wide kill switch.
Optional provider presets #
Click an empty Host field to open the provider picker. Choose a provider, then search by country, city, or hostname. Locations are grouped geographically and filtered by the selected protocol. Selecting a location fills the endpoint and reuses a saved username and credentials from a profile using that provider.
The bundled bmux.nordvpn catalog is enabled by default and can be disabled in
the Plugins panel. Presets supply endpoint, protocol, and port; core bmux manages
credentials and connections. NordVPN SOCKS5 locations are limited to its
published proxy hosts.
Use the provider's required service credentials and test the connection. A preset does not create an account or include paid service. See Plugins for the provider manifest format.
Mobile device personas #
The Device section offers Pixel 8, Galaxy S24, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max presets. Custom personas support Android or iOS presentation with dimensions and device pixel ratio. Choose orientation, locale, timezone, and optional geolocation.
Personas are independent of routing: a mobile preset does not supply a carrier IP, and a timezone does not select a proxy region. Geolocation uses the permission flow.
The engine remains Chromium. An iPhone persona does not turn bmux into Safari or reproduce all hardware behavior. Check engine- and hardware-specific behavior on the actual target device.
See the illustrated profile proxy guide.