June 8th, 2026 ×
tmux + Terminal Maxxing with Ben Vinegar
Scott and Wes sit down with Ben Vinegar, former Syntax GM and founder of Modem.dev, to geek out over terminal-maxxing, from SSH-based development and tmux workflows to AI-powered coding agents. Ben also demos two of his open source tools: Hunk, a slick terminal code reviewer with 4k+ GitHub stars, and TermDraw, a terminal-based diagramming tool that posts directly to your agent.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 00:49 Introduction to Modem and AI Project Management
- 01:40 Exploring Terminal Usage and Productivity
- 04:26 Setting Up Remote Development Environments
- 08:38 The Power of TMUX in Development
- 11:20 What makes TMUX splitting different?
- 12:46 Integrating AI with Terminal Workflows
- 14:56 The Future of Terminal Applications
- 17:31 Balancing GUIs and Terminal Interfaces
- 24:39 Navigating Development Tools and Environments
- 26:44 The Balance of Security and Convenience in Coding
- 30:27 Cautionary Tales: The Risks of YOLO Mode
- 33:53 Innovative Tools for Enhanced Coding Experience
- 34:09 Hunk: Terminal code review.
- 41:39 TermDraw: A New Way to Visualize Code and Ideas
- 46:22 The Dynamics of Open Source Contributions
- 48:31 Visualizing Code: Tools and Techniques
- 50:54 Podcasting and Editing Processes
- 56:23 Introducing Modem: A Product Intelligence Platform
- 01:01:39 Connecting Feedback to Product Development
- 01:03:15 Sick Picks
Sick Picks
Shameless Plugs
- Ben: https://modem.dev/
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