diff --git a/stow/.config/tmux/.gitignore b/stow/.config/tmux/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a02d10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stow/.config/tmux/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+plugins
diff --git a/stow/.config/tmux/tmux.conf b/stow/.config/tmux/tmux.conf
index 0ad9555..b7ca851 100644
--- a/stow/.config/tmux/tmux.conf
+++ b/stow/.config/tmux/tmux.conf
@@ -20,3 +20,14 @@ set -g history-limit 100000
 
 set -g base-index 1
 setw -g pane-base-index 1
+
+# plugins
+# got from: https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm/blob/master/docs/automatic_tpm_installation.md, changed to a more sensible install dir
+if "test ! -d ~/.local/share/tmux/plugins/tpm" \
+   "run 'git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.local/share/tmux/plugins/tpm && ~/.local/share/tmux/plugins/tpm/bin/install_plugins'"
+
+set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
+set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
+set -g @plugin "janoamaral/tokyo-night-tmux"
+
+run '~/.local/share/tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'