diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index aaadf73..3b09a73 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/main/community/Golang/Go.AllowList.gitignore
 #
 # Binaries for programs and plugins
+tsm
 *.exe
 *.exe~
 *.dll
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index f15384a..757fc96 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -2,6 +2,26 @@ module github.com/ivuorinen/tsm
 
 go 1.24
 
+require github.com/spf13/viper v1.18.2
+
 require (
-	github.com/spf13/viper v1.18.2
+	github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.7.0 // indirect
+	github.com/hashicorp/hcl v1.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/magiconair/properties v1.8.7 // indirect
+	github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.5.0 // indirect
+	github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.1.0 // indirect
+	github.com/sagikazarmark/locafero v0.4.0 // indirect
+	github.com/sagikazarmark/slog-shim v0.1.0 // indirect
+	github.com/sourcegraph/conc v0.3.0 // indirect
+	github.com/spf13/afero v1.11.0 // indirect
+	github.com/spf13/cast v1.6.0 // indirect
+	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 // indirect
+	github.com/subosito/gotenv v1.6.0 // indirect
+	go.uber.org/atomic v1.9.0 // indirect
+	go.uber.org/multierr v1.9.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230905200255-921286631fa9 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.15.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/text v0.14.0 // indirect
+	gopkg.in/ini.v1 v1.67.0 // indirect
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eaf76d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc h1:U9qPSI2PIWSS1VwoXQT9A3Wy9MM3WgvqSxFWenqJduM=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/frankban/quicktest v1.14.6 h1:7Xjx+VpznH+oBnejlPUj8oUpdxnVs4f8XU8WnHkI4W8=
+github.com/frankban/quicktest v1.14.6/go.mod h1:4ptaffx2x8+WTWXmUCuVU6aPUX1/Mz7zb5vbUoiM6w0=
+github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.7.0 h1:8JEhPFa5W2WU7YfeZzPNqzMP6Lwt7L2715Ggo0nosvA=
+github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.7.0/go.mod h1:40Bi/Hjc2AVfZrqy+aj+yEI+/bRxZnMJyTJwOpGvigM=
+github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.9 h1:O2Tfq5qg4qc4AmwVlvv0oLiVAGB7enBSJ2x2DqQFi38=
+github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.9/go.mod h1:17dUlkBOakJ0+DkrSSNjCkIjxS6bF9zb3elmeNGIjoY=
+github.com/hashicorp/hcl v1.0.0 h1:0Anlzjpi4vEasTeNFn2mLJgTSwt0+6sfsiTG8qcWGx4=
+github.com/hashicorp/hcl v1.0.0/go.mod h1:E5yfLk+7swimpb2L/Alb/PJmXilQ/rhwaUYs4T20WEQ=
+github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 h1:flRD4NNwYAUpkphVc1HcthR4KEIFJ65n8Mw5qdRn3LE=
+github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1/go.mod h1:hoEshYVHaxMs3cyo3Yncou5ZscifuDolrwPKZanG3xk=
+github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 h1:5Nx0Ya0ZqY2ygV366QzturHI13Jq95ApcVaJBhpS+AY=
+github.com/kr/text v0.2.0/go.mod h1:eLer722TekiGuMkidMxC/pM04lWEeraHUUmBw8l2grE=
+github.com/magiconair/properties v1.8.7 h1:IeQXZAiQcpL9mgcAe1Nu6cX9LLw6ExEHKjN0VQdvPDY=
+github.com/magiconair/properties v1.8.7/go.mod h1:Dhd985XPs7jluiymwWYZ0G4Z61jb3vdS329zhj2hYo0=
+github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.5.0 h1:jeMsZIYE/09sWLaz43PL7Gy6RuMjD2eJVyuac5Z2hdY=
+github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.5.0/go.mod h1:bFUtVrKA4DC2yAKiSyO/QUcy7e+RRV2QTWOzhPopBRo=
+github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.1.0 h1:FnwAJ4oYMvbT/34k9zzHuZNrhlz48GB3/s6at6/MHO4=
+github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:tJU2Z3ZkXwnxa4DPO899bsyIoywizdUvyaeZurnPPDc=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2 h1:Jamvg5psRIccs7FGNTlIRMkT8wgtp5eCXdBlqhYGL6U=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.9.0 h1:73kH8U+JUqXU8lRuOHeVHaa/SZPifC7BkcraZVejAe8=
+github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.9.0/go.mod h1:WtVeX8xhTBvf0smdhujwtBcq4Qrzq/fJaraNFVN+nFs=
+github.com/sagikazarmark/locafero v0.4.0 h1:HApY1R9zGo4DBgr7dqsTH/JJxLTTsOt7u6keLGt6kNQ=
+github.com/sagikazarmark/locafero v0.4.0/go.mod h1:Pe1W6UlPYUk/+wc/6KFhbORCfqzgYEpgQ3O5fPuL3H4=
+github.com/sagikazarmark/slog-shim v0.1.0 h1:diDBnUNK9N/354PgrxMywXnAwEr1QZcOr6gto+ugjYE=
+github.com/sagikazarmark/slog-shim v0.1.0/go.mod h1:SrcSrq8aKtyuqEI1uvTDTK1arOWRIczQRv+GVI1AkeQ=
+github.com/sourcegraph/conc v0.3.0 h1:OQTbbt6P72L20UqAkXXuLOj79LfEanQ+YQFNpLA9ySo=
+github.com/sourcegraph/conc v0.3.0/go.mod h1:Sdozi7LEKbFPqYX2/J+iBAM6HpqSLTASQIKqDmF7Mt0=
+github.com/spf13/afero v1.11.0 h1:WJQKhtpdm3v2IzqG8VMqrr6Rf3UYpEF239Jy9wNepM8=
+github.com/spf13/afero v1.11.0/go.mod h1:GH9Y3pIexgf1MTIWtNGyogA5MwRIDXGUr+hbWNoBjkY=
+github.com/spf13/cast v1.6.0 h1:GEiTHELF+vaR5dhz3VqZfFSzZjYbgeKDpBxQVS4GYJ0=
+github.com/spf13/cast v1.6.0/go.mod h1:ancEpBxwJDODSW/UG4rDrAqiKolqNNh2DX3mk86cAdo=
+github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 h1:iy+VFUOCP1a+8yFto/drg2CJ5u0yRoB7fZw3DKv/JXA=
+github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An2Bg=
+github.com/spf13/viper v1.18.2 h1:LUXCnvUvSM6FXAsj6nnfc8Q2tp1dIgUfY9Kc8GsSOiQ=
+github.com/spf13/viper v1.18.2/go.mod h1:EKmWIqdnk5lOcmR72yw6hS+8OPYcwD0jteitLMVB+yk=
+github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
+github.com/stretchr/objx v0.4.0/go.mod h1:YvHI0jy2hoMjB+UWwv71VJQ9isScKT/TqJzVSSt89Yw=
+github.com/stretchr/objx v0.5.0/go.mod h1:Yh+to48EsGEfYuaHDzXPcE3xhTkx73EhmCGUpEOglKo=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.3.0/go.mod h1:M5WIy9Dh21IEIfnGCwXGc5bZfKNJtfHm1UVUgZn+9EI=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.1/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.0/go.mod h1:yNjHg4UonilssWZ8iaSj1OCr/vHnekPRkoO+kdMU+MU=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4 h1:CcVxjf3Q8PM0mHUKJCdn+eZZtm5yQwehR5yeSVQQcUk=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4/go.mod h1:sz/lmYIOXD/1dqDmKjjqLyZ2RngseejIcXlSw2iwfAo=
+github.com/subosito/gotenv v1.6.0 h1:9NlTDc1FTs4qu0DDq7AEtTPNw6SVm7uBMsUCUjABIf8=
+github.com/subosito/gotenv v1.6.0/go.mod h1:Dk4QP5c2W3ibzajGcXpNraDfq2IrhjMIvMSWPKKo0FU=
+go.uber.org/atomic v1.9.0 h1:ECmE8Bn/WFTYwEW/bpKD3M8VtR/zQVbavAoalC1PYyE=
+go.uber.org/atomic v1.9.0/go.mod h1:fEN4uk6kAWBTFdckzkM89CLk9XfWZrxpCo0nPH17wJc=
+go.uber.org/multierr v1.9.0 h1:7fIwc/ZtS0q++VgcfqFDxSBZVv/Xo49/SYnDFupUwlI=
+go.uber.org/multierr v1.9.0/go.mod h1:X2jQV1h+kxSjClGpnseKVIxpmcjrj7MNnI0bnlfKTVQ=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230905200255-921286631fa9 h1:GoHiUyI/Tp2nVkLI2mCxVkOjsbSXD66ic0XW0js0R9g=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230905200255-921286631fa9/go.mod h1:S2oDrQGGwySpoQPVqRShND87VCbxmc6bL1Yd2oYrm6k=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.15.0 h1:h48lPFYpsTvQJZF4EKyI4aLHaev3CxivZmv7yZig9pc=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.15.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
+golang.org/x/text v0.14.0 h1:ScX5w1eTa3QqT8oi6+ziP7dTV1S2+ALU0bI+0zXKWiQ=
+golang.org/x/text v0.14.0/go.mod h1:18ZOQIKpY8NJVqYksKHtTdi31H5itFRjB5/qKTNYzSU=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20190902080502-41f04d3bba15 h1:YR8cESwS4TdDjEe65xsg0ogRM/Nc3DYOhEAlW+xobZo=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20190902080502-41f04d3bba15/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/ini.v1 v1.67.0 h1:Dgnx+6+nfE+IfzjUEISNeydPJh9AXNNsWbGP9KzCsOA=
+gopkg.in/ini.v1 v1.67.0/go.mod h1:pNLf8WUiyNEtQjuu5G5vTm06TEv9tsIgeAvK8hOrP4k=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index f7e4e6e..a09d91c 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// Package main implements tsm, a tmux session manager.
 package main
 
 import (
@@ -149,10 +150,12 @@ type Item struct {
 	Path string // directory for G/B
 }
 
-func sanitize(base string) string {
+// sanitizeRaw converts a directory segment into a tmux-safe name,
+// returning "" when no valid characters remain (no "session" fallback).
+func sanitizeRaw(base string) string {
 	base = strings.TrimSpace(base)
 	if base == "" {
-		return "session"
+		return ""
 	}
 	var b strings.Builder
 	prevDash := false
@@ -171,21 +174,33 @@ func sanitize(base string) string {
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	out := strings.Trim(b.String(), "-")
-	if out == "" {
-		return "session"
+	return strings.Trim(b.String(), "-")
+}
+
+func sanitize(base string) string {
+	if s := sanitizeRaw(base); s != "" {
+		return s
 	}
-	return out
+	return "session"
 }
 
 // "<parent>_<base>" — /home/u/Code/ivuorinen/a -> "ivuorinen_a"
+// Walks up the tree to find the first ancestor whose name has valid characters,
+// skipping segments that are all non-ASCII / special (e.g. "äö!").
 func sessionNameFromPath(dir string) string {
 	base := sanitize(filepath.Base(dir))
-	parent := sanitize(filepath.Base(filepath.Dir(dir)))
-	if parent == "" || parent == "." || parent == string(filepath.Separator) {
-		return base
+	d := dir
+	for {
+		parent := filepath.Dir(d)
+		if parent == d { // reached filesystem root
+			break
+		}
+		d = parent
+		if name := sanitizeRaw(filepath.Base(d)); name != "" {
+			return name + "_" + base
+		}
 	}
-	return parent + "_" + base
+	return base
 }
 
 // ---------------- Tmux shell abstraction ----------------
@@ -292,7 +307,7 @@ func scanGitReposConcurrent(cfg Config) []string {
 		wg.Add(1)
 		go func(root string) {
 			defer wg.Done()
-			filepath.WalkDir(root, func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
+			_ = filepath.WalkDir(root, func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
 				if err != nil {
 					return nil
 				}
diff --git a/main_test.go b/main_test.go
index 12d9801..26f5099 100644
--- a/main_test.go
+++ b/main_test.go
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@ type fakeShell struct {
 }
 
 func k(name string, args ...string) string { return name + " " + strings.Join(args, " ") }
-func (f *fakeShell) Output(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) ([]byte, error) {
+func (f *fakeShell) Output(_ context.Context, name string, args ...string) ([]byte, error) {
 	return f.out[k(name, args...)], f.err[k(name, args...)]
 }
-func (f *fakeShell) Run(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) error {
+func (f *fakeShell) Run(_ context.Context, name string, args ...string) error {
 	return f.err[k(name, args...)]
 }