Split Panes

Tmux-style split panes for running multiple terminals side by side or stacked.

Split panes divide a single tab into multiple independent terminal sessions. Split horizontally (side by side) or vertically (top and bottom). There is no limit on the number of panes per tab.

Creating a split

Create a split in one of two ways:

Top bar buttons - Click the vertical split icon (top/bottom) or horizontal split icon (side by side) in the toolbar
Keyboard shortcuts - Press Cmd + D for a horizontal split or Shift + Cmd + D for a vertical split

The currently focused pane is divided into two equal halves, each with its own shell session.

Resizing panes

Drag the divider between any two panes to adjust the split ratio. Panes can be resized anywhere from 15% to 85% of the available space.

Navigating between panes

Click any pane to focus it, or use keyboard shortcuts:

Action	Shortcut
Focus pane above	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Up`
Focus pane below	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Down`
Focus pane left	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Left`
Focus pane right	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Right`

The focused pane is highlighted with a subtle blue border.

Closing a pane

Hover over a pane to reveal the close button (X) in the top-right corner, or press Cmd + W to close the focused pane. If only one pane remains, Cmd + W closes the entire tab.

Layout persistence

Split layouts are saved automatically and restored on relaunch. Terminal panes start a fresh shell session. Split directions and ratios are preserved.

Agent sessions in split panes

Each pane independently tracks agent sessions. If an agent runs in one pane and a manual terminal in another, the agent’s status (working, waiting for permission, review) is tracked per-pane. On app restart, panes with agent sessions show individual resume screens.

Agent and script pane reuse

When launching an agent or running a script from the command palette, Vertical Tabs prefers reusing an existing pane over creating a new tab:

If the focused pane is idle, the command runs there
If the focused pane is busy, other panes in the tab are checked
If all panes are busy, a new split is created automatically

This avoids adding extra tabs to the sidebar.

Use cases

Tail logs in one pane while running commands in the other
Run tests alongside your development server
Monitor a process while editing config files or running migrations
Compare output from two different commands at the same time
Agent + manual work in parallel panes