Workspaces & Split Panes

Organize your work into project-centric workspaces with multiple terminals, browser panes, and split layouts. Sessions persist across restarts with auto-save every 8 seconds, and vim-style keybindings make navigation instant.

Persistent Sessions

Workspaces survive restarts. Terminal state, pane layout, working directories, and browser tabs are auto-saved every 8 seconds and restored on launch.

Vim-Style Navigation

Navigate between panes with hjkl keybindings. Split horizontally or vertically, zoom into a single pane, or resize with keyboard shortcuts.

Multi-Pane Layouts

Combine terminals and browser panes in any layout. Run your dev server, test suite, and browser preview side-by-side in a single workspace.

Sidebar Overview

The sidebar shows all workspaces with per-pane CWD, git branch, cost summary, active agent status, and port badges — everything at a glance.

Leader Key Mode

tmux-style leader key (Cmd+B on macOS, Ctrl+B on Linux) for rapid workspace control. Press leader then c for new workspace, n/p to cycle, x to close, 1-9 to jump by number.

Workspace History

Recently closed workspaces are preserved in history. Restore a workspace with all its panes and layout intact — no work lost from accidental closes.

Find in Terminal

Search your terminal scrollback with Cmd+Shift+F (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+F (Linux). Find commands, output, and error messages across your terminal history.

Drag-and-Drop Tabs

Reorder panels between panes by dragging tabs. Move a terminal from one split to another, or reorganize your layout without closing and reopening panels.

How it works

Each workspace is an independent environment with its own set of panes, working directory, git context, and optional sandbox configuration. Workspaces are listed in the left sidebar with live metadata: per-terminal working directory, git branch, accumulated cost, and agent activity status.

The split pane system uses a binary tree layout. Split any pane horizontally or vertically, creating nested layouts of any complexity. Each pane can hold a terminal or a browser tab. Navigate between panes with hjkl keybindings (Opt+HJKL on macOS, Alt+HJKL on Linux). Use the leader key (Cmd+B / Ctrl+B) for workspace operations like tmux.

Session persistence uses atomic file writes (temp file + rename) with auto-save every 8 seconds. When thane restarts, it restores every workspace, pane layout, working directory, and browser URL. The persistence layer is separate from the UI, ensuring reliable saves even during event processing.

Use cases

Project-based workflows

One workspace per project: frontend, backend, infrastructure. Each with its own terminals, browser tabs, and sandbox settings. Switch instantly.

Claude Code monitoring

Watch Claude Code working across different workspaces. The sidebar shows activity status, cost, and current working directory.

Pair programming with Claude Code

Claude Code works in one pane while you watch terminal output in another and review changes in the browser — all in a single workspace.

Ready to try thane?

Free for personal use. OS-level sandboxing, split panes, embedded browser, and real-time audit trail — all on your machine.