Vertical tabs
The sidebar rail: one row per pane, with rename, colors, and search.
Mel's tabs live in a vertical sidebar on the left — a rail of rounded cards, one per pane, each showing a session name and its working directory. It's on by default; toggle it with ctrl+shift+B or the sidebar icon at the left of the titlebar.
What each row shows
Every pane gets its own top-level row — split panes are not nested under their tab; a split tab renders as a joined view in the terminal area while its panes remain separate rows in the rail. A row contains:
- A
>_terminal icon in a dark circle. - The session name — "New session" until you rename it or an agent conversation titles it.
- The pane's working directory as a subtitle.
The selected row gets a filled card with a subtle border. What the rows display (and how densely) is configurable — see Tab customization.
Interactions
| Do this | To get |
|---|---|
| Click a row | Focus that pane |
| Hover ✕ or middle-click | Close that pane (closes the tab on its last pane) |
| Double-click | Rename inline — type and press enter |
| Right-click | Context menu: Rename, Close, and a color picker |
Colors picked from the context menu tint the owning tab, which helps when you're juggling several projects or several agents at once.
Search tabs
The borderless "Search tabs…" field at the top of the rail filters the rows live — handy once you have a dozen sessions open across worktrees and remotes.
Why a flat, per-pane list
When you run multiple agents in split panes, each one is an independent piece of work. Giving every pane its own row means you can jump straight to any session — including one half of a split — without first switching tabs and then hunting for the pane. Notifications from blocked or finished agents deep-link the same way.
Related
- Tabs — shortcuts and tab-level behavior
- Split panes
- Tab customization — the gear popup