---
title: How do I manage workspace tabs and layouts?
question: workspace tabs and layout
area: quadrants
surface: desktop
audience: beginner
keywords: [tabs, title bar tabs, top bar tabs, add tab, new tab, close tab, rename tab, switch tab, switch tabs, keyboard shortcuts, Cmd T, Command 1, Ctrl Tab, layout presets, Preview pair, Quad terminals, Solo, resize grid, grid dividers, resize brain drawer, split screen, panes, close and terminate]
related: [what-is-a-quadrant]
updated: 2026-09-14
---

# How do I manage workspace tabs and layouts?

The tabs across the top of the codus window are your workspaces. Each tab is one 2 by 2 grid of four [quadrants](what-is-a-quadrant.md), and each quadrant holds one project with its own agent. Click a tab to swap the whole grid to that tab's four projects; switching never stops anything, so the agents on the tab you leave keep running in the background. codus starts with one tab called **Tab 1**. Click the **+** at the right end of the row (or press **Cmd+T**) to add another, up to 10 tabs. Each tab remembers its own four projects and its own pane sizes, separately from the rest.

## Starred tabs and More

Up to five starred workspace tabs stay visible in the strip. Other tabs are in **More**; the total tab limit and the five-star display limit are different. Open **More** to switch to a hidden tab or change its star. Unstarring hides it from the strip but keeps its agents running. If all five stars are used, unstar one before starring another. A hidden tab's attention state can still be reflected by **More**.

## Add, rename, and close a tab

- **Add:** click the **+** at the right end of the row, or press **Cmd+T**. New tabs are named **Tab 2**, **Tab 3**, and so on. At 10 tabs the **+** stops working, so close one to make room.
- **Rename:** double-click the tab's name (a single click only switches to it), type the new name, and press **Enter**. Press **Esc** to discard; clicking away saves.
- **Close:** hover over the tab, click the small **×** that appears, then click **Close & terminate** to confirm (or **Cancel**). The **×** is hidden on your last tab, so you can never close all of them, and there is no keyboard shortcut to close a tab.

Closing a tab stops its live sessions and removes their previews and terminal scrollback. Your project files, tasks, notes and saved provider conversation files are kept. Re-pinning the same folder brings its project records back; restoring a supported saved conversation is a separate action and does not restart the old development server or workers.

## Switch tabs from the keyboard

These work from anywhere, even while you are typing to an agent. Hold **Command** and press **1** to **8** to jump to a tab by position, or **9** for the last tab. Step through one at a time with **Command+Option+Left/Right arrow**, or **Control+Tab** (add **Shift** to go back); both wrap around from end to start. Watch out for **Cmd+W**: it closes the whole codus window, not the tab, which catches out people used to browsers.

## Rearrange and resize the panes

Right-click a tab and pick from the **Layout** section for a one-click arrangement: **Preview pair** (left column terminals, right column browser previews), **Quad terminals** (all four terminals, no previews), or **Solo** (one terminal, one preview, one DevTools pane, the fourth hidden). Presets fill corners by position, not by project. The same menu also holds **Sound alerts**.

To size panes by hand, drag the thin dividers in the gaps between them: the vertical divider sets column width, the horizontal one sets row height, and the round handle where they cross moves both at once. Double-click a divider (or right-click it for a reset option) to return to an even split. A divider only exists where two panes actually meet, and each side stops at about 15% so nothing shrinks away.

To resize the **Brain** panel on the right, drag its **left edge**; Codus remembers the width.

## How do I know it worked?

The intended workspace is selected, its projects remain attached and unstarred tabs are reachable through **More**. Hiding or switching a tab is different from the destructive **Close & terminate** action.