Your first workspace

This walkthrough builds a workspace for a coding project: an editor on the left, a browser and a terminal on the right.

Before you start

Finish the guided setup and activate Layout. At the bottom of the editor’s sidebar, the status reads “Active”. If it reads “Paused”, click Resume Layout in the editor’s header.

To open the editor, choose Open Layout from the Layout icon in the menu bar, or press ⌃⌥,.

1. Create and name the workspace

1. At the bottom of the sidebar, click New workspace…. Type a name, such as “Website”, leave Template on Empty workspace, and click Create. Layout adds the workspace to the current section, selects it, and gives it the Stacked layout.
2. To rename it later, click the workspace’s name in the editor’s header, type a new name, and press Return. You can also choose Rename… from the … menu in the header, or right-click the workspace in the sidebar.

You can also save your apps and arrangement as a workspace template and choose it here for future projects.

2. Pick a layout

Below the preview, click the menu that shows the current layout (Stacked) and choose Debug under Start from. The preview now shows three zones: Editor on the left two-thirds, and Browser above Terminal on the right.

See Layouts and zones for the other templates.

3. Assign apps to the zones

Each empty zone in the preview reads “Choose an app”.

1. Click the Editor zone.
2. Search for your editor, select it, and click Choose app.
3. Do the same for Browser and Terminal.

Each app now has a row in Apps, below the preview, with the zone it goes to.

To put two apps in the same zone, hover over the zone and click +: they form a stack and share the zone’s frame. To have an app float over the zones, click Add app at the top of Apps and choose Floating. See Stacks and floating apps.

4. Launch the workspace

Click Launch in the editor’s header. Layout switches to the workspace, opens the apps that aren’t running, and places a window of each app in its zone. Then the editor hides. If something goes wrong, for example an app isn’t installed, the editor stays open and shows a message at the top.

From the keyboard, press the workspace’s shortcut with ⇧. The sidebar shows its key next to the workspace’s name: for a workspace marked 5, that’s ⌃⌥⇧5.

Note

Launching a workspace moves the windows of other workspaces out of sight, including every window that was open when Layout started: those belong to the General workspace. Switch to General to get them back. If a layout needs an app that is already open, it reuses that app’s window, which then leaves General.

5. Switch between workspaces

• Hold ⌥ and press Tab to go through your workspaces, most recent first. Release ⌥ to switch to the selected one.
• Or press a workspace’s shortcut, ⌃⌥ and its number at first, to go straight to it.

Each switch brings back the windows of the workspace where you left them. See Switchers.

6. Adjust the zones

Open the editor again with ⌃⌥, and select your workspace.

• Drag a divider in the preview to resize the two zones next to it. It moves in steps of 1%, and each zone keeps at least 10% of the screen.
• Click Equalize, below the preview, to give the zones of each split the same share. It only shows when it would change something.
• Click Reapply, in the editor’s header, to apply the new proportions to the open windows right away.

The proportions are saved for this workspace.

Next steps

• Make each app open your project when the layout launches: Work context.
• Learn every shortcut: Keyboard shortcuts.
• Use the bar at the top of the screen: Layout bar.