Work context overview
A workspace can remember more than where windows go. Its work context says what each app opens: your editor and Terminal open the project folder, your browser opens your tabs, Claude, Codex and T3 Code bring back the project’s latest chat, Slack goes to a channel, and Simulator boots a device with your app.
For example, a Code workspace could open your project folder in the editor and in Terminal, then http://localhost:3000 and the project’s documentation in the browser.
The project folder
Section titled “The project folder”The Project card, above Apps, gives the workspace one folder. Its editors, terminals, Unfold, Claude, Codex and T3 Code open it, unless one of them has a folder of its own, so you set the folder once instead of in each app’s dialog.
- Click Choose…, or drop a folder from the Finder on the card. Change… picks another one.
- When the workspace’s apps already open a folder, the card offers it: Use followed by the folder’s name. Those apps then follow the project.
- The card says which apps open the project, and their rows in Apps show the folder with a Project tag.
- In an app’s dialog, Project folder, Its own folder and None choose which folder that app opens.
- Show in Finder, in the card’s … menu, reveals the folder while it exists. Remove Project Folder, in the same menu, takes the project away. Nothing is lost: each app keeps the folder it opened.
To build a workspace around a project in one step, use New Workspace from Project….
In the editor
Section titled “In the editor”Apps, below the preview, has one row per app of the workspace. After the app’s name and where it goes, each row sums up what the app opens:
| App | What you can set | Row when empty |
|---|---|---|
| VS Code, Cursor, Devin Desktop, JetBrains IDEs, and terminals such as Ghostty or iTerm2 | A folder, or the project’s, and commands for the terminal. See Editors and terminals. | Add a folder |
| Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Arc, Brave, Edge | Web pages, as tabs. See Browser tabs. | Add tabs |
| Simulator | A device, an app, and a link. See Simulator. | Choose a device |
| Apps that declare their own links, such as Slack, Discord, Linear, or Notion | A link inside the app. See App links. | Add a link |
| Unfold | The project folder, or a folder of its own, in the same window. | Add a folder |
| Claude, Codex, T3 Code | A project. See Claude and Codex chats. | Choose a project |
| Any other app | Nothing: Layout just launches it. | Launch only |
A warning triangle on a row means the context can’t open as it is, for example because the folder no longer exists or a URL is invalid. Hover over the triangle to read why.
The ⓘ button at the top of Apps sums up how zones, floating apps, and work contexts work.
Edit a context
Section titled “Edit a context”Click an app’s row to open its dialog. The menu that shows where the app goes keeps its own clicks, and a row that reads Launch only has no dialog. The dialog edits a draft: nothing changes until you save.
- Save stores the context in the workspace you opened the dialog from, even if you select another workspace in the meantime. Return also saves, except in the browser tabs editor, where Return completes the address and ⌘Return saves.
- Cancel or Esc closes the dialog without saving.
- While Layout is busy, for example during a launch, Save waits until Layout finishes.
Contexts are saved with the workspace, and Duplicate copies them along with it. A context stays with its app when you move the app to another zone or make it float.
When Layout opens a context
Section titled “When Layout opens a context”- Launching the workspace gives each app its context once, even if the app has windows in several zones, and even if the app is already open.
- Opening an app from the Layout bar, when it has no window in the workspace yet, applies its context too.
- Switching workspaces doesn’t reopen folders or web pages. A few contexts do react to a switch:
- Unfold follows the workspace’s project in its existing window, using the same visibility and focus rules as app links. Add Unfold to Apps and choose the workspace’s Project folder; there is no link to configure. Its app dialog can choose Its own folder or None instead. Previously saved Unfold links keep their folder.
- Claude, Codex and T3 Code bring back the project’s latest chat, and an app’s link opens again, if that app was in view in another workspace in the meantime. See Claude and Codex chats and App links.
- A simulator app shared by several workspaces comes to the front. See Simulator.
- A Ghostty window shared across workspaces shows the workspace’s tmux session.
An app without a context launches as usual.
When something fails
Section titled “When something fails”A missing folder, an invalid URL, or an app that isn’t installed produces an error in the editor. The other apps of the layout still launch and get their context. Safari and Arc decide which window and tab a page ends up in, while Firefox, Chrome, Edge and Brave open a workspace’s tabs together in a new window. See Browser tabs.
What Layout runs
Section titled “What Layout runs”Layout runs only the commands you give a workspace’s terminal, when you launch the workspace, in your own shell. See Terminal commands. Switching workspaces never runs anything, and nothing else you type in a context is passed to a shell. A local address such as http://localhost:3000 only works once your server is running, for example started by one of those commands.