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 and Codex 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 Work context section
Section titled “The Work context section”In the editor, Work context comes after the zones and floating apps. It has one row per app of the workspace, and each row sums up what the app opens:
| App | What you can set | Row when empty |
|---|---|---|
| VS Code, Cursor, Terminal | A folder. See Editors and Terminal. | 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 |
| Claude, Codex | 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 next to the section’s title sums up how Layout opens work contexts.
Edit a context
Section titled “Edit a context”Click a row to open its 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, Esc, or the × button 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.
When Layout opens a context
Section titled “When Layout opens a context”- Launch layout 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. Two kinds of context do react to a switch: an app’s link opens again if another workspace has shown that app in the meantime, and a simulator app shared by several workspaces comes to the front. See App links and Simulator.
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. Which window or tab a page ends up in is up to the app itself.
What Layout never runs
Section titled “What Layout never runs”Layout never runs shell commands, project commands, or development servers, and nothing you type in a context is passed to a shell. A local address such as http://localhost:3000 only works if your server is already running.