Multi-Tab & Split Panes

Professional

Work with multiple terminal sessions simultaneously using tabs, split-pane layouts, tab groups, and layout management for efficient network operations.

Overview

Network operations frequently require working on multiple devices at the same time — comparing running configurations across a pair of core routers, monitoring interface counters on distribution switches while making changes on the upstream border firewall, or verifying BGP neighbors from both sides of a peering link. The NetStacks Terminal provides tabs and split panes to manage these workflows in a single window.

Tabs

Every terminal session opens in its own tab. Tabs display the session name, connection status, and detected device type. You can open as many tabs as your system memory allows, reorder them by dragging, assign colors for visual organization, and group related tabs together.

Split Panes

Any tab can be split horizontally (side by side) or vertically (stacked) to show multiple sessions in a single view. Panes can be further subdivided, resized by dragging the divider, and navigated with keyboard shortcuts. Combined with Multi-Send, split panes let you type a command once and see the results across multiple devices simultaneously.

Tab Groups

Group related tabs together for batch operations. Tab groups support color coding, collapsing and expanding, and scoped Multi-Send (broadcast to only the tabs in a group).

Layouts

Save your tab and pane arrangement as a named layout. Restore it later to pick up exactly where you left off, including which sessions are in each pane and the split sizes.

How It Works

Each tab in the Terminal is an independent session with its own WebSocket connection, scrollback buffer, and XTerm.js rendering instance. Tabs are lightweight — the application only renders the visible tab and pane content, so inactive tabs consume minimal resources.

Tab Management

Tabs are ordered in a horizontal bar at the top of the window. The active tab is highlighted. Each tab shows an icon indicating the connection status (connected, disconnected, connecting) and the detected device type.

Tab types include terminal sessions (SSH, Telnet, local shell), document editors, topology views, device detail panels, script editors, and SFTP panels. All tab types share the same tab bar and can be freely mixed.

Pane Rendering

When you split a tab, the Terminal creates a grid layout with resizable dividers. Each pane binds to a terminal session and receives its own XTerm.js instance. Focus follows the pane you click or navigate to with keyboard shortcuts. The active pane is indicated by a highlighted border.

Layout Persistence

Layouts are serialized as JSON objects that record tab positions, pane arrangements, split sizes, and session associations. When you restore a layout, the Terminal recreates the tab and pane structure. If sessions are still available, they reconnect automatically.

Note

Tab groups are session-specific and are not persisted with layouts. For persistent organization, use saved sessions organized into folders in the Session Panel.

Step-by-Step Guide

Working with Multiple Tabs

Press Cmd+T (Mac) or Ctrl+T (Windows/Linux) to open a new local shell tab.
Use Quick Connect (Cmd+Shift+Q / Ctrl+Shift+Q) to connect to a device. Each connection opens in a new tab.
Switch between tabs with Cmd+Shift+] / Ctrl+Shift+] (next) and Cmd+Shift+[ / Ctrl+Shift+[ (previous).
Jump directly to any of the first 9 tabs with Cmd+1 through Cmd+9 (Mac) or Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9 (Windows/Linux).
Right-click a tab to rename it, assign a color, duplicate it, save the session, or close it.

Tip

Assign tab colors by environment: red for production, yellow for staging, green for lab. This makes it immediately obvious which environment you are working in.

Splitting and Navigating Panes

With a tab active, press Cmd+D (Mac) or Ctrl+D (Windows/Linux) to split horizontally (side by side).
Press Cmd+Shift+D / Ctrl+Shift+D to split vertically (stacked).
Navigate between panes with Cmd+] / Ctrl+] (next pane) and Cmd+[ / Ctrl+[ (previous pane).
Use directional navigation: Cmd+Alt+Arrow / Ctrl+Alt+Arrow to focus the pane in a specific direction.
Drag the divider between panes to resize. Double-click the divider to reset to equal sizes.
Maximize the active pane with Cmd+Shift+Enter / Ctrl+Shift+Enter. Press again to restore.
Close the active pane with Cmd+Shift+W / Ctrl+Shift+W.

Creating a Monitoring Layout

This workflow sets up a 4-pane grid for monitoring multiple devices during a maintenance window:

Connect to your first device (e.g., core-rtr01.dc1.example.net).
Split horizontally (Cmd+D) and connect the new pane to core-rtr02.dc1.example.net.
Focus the left pane and split vertically (Cmd+Shift+D). Connect the new pane to dist-sw01.dc1.example.net.
Focus the right pane and split vertically. Connect to dist-sw02.dc1.example.net.
You now have a 2×2 grid. Enable Multi-Send (Cmd+Shift+M / Ctrl+Shift+M) to type show interface status in all four panes simultaneously.
Go to View → Save Layout and name it "DC1 Monitoring."

Tip

Predefined layouts are available under View → Layouts: Single, Side by Side, Stacked, Quad, and Main + Side. Select one to instantly arrange your panes.

Code Examples

Tab and Pane Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut referencetext

Tab Operations:
  New Tab (Local Shell)    Cmd+T / Ctrl+T
  Close Tab                Cmd+W / Ctrl+W
  Next Tab                 Cmd+Shift+] / Ctrl+Shift+]
  Previous Tab             Cmd+Shift+[ / Ctrl+Shift+[
  Go to Tab 1-9            Cmd+1-9 / Ctrl+1-9
  Move Tab Left            Cmd+Shift+← / Ctrl+Shift+←
  Move Tab Right           Cmd+Shift+→ / Ctrl+Shift+→

Pane Operations:
  Split Horizontal         Cmd+D / Ctrl+D
  Split Vertical           Cmd+Shift+D / Ctrl+Shift+D
  Close Pane               Cmd+Shift+W / Ctrl+Shift+W
  Next Pane                Cmd+] / Ctrl+]
  Previous Pane            Cmd+[ / Ctrl+[
  Focus Left Pane          Cmd+Alt+← / Ctrl+Alt+←
  Focus Right Pane         Cmd+Alt+→ / Ctrl+Alt+→
  Focus Up Pane            Cmd+Alt+↑ / Ctrl+Alt+↑
  Focus Down Pane          Cmd+Alt+↓ / Ctrl+Alt+↓
  Maximize/Restore Pane    Cmd+Shift+Enter / Ctrl+Shift+Enter

Multi-Device Comparison Workflow

Side-by-side comparisontext

# Step 1: Open two tabs and connect to paired routers
#   Tab 1: netadmin@core-rtr01.dc1.example.net
#   Tab 2: netadmin@core-rtr02.dc1.example.net

# Step 2: Split horizontally (Cmd+D) to see both side by side
# ┌──────────────────────┬──────────────────────┐
# │  core-rtr01          │  core-rtr02          │
# │  show ip route ospf  │  show ip route ospf  │
# │  10.1.0.0/16 [110/2] │  10.1.0.0/16 [110/2] │
# │  10.2.0.0/16 [110/3] │  10.2.0.0/16 [110/2] │  ← difference!
# └──────────────────────┴──────────────────────┘

# Step 3: Enable Multi-Send (Cmd+Shift+M) to type in both:
show ip ospf neighbor
show ip bgp summary

Layout Configuration

Saved layout structurejson

{
  "name": "DC1 Monitoring",
  "tabs": [
    {
      "title": "Core Routers",
      "panes": [
        { "session": "core-rtr01.dc1", "position": "top-left" },
        { "session": "core-rtr02.dc1", "position": "top-right" },
        { "session": "dist-sw01.dc1", "position": "bottom-left" },
        { "session": "dist-sw02.dc1", "position": "bottom-right" }
      ],
      "split": "quad"
    }
  ]
}

Questions & Answers

Q: How many tabs can I open?: A: There is no hard limit on tabs. The practical limit depends on your system memory, since each terminal session maintains its own scrollback buffer and connection. Most users comfortably work with 20–50 open tabs. Only the visible tab renders actively, so inactive tabs consume minimal CPU.
Q: How do I split panes?: A: Press Cmd+D (Mac) or Ctrl+D (Windows/Linux) to split the active pane horizontally (side by side). Press Cmd+Shift+D / Ctrl+Shift+D to split vertically (stacked). Each new pane starts a local shell session. You can then connect it to a device using Quick Connect.
Q: Can I resize panes?: A: Yes. Drag the divider between panes to resize them. Double-click the divider to reset both panes to equal sizes. You can also maximize the active pane with Cmd+Shift+Enter / Ctrl+Shift+Enter and press the same shortcut again to restore the original layout.
Q: How do I move or reorder tabs?: A: Drag a tab to a new position in the tab bar. You can also use Cmd+Shift+Left / Ctrl+Shift+Left and Cmd+Shift+Right / Ctrl+Shift+Right to move the current tab left or right.
Q: Does my layout persist across sessions?: A: Saved layouts persist and can be restored from View → Layouts. When you restore a layout, the Terminal recreates the tab and pane arrangement. If the associated saved sessions exist, they reconnect automatically. Unsaved layouts (ad-hoc splits) are lost when you close the application.
Q: What are tab groups and how do I use them?: A: Tab groups let you organize related tabs together. Select multiple tabs (Cmd/Ctrl+click), right-click, and select Create Tab Group. Groups can be collapsed to save tab bar space, color-coded, and used for scoped Multi-Send. Tab groups are session-specific and are not saved with layouts.

Troubleshooting

Layout Not Restoring Correctly

Symptom: Saved layout opens but panes are empty or show local shells instead of device sessions.

Cause: The saved sessions referenced in the layout have been deleted or renamed.

Solution: Re-save the sessions, then update the layout by arranging the panes and saving the layout again with the same name.

Panes Too Small to Use

Symptom: A pane is so narrow or short that the terminal text is unreadable.

Cause: Too many splits in a small window, or a divider was dragged too far.

Solution: Double-click the divider to reset to equal sizes. Close panes you do not need with Cmd+Shift+W / Ctrl+Shift+W. Consider using multiple tabs instead of many panes if your screen is small.

Focus Stuck in Wrong Pane

Symptom: Keyboard input goes to a pane you did not intend.

Cause: The active pane did not update when you expected it to.

Solution: Click directly in the desired pane to focus it, or use Cmd+] / Ctrl+] to cycle through panes. The active pane has a highlighted border.

Tab Colors Not Visible

Symptom: Assigned tab colors are not showing in the tab bar.

Cause: Some themes have styling that obscures tab color indicators.

Solution: Try switching to a different terminal theme in Settings → Appearance. Tab colors appear as a colored bar at the bottom of the tab.

Terminal Overview — General Terminal capabilities, architecture, and operating modes.
Keyboard Shortcuts — Complete shortcut reference including all tab and pane shortcuts.
Multi-Send Broadcast — Send commands to multiple sessions or tab groups simultaneously.
Themes & Customization — Terminal color themes, tab appearance, and font settings.