Sidebar & Sessions
The sidebar is your navigation hub for managing projects and chat sessions.
Sidebar Layout
The sidebar has two main sections:
- Header, logo, collapse button, and "New Chat" button
- Session List, all your chat sessions organized by project and time
Navigation controls (Home, Settings, panel toggles) live in the Workspace Dock at the bottom of the window.
Expanding and Collapsing
- Press
Cmd+\/Ctrl+\to toggle the sidebar - Click the collapse button in the header
- Expanded, full session list with titles, timestamps, and project grouping
- Collapsed, icon-only mode with dot indicators for recent sessions
Sessions
Creating Sessions
- Click "New Chat" or press
Cmd+N - With multiple projects: the button shows a dropdown to pick the project
- You can also drag an image onto the "New Chat" button to start a chat with an image attachment
Session List
Sessions are grouped by project, then by time within each project:
- Time grouping, today, Yesterday, This Week, Older
- Collapse behavior, time groups with 5 or fewer sessions are expanded by default; larger groups are collapsed
- Session preview, shows the title (auto-generated from your first message)
- Status dot, colored indicator showing session state (idle, thinking, waiting, error)
- Timestamp, relative time (e.g., "2h ago")
- Unread indicator, visual dot for sessions with new activity
Session Context Menu (Right-Click)
Right-click any session for options:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Rename | Edit the session title inline (press Enter to confirm, Escape to cancel) |
| Archive | Move to the History section (hidden from active list) |
| Delete | Permanently remove the session |
History (Archived Sessions)
Archived sessions appear in a collapsible History section at the bottom of the session list. It shows the count of archived sessions. Right-click an archived session and select "Restore" to bring it back to the active list.
Project Management in Sidebar
Project Headers
Each project has a collapsible header showing:
- Color indicator (customizable left border with gradient)
- Project name
- Session count badge
- Expand/collapse chevron
- Drag handle (visible on hover) for reordering
Project Context Menu (Right-Click Header)
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Set Inactive | Hide from the active list (moved to "Inactive" section) |
| New Chat | Start a new session in this project |
| Project Settings | Open settings scoped to this project |
| Color | Choose a color for the project indicator (6 options) |
| Archive All Chats | Archive all sessions in this project |
Time Group Context Menu (Right-Click Time Header)
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Archive all | Archive all sessions in this time group |
| Delete all | Permanently delete all sessions in this time group |
Inactive Projects
Projects marked as inactive move to a collapsible "Inactive" section at the bottom. They remain accessible, hover over a project header and click "Set Active" to restore it.
Reordering Projects
Drag project headers to reorder them in the sidebar. The order persists across sessions.
Project Filter
A dropdown filter at the top lets you show sessions for a specific project only, or all projects.
Search
The magnifier next to New Chat opens the sidebar search, as does Cmd/Ctrl F while the sidebar has focus. It matches session titles, project names, and message content, and filters the session list in place.
See Finding Past Chats for how the matching works and how Panda searches the same history.
Drag and Drop
- Drop images on "New Chat", creates a new session with the image attached
- Drop images on a session, the session auto-focuses when you hover over it with a dragged image