Panels and windows

The file explorer, terminal, browser and git panel sit around the chat, and any of them can move to its own window.

Each panel remembers, per project

Whether a panel was open is stored against the project, so a codebase can open with the terminal up and a research folder without it.

The panels

A workspace is the chat plus whatever you have opened beside it. Every panel is optional.

File explorer browses the project and opens files in a viewer.
Terminal is a real shell in the project directory, separate from the one the chat uses.
Browser preview points at your dev server, and can be handed to the chat as a tool.
Git panel stages, commits and pushes, with AI-written messages.

Put one on another screen

Open the panel from the dock along the edge of the window.
Right-click its tab and choose Open in new window. — It keeps working exactly as it did beside the chat.

The file explorer shows your project's directory tree and opens files in a multi-tab viewer. This is the fastest way to read what Panda just changed or to point it at a specific file in conversation. Having multiple tabs open lets you cross-reference related files, which is especially useful during code review or when tracking how a change propagates across modules.

Terminal

The terminal is a real shell scoped to your project directory. Output streams live as commands run, so you can watch a build, a test suite, or a long-running process in real time. When Panda runs a command on your behalf, you see the same streamed output here, keeping its work fully transparent. This is particularly valuable for debugging: if a test fails or a build breaks after an AI-generated change, you see exactly what went wrong without switching contexts.

Browser preview

The browser preview renders your running application inside the workspace. Paired with a dev server, it gives you an always-current view of your app right next to the chat. You can navigate to different routes, reload the page, and capture screenshots.

The real power is the feedback loop: you describe a UI change, Panda makes the edit, the dev server hot-reloads, and the preview updates. You see the result in seconds and can immediately tell Panda to adjust. This rapid iteration cycle is what makes PandaOS projects fundamentally different from a bare chat.

Detachable windows

Any panel in the workspace can be detached into its own separate window. Right-click a chat session, a dock tab, or a Canvas card and select "Open in new window." The panel pops out into a standalone window that you can move to a second monitor, resize independently, or keep visible alongside other applications.

Detachable panels include:

Chat sessions - run a conversation in its own window
Apps - keep Gmail, Supabase, or any connected app open separately
Terminal - put your shell on another screen
Browser preview - watch your app on a second monitor while chatting on the first
File explorer - browse files without taking space from the chat

Detached windows stay in sync with the main workspace. If you detach a chat, it keeps streaming and receiving updates. Close the detached window and the panel returns to the main workspace. Window positions are saved, so re-detaching the same panel opens it where you left it.