Introduction
Rift Panel is a desktop application for managing multiple concurrent Claude Code, Codex, and terminal sessions in a unified split-panel workspace.
What is Rift Panel?
Rift Panel is a purpose-built desktop workspace for developers who run multiple terminal sessions simultaneously. Whether you are orchestrating AI coding assistants like Claude Code and Codex alongside traditional shell sessions, or managing a fleet of long-running processes, Rift Panel gives you a single window to see and control everything.
At its core, Rift Panel provides a split-panel interface where every panel hosts an independent terminal session. Panels can be split horizontally or vertically, resized by dragging borders, and maximized to fill the workspace. The layout is fully persistent — close the app and reopen it later, and every panel, tab, and scroll position is restored exactly as you left it.
Beyond raw terminal management, Rift Panel ships with dedicated panel types for common developer workflows: a built-in code editor, a file explorer, a git graph visualizer, and deep integrations with Firebase, Google Cloud, and Flutter tooling.
Key Capabilities
- Multi-session management — Run Claude Code, Codex, and shell sessions side by side. Each session gets its own PTY process with full terminal emulation.
- Split-panel workspace — Split any panel horizontally or vertically to create the exact layout you need. The panel tree supports arbitrary nesting depth.
- Session persistence — Workspace layouts, session state, and scrollback history are saved automatically and restored on launch.
- Integrated tooling — Dedicated panel types for Firebase Deploy, Cloud Functions, Emulators, Cloud Run Logs, GCP Secrets, Flutter DevTools, and more.
- Cross-platform — Built with Tauri, Rift Panel runs natively on macOS, Windows, and Linux with minimal resource overhead.
- Keyboard-first — Every action is accessible from the keyboard. The command palette and configurable shortcuts keep your hands off the mouse.
How It Works
Rift Panel is built on Tauri, combining a Rust backend for system-level operations with a React frontend for the user interface. The Rust layer manages PTY (pseudo-terminal) processes, file system access, and native window controls. The React frontend renders the panel tree, terminal emulators (powered by xterm.js), and all integrated tool UIs.
Communication between frontend and backend happens over Tauri's IPC bridge. When you create a new session, the frontend sends an IPC command to the Rust backend, which spawns a new PTY process and streams output back to the terminal emulator in real time. This architecture keeps the UI responsive even under heavy I/O load from multiple concurrent sessions.
Panel Types
| Panel | Description |
|---|---|
| Terminal | Full terminal emulator with PTY support for shell, Claude Code, and Codex sessions |
| Code Editor | Built-in editor with syntax highlighting and file tabs |
| File Explorer | Tree view of your project directory with file operations |
| Git Graph | Visual commit history and branch graph for your repository |
| Firebase Deploy | Deploy to Firebase Hosting and monitor deployment status |
| Emulators | Start, stop, and monitor Firebase Emulator Suite |
| Cloud Functions | Deploy and tail logs for Firebase Cloud Functions |
| Cloud Run Logs | Stream and filter Cloud Run service logs in real time |
| GCP Secrets | View and manage Google Cloud Secret Manager entries |
| Flutter DevTools | Embedded Flutter DevTools for performance profiling and widget inspection |
| Test Runner | Run and visualize Flutter test results with pass/fail indicators |
Next Steps
- Quick Start — Install Rift Panel and create your first workspace in minutes.
- Panels — Learn how the split-panel system works and how to organize your workspace.
- Integrations — Explore the built-in Firebase, Google Cloud, and Flutter integrations.