Three translucent work slabs and two curved side panes connect through luminous paths around a central helper orb. — Separate sessions visually while keeping each task, preview, and terminal in its own lane.

Organize Hermes Desktop with Tabs, Windows, and Panes

Hermes Desktop supports several simultaneous conversations without forcing them into one crowded transcript. Use tabs for related active sessions, pop-out windows for focused or long-running work, and side panes for files, previews, and terminals.

Official documentation: Open the official guide

Build a clear workspace

Open a new session tab with Cmd/Ctrl+T. Cycle with Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab, or jump by position with Ctrl+1…9. Closing the focused tab with Cmd/Ctrl+W does not have to be permanent: Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+T reopens the last closed tab.

Use Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N for another window. A session can also be popped out from its context menu or the command palette. The focused single-chat window drops the global sidebar, which is useful on a second display or for a long-running task. Live output continues wherever that session is shown.

Toggle the left sidebar with Cmd/Ctrl+B, the right sidebar with Cmd/Ctrl+J, and swap their sides with Cmd/Ctrl+\.

Workspace checklist

Give each independent objective its own session.
Keep closely related sessions as tabs in one window.
Pop out long-running or review-heavy work when it needs dedicated space.
Keep previews and files beside the chat that produced them.
Close stale tabs and use reopen only when context is still relevant.
Confirm which session has focus before sending a prompt or terminal output.

Common pitfalls

Running unrelated work in one transcript. Context becomes harder to audit and more expensive to reuse.
Assuming a popped-out window is a duplicate session. It is another view of the same live conversation.
Sending into the wrong focused tab. Similar titles make this easy; verify the session heading first.
Using panes as permanent clutter. Hide sidebars when they no longer support the current task.

Verification

Open two safe test sessions, pop one into a new window, and confirm live output remains synchronized for that session. Toggle both sidebars, close and reopen a tab, and verify no prompt moved to the wrong conversation. The gate is clear task separation with preserved session state.