Tabs

Use tabs when you want more than one Kward conversation open in the same interactive terminal session.

Each tab has its own session-backed conversation, transcript, composer state, and running agent turn. That makes tabs useful for splitting work without losing your place: one tab can investigate a bug, another can draft docs, and a third can wait on a long-running answer.

Quick start

Open a new tab:

/tab new

Switch to tab 1, 2, or another visible tab number:

/tab 1
/tab 2

Rename the current tab:

/tab name Docs

Close the current tab:

/tab close

The tab bar appears at the bottom of the composer. The active tab is framed, and each tab label starts with its number.

Common workflow

A typical multi-tab flow looks like this:

1. Start Kward interactively in your project.

2. Use the main tab for the current implementation task.

3. Run /tab new to open a clean conversation.

4. Ask a separate question, such as:

   Review the current API docs structure and suggest where a Tabs guide belongs.
   

5. Switch back with /tab 1 while the other answer runs.

6. Return to the second tab with /tab 2 when it is ready.

Tabs keep the conversations separate, so context from one tab does not automatically spill into another.

Slash commands

Command	Action
/tab new	Open a new tab with a fresh conversation
/tab 1 through /tab 9	Switch to a numbered tab
/tab close	Close the current tab
/tab name <label>	Rename the current tab
/tab rename <label>	Same as /tab name
/tab move left	Move the current tab one slot left
/tab move right	Move the current tab one slot right
/tab move <number>	Move the current tab to a numbered position

If you close the only remaining tab, Kward exits the interactive session. A running tab cannot be closed until it finishes or is cancelled.

Keyboard shortcuts

Kward supports two tab shortcut families. You can choose one in /settings or with composer.tab_keybindings in config.json.

Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab switch tabs when your terminal sends those keys:

Key	Action
Ctrl+Tab	Next tab
Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Previous tab

When composer.tab_keybindings is ctrl:

Key	Action
Ctrl+T	New tab
Ctrl+W	Close tab
Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9	Switch to a numbered tab, if your terminal reports modified number keys

When composer.tab_keybindings is alt:

Key	Action
Alt+T	New tab
Alt+Right	Next tab
Alt+Left	Previous tab
Alt+1 through Alt+9	Switch to a numbered tab

auto is the default. On macOS it prefers the Ctrl family; elsewhere it prefers the Alt family, because many terminals reserve or swallow Ctrl-based tab shortcuts.

Running work in another tab

A tab can keep running while you switch away. Kward marks tab labels by status:

• Yellow: running or queued.
• Green: waiting for your answer to an interactive question, or unread output is ready in a background tab.
• Red: failed or cancelled.

If you type into a busy tab, Kward queues normal prompts until the current turn finishes. Some running turns also support steering input, so short follow-up guidance may be delivered to the active run instead of waiting for the next turn.

Slash commands such as /tab still work while a tab is busy, so you can switch tabs, open a new tab, or move around without waiting.

Persistence

Tabs are backed by normal Kward sessions. Kward stores the open tab list, labels, and active tab per workspace, then restores them the next time you start interactive Kward in that workspace.

The tab layout is stored in Kward's config directory under tabs/. Session transcripts stay in the normal sessions directory. See Sessions for session naming, resuming, forking, exporting, and cleanup.

Notes and limitations

• Tabs are available in the interactive TUI.
• Each tab has its own conversation context; use explicit file mentions or summaries when you want to carry information between tabs.
• A running tab cannot be closed until it is idle.
• Terminal support for modified keys varies. If shortcuts do not arrive, use the /tab slash commands or switch composer.tab_keybindings between ctrl and alt.