Keep maximized pane mode when switching between panes

[Otbivnoe]

Pre-submit Checks

• I have searched Warp feature requests and there are no duplicates
• I have searched Warp docs and my feature is not there

Describe the solution you'd like?

When working inside a single tab with multiple panes, I often use split mode to create multiple long-running sessions:

• Claude Code
• Codex
• lazygit
• shell

Most of the time I only want to view one pane at a time. I would like pane navigation to preserve the maximized (fullscreen) state instead of restoring the split layout.

Current workflow:

The split layout should continue to exist in the background, but the active pane should remain maximized when switching. This would allow users to cycle between panes while staying in fullscreen mode.

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Yes. I use a single Warp tab as a project workspace with multiple long-running panes such as Claude Code, Codex, lazygit, and a shell.

Since I usually interact with only one pane at a time, repeatedly restoring the split layout interrupts the workflow and forces me to maximize panes again.

This is particularly noticeable when working with AI agents and on smaller laptop screens. I use a 14-inch MacBook Pro, where split panes significantly reduce the available horizontal space and the amount of visible context.

Additional context

No response

Operating system (OS)

macOS

How important is this feature to you?

4

Warp Internal (ignore) - linear-label:39cc6478-1249-4ee7-950b-c428edfeecd1

None

[oz-for-oss]

@Otbivnoe

Here's what I found while triaging this issue:

Closely related to #1718, which also asks for switching panes while keeping a pane maximized. This looks like an enhancement to pane navigation rather than a macOS-specific bug.

Maintainer details

I concluded that enhancement request to keep split-pane maximized/focused mode active while switching between panes..

Triage summary

This is an enhancement request for split-pane navigation: when a pane is maximized, switching or cycling to another pane should keep the pane group in focused/maximized mode and show the newly focused pane instead of restoring the full split layout.

Reproduction / evidence

• The reporter provided a concrete workflow with multiple long-running panes in one tab and a screenshot of the current split layout.
• Code inspection matches the reported behavior: focus changes clear the maximized state in app/src/pane_group/focus_state.rs, and regular next/previous pane navigation routes through focus_pane in app/src/pane_group/mod.rs.
• A specialized focus_pane_preserving_maximized_state helper exists for agent-conversation pane swaps, but regular pane navigation does not use it.

Likely implementation area

PaneGroupFocusState::set_focused_pane clears is_focused_pane_maximized for all focus changes, while try_navigate_next / try_navigate_prev and the underlying pane navigation functions do not preserve the previous maximized bit. The main product/implementation decision is which focus paths should preserve maximized mode, such as keyboard pane navigation, command-palette pane navigation, mouse focus, and panel-to-pane navigation.

Duplicate check

A full open-issue scan found one very close prior request, #1718, but not two likely duplicates with the same switching-while-maximized behavior. Recently closed issues from the last 7 days had no matching candidates, so duplicate_of is left empty per the dedupe threshold.

This is my automated analysis and may be incorrect. A maintainer will verify the details.

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[leesa-ui-w]

Hey @Otbivnoe, thanks for the detailed write-up! This is a duplicate of #1718 which tracks the same request to keep the maximized state when switching between panes. Closing this one out — feel free to add a thumbs up or any extra context over on that thread.