Editor sync

When you focus a different editor window — VS Code, Cursor, Zed, or Windsurf — Paneful automatically switches to that project's terminals. Zero clicking, zero context-switching. macOS only.

Toggle the whole system on/off from the sidebar header (monitor icon). When you switch to an editor window, Paneful matches the folder name in the window title against your project list and switches if it finds one. A small toast confirms the switch.

Supported editors

The detection matches these window-title patterns:

  • VS Code
  • Cursor
  • Zed
  • Windsurf
  • Any Electron-based editor with the folder name in the title

Setup

Editor sync needs the macOS Accessibility permission, because reading the focused window's title is a privileged operation. Without it, Paneful sees that an editor is frontmost but can't tell which folder you're in.

Grant accessibility

  1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
  2. Click + and add the app that launched Paneful. If you ran paneful from Terminal, add Terminal. From iTerm, add iTerm. From the native macOS app, add Paneful.
  3. Make sure the toggle next to it is on.
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If it stops working after an update: macOS sometimes invalidates the entry. Toggle it off and back on, or remove and re-add the app. Paneful's sidebar shows a yellow dot on the sync icon when the permission is missing.

Editor window titles

VS Code and Cursor include the folder name in the window title by default — no config needed. If you've customized window.title in settings.json, make sure the folder name is still present somewhere in the format.

Troubleshooting

Editor sync isn't switching projects?

  • Click the sync icon to confirm it's enabled (accent color, not muted).
  • Look for a yellow dot on the icon — that means the Accessibility permission is missing.
  • Open a Paneful terminal and run ~/.paneful/paneful-editor-helper --check. Output of ok means accessibility is granted; needs-accessibility means it isn't.
  • Confirm your editor's window title includes the folder name (look at the title bar).
  • Confirm your Paneful project's name matches the folder. (It's the folder name by default; you can rename projects in the sidebar.)