View Modes — Normal / Canvas / Shelf
The same open worktrees, three layouts. Switching modes rearranges the view; it never changes your running sessions.
Keywords:view modelayoutnormalcanvasshelfswitch viewtoggle canvastoggle shelfdefault view
The three modes#
| Mode | Layout | Strength | Toggle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Sidebar of worktrees + the focused worktree’s tabs/panes | Deep, focused work on one branch | default (exit Canvas/Shelf) |
| Canvas | Zoomable board of live terminal cards | See many agents at once; broadcast | ⌘⌥↩ |
| Shelf | Vertical “book spines” you flip through | Fast keyboard triage of many worktrees | ⌘⇧↩ |
How to switch#
- Canvas:
⌘⌥↩(toggle_canvas), the sidebar Canvas button, or Command Palette → “Toggle Canvas”. - Shelf:
⌘⇧↩(toggle_shelf), the sidebar Shelf button, or Command Palette → “Toggle Shelf”. - Back to Normal: toggle the active mode off, or select a worktree in the sidebar.
Toggling Canvas or Shelf with no open worktrees does nothing.
What’s preserved across switches#
- Your running terminals, tabs, and panes are untouched.
- Canvas persists card positions/sizes/z-order across launches.
- Entering Shelf keeps your current worktree open (or jumps to the first available one if you were on Canvas / archived / nothing).
- Exiting Canvas returns you to the focused card’s worktree, the worktree you had before Canvas, your last focused worktree, or the first available — in that order.
Launch behavior#
defaultViewMode (Settings) chooses which mode Prowl opens in:
normal, shelf, or canvas.
canvasDefaultLayout (Settings) chooses how cards are first arranged when you
open Canvas: uniform (same-size cards packed to fit) or tile (resize cards to
fill the screen — the default).