Cursor IDE — Agent / Glass multi-window (split) layout
Describe the Bug
In the multi-window Agent layout, dragging the “New Agent” entry from the left into a split opens a new window panel. From then on, focus changes between windows in the multi-window panel toggle the right side panel:
When I focus the newly-split window panel, the right side panel closes.
When I focus another window in the multi-window panel, it pops back up.
Every focus change re-lays-out the whole multi-window panel (with and then without the side panel), which is disorienting and makes it hard to track which window I am in.
There is no user-facing setting controlling this behavior (the layout state appears to be applied programmatically, via an internal agentLayoutControl.visibilityState), so there is no workaround.
Open the Agent layout with the agents list on the left.
Drag the “New Agent” entry into the editor area to open a new split window.
Click to focus the new split window → right side panel closes.
Click to focus a different window in the multi-window panel → side panel reappears, and the panel re-lays-out.
Repeat → layout shifts on every focus change.
Expected Behavior
Side panel visibility should persist regardless of which window in the multi-window panel has focus. Focus changes should not toggle panels or trigger a re-layout.
Another variant of the same issue, while we are at it:
When I archive a session that is currently part of a split window (left panel → select the session → Archive), the right side panel closes and the archived session stays open in the split. So the session I just archived is still visible in the split, and the layout shifts in the same confusing way as on focus change.
Steps:
Have a session open as part of a split (multi-window) layout.
In the left panel, select that session and choose Archive.
Observe: the right side panel closes, but the archived session remains open in the split.
Expected: archiving a session that participates in a split should cleanly close/replace that session’s pane without collapsing the side panel or leaving the just-archived session open.
Thanks for the clear write-up and repro steps, @OmryA - and for splitting this out from the mode-toggle layout reports.
This is a known issue on our side. In the split/multi-window Agent layout, side-panel visibility currently follows the focused tile instead of staying stable across the whole split, so moving focus between windows collapses and reopens the right side panel and reshuffles the layout. The archive-in-split behavior you added in your follow-up is the same underlying problem. We’ve had a few internal reports of this and it’s on our team’s radar.
You’re right that there’s no setting controlling this today, so there isn’t a clean workaround at the moment. I’ve noted your report with the others we’re tracking and will follow up here once there’s a fix.