¶Projects & sidebar

The left sidebar is the project switcher. Conductor scans a single root folder and lists every directory inside it, enriched with git status.

¶The projects folder (root)

On first launch Conductor scans ~/Code. To change it:

• Click the ⋯ button at the top of the sidebar, or
• Open the command palette (⌘K) → Change projects folder…

The chosen root is persisted and re-scanned on the next launch. Switching root is also what happens automatically when you load a workspace that was saved against a different folder.

Backed by the list_projects Tauri command, which returns each immediate subdirectory and its git branch.

¶Git status per project

Each project that is a git repository shows:

• the current branch,
• a dirty indicator when the working tree has uncommitted changes,
• ahead / behind counts relative to its upstream.

The initial listing appears immediately; git status is enriched in parallel just after. It refreshes automatically when the window regains focus (throttled to once every few seconds) and via the sidebar refresh button.

¶Fuzzy search

Start typing in the sidebar to filter the project list instantly. The same projects are also searchable from the command palette (⌘K).

¶Pinned projects

Pin favourites to a sticky Pinned section at the top of the sidebar. Pins persist even when you change the root folder (they store their own path), and stay until you unpin them. Pinned projects resolve their own git status independently, so they stay accurate even when they live outside the current root.

¶Opening a project

• Click a project to open a terminal tab rooted at its folder. If a tab for that project already exists, Conductor focuses it instead of opening a duplicate.
• Use the per-project zed / code / cursor buttons to open the whole project in your real editor. Conductor auto-detects which editors are installed (detect_editors) and launches the selected one (open_in_editor).
• If the Elyra CLI is installed, use the agent button to open a native agent panel in that project.

¶Project health at a glance

Each project row shows, at a glance:

• git status — branch, a dirty marker, and ahead/behind counts.
• a green ⚡port badge for any local server currently listening from inside that project — detected from each process's working directory (lsof), so it works with any stack and needs no configuration. Click a badge to open http://localhost:<port>.
• a pulsing running dot when a foreground command is active in one of the project's terminal tabs.
• a 🐳 container badge (running/total) for Docker containers belonging to the project, mapped via each container's Compose working-dir. Hidden when Docker isn't running.

See the 🕘 Timeline top-action for a session history of finished commands across all panes (process, duration, and a click to jump back).

¶Related

• Git — the in-app commit dialog.
• Terminals & panes — what happens after you open a project.
• Workspaces — save a multi-project layout.