Split View

Updated July 28, 2026

Split view lets you divide a gem into side-by-side terminal panes so you can watch multiple shards at once: run a build in one pane while Claude works in another.

Splitting a gem

Press Cmd + D to split the current gem (press it again to collapse the split). You can also hover the + on the shard bar and click split pane in the column that drops beneath it; while you’re split that row reads close split and stays lit, so it’s the way out as well as the way in.

crystl adds a new pane next to the active shard with a draggable divider between them.

Each pane is a full shard with its own shell process, working directory, and approval mode. You can run Claude Code in one pane and use the other for manual commands, logs, or a second Claude session.

Filling the new pane

An empty pane opens a picker. It lists every other shard in the gem (click one to show it in the pane), followed by three ways to start something new:

  • + new shard: a plain shard at the gem directory
  • + new isolated shard: a shard in its own git worktree and branch, see isolated sessions
  • + summon a hero: a specialist from the hero catalog, opening the same summon panel the shard bar uses

A split pane is one of the better places for a hero: a reviewer, a QA specialist, or a backend agent working beside what you’re doing rather than a shard away. The hero row appears only when quest is enabled in Settings; with it off, the picker shows the first two.

Working with panes

  • Focus a pane: click anywhere inside a pane to make it active
  • Resize panes: drag the divider between panes to adjust the split
  • Close a pane: close the shard inside it with Cmd + W, and the remaining pane expands to fill the gem

Both panes count as on screen, so while crystl is focused neither one floats notification cards at you. See Panels you’re already watching. Shards outside the split still do.

When to use split view

Watch logs while Claude works

Split your gem and run tail -f on a log file in one pane while Claude iterates on code in the other. You see errors as they happen without switching shards.

Compare outputs

Run the same command with different arguments in two panes to compare results side by side.

Monitor a dev server

Keep your dev server visible in one pane while Claude makes changes in the other. See hot reloads as they land.

Availability

Split view is available in both Free and Guild tiers.