Layouts

Flexbox Concept

Laio uses a flexbox-inspired layout system similar to CSS flexbox. Panes are sized proportionally using the flex property and arranged using flex_direction.

Flex Direction

flex_direction determines how panes are split:

• row (default): Vertical split line, panes side-by-side (left/right)
• column: Horizontal split line, panes stacked (top/bottom)

windows:
  - name: example
    flex_direction: row  # vertical split, panes side-by-side
    panes:
      - flex: 1
      - flex: 1

Flex Sizing

The flex property determines proportional sizing:

panes:
  - flex: 1  # Takes 1 part
  - flex: 2  # Takes 2 parts (twice as large)
  - flex: 1  # Takes 1 part
# Result: 25% | 50% | 25%

Equal Splits

# Two equal panes (50/50)
panes:
  - flex: 1
  - flex: 1

Asymmetric Splits

# Sidebar + main (20/80)
panes:
  - flex: 1
  - flex: 4

Nested Layouts

Panes can contain nested panes with their own flex_direction:

windows:
  - name: dev
    flex_direction: row  # Vertical split: side-by-side
    panes:
      - flex: 2
        flex_direction: column  # Horizontal split: stacked
        panes:
          - flex: 3  # 75% of left side
          - flex: 1  # 25% of left side

      - flex: 1  # Right side: single pane

This creates:

┌─────────────┬──────┐
│             │      │
│   75%       │      │
│             │      │
├─────────────┤ 33%  │
│             │      │
│   25%       │      │
└─────────────┴──────┘
    66%

The outer row creates a vertical split (left|right). The inner column creates a horizontal split (top/bottom) on the left side.

Common Layouts

Two-Column (IDE Style)

windows:
  - name: workspace
    flex_direction: row
    panes:
      - flex: 1  # Sidebar/terminal
      - flex: 3  # Editor (3x larger)

Three-Column

windows:
  - name: workspace
    flex_direction: row
    panes:
      - flex: 1  # Left sidebar
      - flex: 2  # Main content
      - flex: 1  # Right sidebar

Editor + Terminals Below

windows:
  - name: dev
    flex_direction: column  # horizontal split: stacked
    panes:
      - flex: 3  # Editor (top 75%)
      - flex: 1
        flex_direction: row  # vertical split: side-by-side terminals
        panes:
          - flex: 1
          - flex: 1

Result:

┌─────────────────────┐
│                     │
│      Editor         │
│       75%           │
├──────────┬──────────┤
│          │          │
│   Term   │   Term   │
│   25%    │   25%    │
└──────────┴──────────┘

Dashboard (4-pane Grid)

windows:
  - name: dashboard
    flex_direction: row  # vertical split: two columns
    panes:
      - flex: 1
        flex_direction: column  # horizontal split: stacked
        panes:
          - flex: 1  # Top-left
          - flex: 1  # Bottom-left

      - flex: 1
        flex_direction: column  # horizontal split: stacked
        panes:
          - flex: 1  # Top-right
          - flex: 1  # Bottom-right

Result:

┌──────────┬──────────┐
│          │          │
│  TL      │  TR      │
│          │          │
├──────────┼──────────┤
│          │          │
│  BL      │  BR      │
│          │          │
└──────────┴──────────┘

Focus Control

Set focus: true on a pane to place the cursor there on session start:

panes:
  - flex: 1
    commands:
      - command: npm run build

  - flex: 2
    focus: true  # Cursor starts here
    commands:
      - command: npm run dev

Note: Only set focus: true on one pane. If multiple panes have focus, the last one wins.

Zoom Control

Start a pane in zoomed state (hides other panes):

panes:
  - flex: 1

  - flex: 2
    zoom: true  # Starts zoomed, hiding other panes
    commands:
      - command: tail -f logs/app.log

Use tmux prefix + z to toggle zoom manually.

Limitations

There are practical limits to nesting depth. Very deep nesting (5+ levels) may cause layout issues. Test your configurations to find what works best.

For complex multi-pane setups, consider:

• Using multiple windows instead of deeply nested panes
• Keeping nesting to 2-3 levels maximum
• Testing layouts before committing to a workflow