Panes Documentation

[softwarenerd]

Panes

"Multi Pane" Data Science

• Document The Panes
  • Editor
    • Link to vscode for advanced features like groups?
  • Panel
    • That's where your console lives in the Stacked Layout
    • Other "output"-like features such as Terminal and Problems
  • Primary SideBar
    • Not strictly part of multipane workflow
    • Examples
      • Explorer
      • Search
      • Debugging
    • Can we link to vscode doc? That's a lot to cover...
  • Workspace
    • Editor
    • Console
  • Secondary Side Bar
    • Session (Variables / Plots)
    • Connections
    • Help
    • Viewer
  • Plot/Viewer, Customizable to your needs.

Default layout: Stacked

• A layout for “Code First” Data Science
• Users of RStudio will find this familiar (4-pane)
• Immediately customizable for your needs

Side-by-side layout

• Some people like the console on the side

Notebook layout

Layout customization

• Drag and drop everything everywhere
• Use "Customize layout" button in title bar
  • Switch between presets
    • Switch side-by-side left and right
• Go back to where you started
  • Reset to "factory settings" with preset layouts (stacked, side-by-side)
  • Right-click component (e.g. Console) and do "Reset Location"

[rodrigosf672]

Multi-Pane in Positron: Optimizing Your Data Science Workflow

Positron's multi-pane interface is designed to provide a flexible and efficient environment for data science. By organizing various tools and outputs into distinct, customizable panes, you can tailor your workspace to suit your workflows, both in Python and R.

Positron’s multi-pane interface is designed to help data scientists stay organized, focused, and in control of their workflows, whether they’re building dashboards, running models, or writing reproducible code.

Example of Python-based (Shiny) interactive dashboard running inside Positron. With the code editor on the left and live output rendered in the integrated Viewer and Plots panes on the right, data scientists and enthusiasts can build, visualize, and refine dashboards without leaving the development environment.

Basic Overview

This section outlines the core layout elements of Positron’s interface. Each pane plays a distinct role in supporting coding, data exploration, and model development, giving you full control over your data science environment.

Interface of the Positron development environment showing Title Bar, Top Bar, Primary Sidebar, Workspace, Secondary Sidebar, and Status Bar.

• Title Bar: located at the very top of the window, it identifies the current file (e.g., ui.rs) and project (e.g., ark) and provides OS-level actions and window controls (e.g., close, minimize, maximize).
• Top Bar: just below the title bar, it enables users to open files, search globally across the project through the Search bar, and select/change interpreter versions (e.g., Python --version or R --version).
• Primary Sidebar: the leftmost panel, used to explore and navigate the project structure. It includes the File Explorer and access to files and folders in the directory.
• Workspace: the central editing area where active files are opened and edited. Code from the file being edited is displayed here, with support for syntax highlighting, inline error messages, hover tooltips, code folding, and easy-to-use navigation.
• Secondary Sidebar: the right panel, used to interact with the R runtime. It contains tabs like SESSION, CONNECTIONS, HELP, and VIEWER, as well as panels for VARIABLES and PLOTS.
• Status Bar: located at the bottom of the window, it displays useful information such as Git branch, file encoding, language mode, formatter, and cursor position.

Understanding the Editor and Panel Panes

Positron's interface is composed of several key pane types, each serving a specific purpose. Designed with the data scientist in mind, the layout ensures seamless navigation between code, data, and visual output, hence maximizing productivity and minimizing context switching.

Editor Pane

The editor is the central space in Positron where you write, debug, and refine your code. Whether you're working in Python or R, the editor provides a rich, IDE-grade experience tailored to data science workflows.

💡 Tip: While editing code, you can quickly get help by launching the Positron Assistant directly from the editor. It can explain code, suggest improvements, or help debug issues.
Press Cmd + I (macOS) or Ctrl + I (Windows/Linux) to open it.

Where You Write Code

• Write and edit your code (e.g., R scripts, Python notebooks, Shiny apps) in a responsive, syntax-aware editor.
• Positron builds on VS Code, offering powerful language features with a familiar interface.
• For layout and tab organization, see the VS Code Documentation on Editor Basics.

Key Features

• Syntax Highlighting
  Intelligent color schemes for quick visual parsing of R, Python, Rust, YAML, and more.
• Auto-completion & Intellisense
  Language server support for live suggestions, signature help, and hover tooltips.
• Inline Diagnostics
  Errors, warnings, and linter messages appear in context as you type.
• Multi-language Support
  Work seamlessly across Python, R, Quarto, Shiny, and Markdown files. No additional configuration needed.
• Live Document Preview
  Render R Markdown, Quarto documents, Shiny apps, and more next to your code for immediate feedback.
• Tabs and Split View
  Organize workspaces with multiple tabs or horizontal/vertical splits to suit your workflow.
• Version Control Integration
  View diffs, stage changes, and commit directly within the editor.

Panel Pane

The Panel appears below the editor and offers contextual tools that support your data science workflow.

Terminal

💡 Tip: You can also access the Positron Assistant from the Terminal tab, which is useful when you're running into errors or want to ask questions about console output.
Press Cmd + I (macOS) or Ctrl + I (Windows/Linux) to open the assistant within the terminal.

• Fully integrated shell for running scripts, managing environments, and executing CLI tools.
• The Positron Assistant lives here, allowing you to chat with AI models about code, errors, or documentation while staying within your project context.

Other Panel Tabs

• Console
  Displays runtime output from Python and R code, useful for inspecting print statements and summaries.
• Output
  Logs and system messages from build tools, publishing pipelines, or diagnostics.
• Problems
  Linter and build system warnings/errors aggregated in one place with clickable references.
• Ports
  Manage port forwarding for interactive apps (e.g., Shiny, Streamlit, Flask).
• Debug Console
  Evaluate expressions and inspect values during active debugging sessions.

Layout Customization

Positron supports multiple layout options to suit different workflows. The interface is flexible and can be adjusted using drag-and-drop or preset configurations.

Default: Stacked Layout

• The default layout is a stacked 4-pane setup, similar to RStudio.
• Editor on top, with Console, Viewer, and Environment/Plots below.
• Geared toward code-first data science workflows.

Other Layout Options

• Side-by-Side: Places panes like the Console or Viewer to the side of the editor.
• Notebook Style: For those who prefer an output-below-code, notebook-like experience.

Customization Features

• Drag and drop: Move panes anywhere in the interface.
• Customize Layout button: Located in the title bar; opens layout configuration mode.
• Presets: Switch between layouts such as:
  • Stacked (default)
  • Side-by-Side
  • Notebook
• Reset options:
  • Right-click any pane (e.g., Console) → Reset Location
  • Restore all defaults via the preset menu → Reset to factory settings

[rodrigosf672]

Multi-Pane in Positron: Optimizing Your Data Science Workflow

Positron's multi-pane interface is designed to provide a flexible and efficient environment for data science. By organizing various tools and outputs into distinct, customizable panes, you can tailor your workspace to suit your workflows, both in Python and R.
[...]

@juliasilge I did some further editing in the documentation to have better formatting and to trim down a bit, so please find it above in my previous comment. I'd like to receive feedback on it, so that I can make adjustments. Three areas I think could be worthwhile getting additional feedback on are:

• Being more succinct: what parts can we trim down further?
• Focusing more on the audience: is this documentation good for our target audience? Should it be more/less technical?
• Tone appropriateness: am I being too promotional at some points? Is mentioning the Positron Assistant as tips for Editor pane and Terminal sub-pane helpful or do we already have documentation elsewhere that suffice?

cc @softwarenerd @testlabauto

[juliasilge]

It's a bit hard to give feedback on this as a comment on an issue. Would you be up for opening a PR on our documentation site adding a new page on this?

Some initial general thoughts I have are:

• Let's call the page "User Interface"
• Let's avoid adding details on Positron Assistant on this page
• Let's stick with one screenshot for this page for now, due to Automate creation of screenshots for documentation site #7651 (I think annotation is OK and probably needed for this one)

[rodrigosf672]

Thank you @juliasilge and @jthomasmock for the initial feedback. PR: posit-dev/positron-website#95

[rodrigosf672]

Addressed by team effort in posit-dev/positron-website#95