A VSCode extension for managing tabs with zen-like focus — clean idle tabs, and choose where new tabs open.
Features
🧹 Idle Tab Management
Automatically closes tabs that have been inactive for a specified period, helping you maintain a clean workspace and focus on what matters.
Configurable timeout: Set how long a tab should be idle before being closed (default: 120 seconds)
Smart exclusions: Exclude specific file patterns from being auto-closed
Safe defaults: Won't close dirty, active, or pinned tabs
📍 Tab Positioning
Control where new tabs open and how active tabs are positioned for better workflow organization.
Insert at start: New tabs can be inserted at the beginning of the tab list
Tab promotion: Active tabs can be moved to the front when you edit or save them
Pinned tab respect: Always respects pinned tabs and positions new tabs after them
⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts
Bury Active Tab: Ctrl+Alt+Right (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Alt+Right (Mac) - Only available when "Insert at start" is enabled. This command moves the active tab to the end and switches to the next tab, preventing you from getting stuck in a loop when the active tab is at the beginning. This overrides VSCode's default tab switching behavior, so you don't need to remember separate shortcuts for the extension.
Configuration
Key
Description
Type
Default
zen-tabs.idleTimeout
The idle timeout in seconds.
number
120
zen-tabs.idleExclusions
The list of file patterns to exclude from idle timeout.
array
[]
zen-tabs.insertTabAtStart
Whether to insert new tabs at the start of the tab list.
boolean
true
zen-tabs.tabPromotionTriggers
The list of events to detect move tab to the start of the tab list.
