Multi-Instance Terminal Cowork Juggle
Run several Claude Code instances in iTerm tabs and juggle between them like a Starcraft player: plan on one, execute on another, remote SSH on a third.
Before & after
Same prompt, same agent — the only difference is the skill.
Running multiple Claude Code sessions is definitely possible and can boost your productivity. The key is keeping each context focused so you don't get confused about which session is doing what. You could use terminal tabs and label them clearly — maybe one for planning mode, one for active development, one for a side project. You'll want to monitor your token usage across sessions since context windows can fill up fast. I'd suggest using /context or /compact commands to audit your session sizes periodically. Slack notifications when a session completes can help you juggle between them. What kind of work are you trying to parallelize?
MULTI-INSTANCE TERMINAL WORKFLOW STEP 1: ITERM SETUP Create three named panes: • Tab 1 label: plan-local • Tab 2 label: execute-local • Tab 3 label: experiment KEYBINDINGS: Cmd+] = next tab (switch focus) Cmd+[ = prev tab Shift+Tab in any pane = toggle plan mode on that session STEP 2: WORKFLOW PATTERN Tab 1 (plan mode): /ar:plan "design the refactor" Tab 2 (execute mode): active coding; run tests; monitor logs Tab 3 (experiment): try risky changes; prototype; keep isolated STEP 3: CONTEXT HYGIENE Before switching tabs: run /context audit to spot token bloat Monthly: /compact to trim old transcripts from memory When stuck: context shift — ask a different session for a fresh perspective STEP 4: NOTIFICATIONS enable notifications for finished runs in ~/.claude/settings.json: "notification_event": "on_completion" EXAMPLE SESSION: Tab 1 drafts a feature spec while Tab 2 refactors old code and Tab 3 experiments with a risky algorithm. Switch focus with Cmd+], keep each session under 20k tokens.
About this skill
name: multi-instance-terminal-juggle description: Run several Claude Code instances in iTerm tabs and juggle between them like a Starcraft player: plan on one, execute on another, remote SSH on a third.
Multi-Instance Terminal Cowork Juggle
What This Does
The staff engineer runs Claude Code across multiple iTerm tabs, labels each tab (local, remote SSH, side project), uses shift-tab plan mode on one while executing on another, and swaps tabs with command bracket keys. Slash /context and slash /compact keep each context window fresh.
What You Get
- iTerm tab layout with labels
- plan mode on one tab, execute mode on another
- shift-tab toggle between modes
- /context audit for token bloat
- /compact for manual summarization
- enable notifications for finished runs
Customize
- tabs: named terminal panes
- primary_model: Opus per tab
- per_tab_workflow: plan, execute, review
- notification_sound: alert on completion
- tab_shortcut: which keys switch focus
Sample Output
The engineer plans a live-activity feature in tab one, deletes music code in tab two, and works on a newsletter project in tab three all in parallel.
Target Audience
Senior engineers who want max throughput from Claude Code
SKILL.md preview
---
name: multi-instance-terminal-juggle
description: Use when running several Claude Code instances across terminal tabs to plan, execute, and work remotely in parallel without cross-contaminating contexts.
version: 1.0.0
category: Technical/Coding
author: AgentVolt
license: proprietary
tags:
- technical
- coding
- standard
---
# Multi-Instance Terminal Cowork Juggle
Runs several Claude Code instances across multiple terminal tabs and juggles between them, planning on one, executing on another, working remotely over SSH on a third, to keep throughput high without cross-contaminating contexts.
## When to use
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