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Sidebar and Developer Panel

marimo organizes editor tools into two main areas: the sidebar on the left and the developer panel at the bottom. This layout keeps everyday notebook tools easily accessible while providing a dedicated space for debugging and development utilities.

Editor showing sidebar on the left and developer panel at the bottom

The sidebar provides quick access to panels you'll use frequently while working on notebooks. Click the icons on the left edge of the editor to open panels.

Default sidebar panels:

Panel Description
Files Browse and open files in your workspace
Variables Explore variables and data sources in your notebook
Packages View installed packages and manage dependencies
AI Chat with AI assistants and use agents
Outline Navigate your notebook via table of contents
Documentation View live documentation as you type
Dependencies Visualize cell relationships with the minimap and dependency graph

Toggle the sidebar with Cmd/Ctrl-Shift-S.

Developer Panel

The developer panel houses tools for debugging, tracing execution, and other advanced functionality. It appears at the bottom of the editor, similar to the developer tools in VS Code or browser DevTools.

Default developer panel tabs:

Panel Description
Errors View all errors across your notebook
Scratchpad A scratch cell for quick experiments without affecting your notebook
Tracing Monitor cell execution and performance
Secrets Manage environment secrets
Logs View stdout and stderr output
Terminal Integrated terminal for shell commands
Snippets Browse and insert code snippets

Toggle the developer panel with Cmd/Ctrl-J.

Customizing your layout

Both the sidebar and developer panel are fully customizable. You can:

  • Reorder panels: Drag panels to rearrange their order within a section
  • Move panels between sections: Drag a panel from the sidebar to the developer panel (or vice versa) to relocate it
  • Hide panels: Right-click a panel icon to access options for hiding or moving it

Your layout preferences are saved and persist across sessions. Panels automatically adapt their appearance based on their location — showing a more compact vertical layout in the sidebar and a wider horizontal layout in the developer panel.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Cmd/Ctrl-J Toggle developer panel
Cmd/Ctrl-Shift-S Toggle sidebar
Cmd/Ctrl-Shift-I Open minimap (in Dependencies panel)
Ctrl-` Open terminal