Developer Spaces template for Mac

Six desktops, one job each: the editor gets a whole screen, the terminal and servers have their own place, and chat stays out of sight until you go to it. With Spacepal you jump between them with ⌃⌥1 to ⌃⌥6, without the slide.

Download Developer Spaces (.json)

The desktops

#	Desktop	Opens	Why
1	Code	VS Code	The editor at full width, with nothing next to it. This is where you spend most of the day.
2	Terminal	Terminal	Shells, dev servers and logs. Keeping them off the editor desktop means fewer windows to cycle through.
3	Browser	Safari, `http://localhost:3000`	Docs, pull requests and the app you are running. Change the link to your own port.
4	Chat	Slack	Messages and calls, out of view while you work.
5	Mail	Mail, Calendar	Checked on purpose, not every few minutes.
6	Music	Spotify	Playback controls you rarely need to see.

Use a different editor or terminal? Edit the apps lists in the file (for example com.googlecode.iterm2 for iTerm2 or dev.zed.Zed for Zed), or rebuild the plan in the planner.

Shortcuts that make it work

⌃⌥1 … ⌃⌥6 go to a desktop instantly. Press the same keys again to go back to where you were, which is handy for Code and Browser.
⌃⌥⇧ plus a number moves the front window there, so a stray browser window goes to desktop 3 in one keystroke.
⌃⌥F searches windows on every desktop when you can't remember where something is.
⌥Tab shows all six desktops by name with previews.

Going further

Spacepal can run a shell command when you enter or leave a desktop, keep an app's new windows on one desktop, and hide other apps when you arrive. The developers use case shows how, and automations lists every option.

To install: in Spacepal, open Settings, Profiles, Templates, click Import Template…, choose the file, then click Apply. If you have fewer than six desktops, add them in Mission Control first. More setups: all templates.

Written by Dan Bayer, developer of Spacepal. Last updated 2026-10-28.