Use case
I use several plugins that each register their own sidebar panel — some work best at full height (e.g. Quiet Outline), while others I’d like to split vertically to show two views at once (e.g. a scene navigator above, scene details below).
Currently, any horizontal split in the sidebar affects the entire sidebar column. There is no way to split a single panel independently while leaving adjacent panels at full height.
A second, related friction point: when multiple panels are stacked, each carries its own Obsidian tab bar. For panels that only ever show one view, this header wastes vertical space and adds visual noise.
Proposed solution
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Panel-scoped splits — allow a horizontal split to be scoped to a single plugin panel, so that other panels in the same sidebar column are unaffected and retain their full height.
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Hideable tab bar — an option (per panel or globally) to hide the Obsidian tab bar for panels that contain only one view, recovering the wasted header space.
Together, these two changes would allow users to compose flexible sidebar layouts without forcing every plugin to compete for the same split structure.
Why this matters
Plugin authors currently have to work around this by building their own internal layout systems — duplicating what the workspace should handle. A native solution would benefit the entire ecosystem.