UI/UX Improvement: Workspace side panel show/hide

[TomBanksAU]

One workflow annoyance i had while using the workspace panel was if i wanted to close it while doing something else, to show it again you have to go to settings and uncheck and recheck the show workspace to have it appear again (It didn't automatically reopen on a new chat session as indicated either).

My solution would be to add a small show/hide button to the side panel to allow users to more easily reopen the workspace side panel.

EG - Below is an example screenshot of a similar UI concept I implemented on another webapp during a hackathon.

[nesquena-hermes]

Thanks for the suggestion @TomBanksAU — the workflow gap is real. The current behavior is that the workspace panel toggle lives only in Settings → Workspace, which is too far from where you actually use the panel.

Two related observations from your screenshot and the underlying behavior:

1. The toggle should be reachable from the rail. A small icon button on the left rail (next to the workspace icon, where the panel attaches) is the right place. Clicking it slides the panel in/out, matching the pattern the rest of the rail icons use. This is consistent with the existing chat panel + sidebar toggle behavior.
2. "Show on new chat" should be remembered as user state, not a global Settings toggle. If the user explicitly hides the panel in their last session, that preference should persist via localStorage and apply to the next session — same way _workspacePanelOpen already persists for other open/close states. The Settings checkbox can stay as a default-for-new-installs setting, but the per-user state should win once they've expressed intent.

The example screenshot you attached shows the right interaction pattern — small, unobtrusive toggle docked to the panel edge with a clear chevron affordance.

Labeling enhancement + ux + workspace, parking in Backlog - Product Review for scoping. The implementation surface is static/workspace.js (panel state + persistence) plus a small CSS rule for the chevron button. A contributor could pick this up — happy to ping with a fix shape if you'd like to take it yourself.

Cross-reference: this is conceptually similar to the recent stealth sidebar-collapse work — clicking the already-active rail icon should toggle the panel rather than being a one-way action.