[shin1244]

Fixes #2232

What's Changed

• WIP: Split view for the Assets panel.
• Still working on the implementation and will address the remaining changes discussed in the issue.
• Please let me know if there are any other changes you'd like me to make.

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[shin1244]

@Maksims
Done. The left view is the main one now and navigation always goes there, so the
right view keeps whatever the user put in it. Pasting is resolved from the pointer,
and the "active view" idea is down to a small marker in the right view's header.

There is one case I would like your view on. The setup in the video is deliberately
extreme, but copying assets between projects with several editor windows open is a
real workflow for us.

2026-09-04.112008.webm

1. The user activates the Hovership folder view, intending pasted assets to land there.
2. The window they copy from overlaps this one, so coming back means clicking on
   whatever part is visible — here, the hierarchy.
3. The pointer is now over the hierarchy, so the paste lands in the main view, and the
   assets have to be moved into Hovership afterwards.

I think an explicit "active view" concept could help avoid this kind of ambiguity. That said, I'm not a UX expert, so I'd appreciate your perspective on whether this would be a good UX approach.

[shin1244]

I think an explicit "active view" concept could help avoid this kind of ambiguity. That said, I'm not a UX expert, so I'd appreciate your perspective on whether this would be a good UX approach.

To add to that — what I mean by an active view is one simple rule: everything happens
in the panel you clicked last.

I expect that means less code and a more intuitive result, with no special cases to
write for each action.

[Maksims]

It is a complex UX indeed.

In this case, it would be better if it would paste in the right panel, indeed. So for indirect pasting - active panel - is a needed concept.

But here is a case where applying "active panel" to "auto-navigation", would be pretty annoying:

1. User navigates to folder with textures on a second view.
2. User selects render from viewport.
3. User selects material from an inspector.
4. We want auto-navigation to always happen on the left view, so that right view with textures is readily available.

If we auto-navigate based on active panel, then case with multiple materials selected and texture folder navigations, will lead to ping-pong auto-navigations, and will require an extra deliberate focus of the left or right view by user to ensure "sticky" auto-navigation. Which is undesirable.

So for auto-navigation - we want sticky one (on the main/left view), while for other actions (without direct interaction) - based on active, highlighted view.

[shin1244]

Understood, changed it that way.

Auto-navigation is pinned back to the main view, while pasting and asset creation
follow the active view.

[shin1244]

@kpal81xd Hi! Whenever you have a moment, could you take a look at this PR?

Our team is currently running this build internally via Docker, so I merge and redeploy every time the editor is updated. Having it in main would make things much easier for us.

Thanks!

[kpal81xd]

Hi @shin1244, thanks for all the work on this, and for going back and forth with @Maksims on the UX. The split between sticky auto-navigation and actions that follow the active view was carefully thought through, and the multi-window paste case you raised was really useful.

Unfortunately we won't be merging this. The Editor is being redesigned, and the redesign includes a new, more flexible tab and panel layout. Split views like this one will be handled at that level instead of inside individual panels like Assets. Merging this now would give us a second layout system that we'd have to maintain and then migrate or remove soon after, so it's outside what we can take on at the moment.

I know your team already runs this build, so I'm sorry this means more maintenance on your fork for now. Your work and the discussion here will feed into the redesign, especially:

• having two asset views open side by side (for example, a textures folder next to the main view)
• auto-navigation staying pinned to the main view
• paste and create going to the active view, including when switching between editor windows

I'll close this PR, but please keep #2232 open so the use case stays tracked. If you think the new layout misses any part of your workflow once it lands, please comment there.

Thanks again for the contribution! 🙏