Rectangle + Ikuna: window snapping without losing your project context

What Rectangle does well

Rectangle is the category-defining Mac window snapper. You install it, learn the keybind pattern (Control-Option-Arrows for halves, Control-Option-U/I/J/K for corners), and use it dozens of times a day. It is free, open source under MIT, keyboard-first, and near-invisible in operation. If you have not tried it, install it from rectangleapp.com — it should probably be on every Mac.

Snap-to-half by keyboard or by drag, free and open source (MIT, rxhanson/rectangle), Spectacle default shortcuts one click away on first run, macOS 10.15+ on Intel and Apple Silicon — the widest OS support in the category. Rectangle Pro is a separate paid upgrade for extra layouts; the base app costs nothing and never asks.

Rectangle solves one specific problem completely: this window, snap it to that half of the screen, right now, with one keystroke. No account, no context, no state. That focus is exactly why it wins its category.

What Rectangle doesn't do

Rectangle is not a workspace tool, and its docs never claim it is. It does not save which apps were open for a project, remember which browser tabs belonged to which project, persist window positions across restarts or monitor reconnects, know what project you're on, block distractions per project, or measure anything for a focus dashboard.

None of those are Rectangle's job. They are the shape of the gap Rectangle leaves — the same gap that has you asking "is there something more than just a snapper?" The answer isn't a bigger snapper. It is a second, complementary layer that handles project state.

The additive stack — Rectangle for snap, Ikuna for context

The correct question is not "Rectangle or Ikuna?" It is "Rectangle plus what?" Rectangle handles the moment-to-moment window geometry within a project. Ikuna handles the state between projects.

Rectangle (geometry layer): "Move the active window to the right half." Instant, per-action, no memory. Ikuna (context layer): "Load the Client A project — its 8 apps, its 12 Firefox tabs, its 3 Chrome tabs, its multi-monitor window layout, its Focus Shield settings, its ritual — in under 3 seconds." Whole-environment, per-project, persisted.

When you press Rectangle's Control-Option-Right inside an Ikuna context, Rectangle snaps the window. When you next save that context in Ikuna, Ikuna captures the exact pixel positions of every window — including the Rectangle-snapped ones — and restores them next time. Rectangle changes what Ikuna will remember. Ikuna does not touch how Rectangle behaves. Additive by design.

Keybind conflicts (there aren't any)

The most common Rectangle-user hesitation about adding a second app is keybind collision, so here is the exact map. Rectangle's default shortcuts all sit under Control-Option: ⌃⌥←/⌃⌥→ for left and right half, ⌃⌥↑/⌃⌥↓ for top and bottom, ⌃⌥U/I/J/K for corners, ⌃⌥D/F/G for thirds, ⌃⌥⏎ to maximise, ⌃⌥C to centre.

Ikuna's quick-switch shortcuts default to ⌘⌥1 through ⌘⌥5 for your first five contexts — Command-Option, not Control-Option. A different modifier set, so nothing collides with a stock Rectangle install. Every Ikuna shortcut can be reassigned in Settings, so if you run a heavily customised setup (Alfred, Raycast, Karabiner rules) you can rebind before you save your first context.

The safest path: leave Rectangle exactly as it is, install Ikuna, and keep the ⌘⌥ defaults. You will not need to change a single Rectangle preference.