4-Pane iTerm2 Setup for Claude Code CLI Separates AI Roles

Problem and Solution

A developer using Claude Code CLI encountered two persistent issues: context drift where sessions become messy and lose thread after dozens of turns, and self-grading bias where a single model both implements and audits its own code, leading to silent failures.

The solution is a four-pane iTerm2 terminal arrangement with each pane dedicated to a specific role, built specifically for Claude Code.

Pane Configuration

• AUDIT (Opus, read-only): Adversarial review only, enforced so it can't write files
• IMPL (Sonnet): Implementation and running tests
• PROMPT: Prompt engineering and iteration, separate from code
• PLAN: Architecture discussions and documentation, zero file-writes

Technical Implementation

A cc alias in each pane launches Claude with the right model, effort level, and permissions automatically. The setup uses $ITERM_PROFILE (set natively by iTerm2) rather than a custom environment variable, so it survives crashes and window arrangement restores without extra ceremony.

The developer has published a free guide with complete implementation details including .zshrc snippets at pravindurgani.github.io/claude-code-multipane-iterm2/.