diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 675ee135..05ce50c6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -326,7 +326,9 @@ local defaults = {
       create = "terminal", ---@type "terminal"|"window"|"split"
       split = {
         vertical = true, -- vertical or horizontal split
+        before = false, -- place the split before the current pane (left when vertical, above when horizontal)
         size = 0.5, -- size of the split (0-1 for percentage)
+        close_on_exit = false, -- close the split when Neovim exits
       },
     },
     --- Actual cli tool config is loaded from the runtime path `sk/cli/{tool}.lua` and merged with the config below.
diff --git a/lua/sidekick/cli/session/tmux.lua b/lua/sidekick/cli/session/tmux.lua
index 95dbbb48..d20c5272 100644
--- a/lua/sidekick/cli/session/tmux.lua
+++ b/lua/sidekick/cli/session/tmux.lua
@@ -44,14 +44,34 @@ function M:start()
   elseif Config.cli.mux.create == "split" then
     local cmd = { "tmux", "split-window", "-dP", "-c", self.cwd, "-F", PANE_FORMAT }
     cmd[#cmd + 1] = Config.cli.mux.split.vertical and "-h" or "-v"
+    if Config.cli.mux.split.before then
+      cmd[#cmd + 1] = "-b"
+    end
     local size = Config.cli.mux.split.size
     vim.list_extend(cmd, { "-l", tostring(size <= 1 and ((size * 100) .. "%") or size) })
     self:add_cmd(cmd)
     self:spawn(cmd)
+    if Config.cli.mux.split.close_on_exit then
+      self:close_on_exit()
+    end
     Util.info(("Started **%s** in a new tmux split"):format(self.tool.name))
   end
 end
 
+--- Kill the tmux pane when Neovim exits.
+function M:close_on_exit()
+  local pane_id = self.tmux_pane_id
+  if not pane_id then
+    return
+  end
+  vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("VimLeavePre", {
+    once = true,
+    callback = function()
+      pcall(Util.exec, { "tmux", "kill-pane", "-t", pane_id }, { notify = false })
+    end,
+  })
+end
+
 --- Execute the given tmux command and update the session info,
 --- based on the first pane returned.
 ---@param cmd string[]
diff --git a/lua/sidekick/config.lua b/lua/sidekick/config.lua
index d30e92e8..a6f1bfb7 100644
--- a/lua/sidekick/config.lua
+++ b/lua/sidekick/config.lua
@@ -93,7 +93,9 @@ local defaults = {
       create = "terminal", ---@type "terminal"|"window"|"split"
       split = {
         vertical = true, -- vertical or horizontal split
+        before = false, -- place the split before the current pane (left when vertical, above when horizontal)
         size = 0.5, -- size of the split (0-1 for percentage)
+        close_on_exit = false, -- close the split when Neovim exits
       },
       -- max lines to capture when dumping a multiplexer pane for scrollback support
       -- more lines means slower loading of the scrollback