diff --git a/Sources/GhosttyTerminalView.swift b/Sources/GhosttyTerminalView.swift
index c9b30137..c70d9e53 100644
--- a/Sources/GhosttyTerminalView.swift
+++ b/Sources/GhosttyTerminalView.swift
@@ -594,15 +594,22 @@ class TerminalSurface: Identifiable {
     let tabId: UUID
     private let surfaceContext: ghostty_surface_context_e
     private let configTemplate: ghostty_surface_config_s?
+    private let workingDirectory: String?
     let hostedView: GhosttySurfaceScrollView
     private let surfaceView: GhosttyNSView
     private var ownsDisplayLink = false
 
-    init(tabId: UUID, context: ghostty_surface_context_e, configTemplate: ghostty_surface_config_s?) {
+    init(
+        tabId: UUID,
+        context: ghostty_surface_context_e,
+        configTemplate: ghostty_surface_config_s?,
+        workingDirectory: String? = nil
+    ) {
         self.id = UUID()
         self.tabId = tabId
         self.surfaceContext = context
         self.configTemplate = configTemplate
+        self.workingDirectory = workingDirectory?.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
         let view = GhosttyNSView(frame: .zero)
         self.surfaceView = view
         self.hostedView = GhosttySurfaceScrollView(surfaceView: view)
@@ -692,15 +699,26 @@ class TerminalSurface: Identifiable {
             }
         }
 
-        if !envVars.isEmpty {
-            let envVarsCount = envVars.count
-            envVars.withUnsafeMutableBufferPointer { buffer in
-                surfaceConfig.env_vars = buffer.baseAddress
-                surfaceConfig.env_var_count = envVarsCount
-                surface = ghostty_surface_new(app, &surfaceConfig)
+        let createSurface = { [self] in
+            if !envVars.isEmpty {
+                let envVarsCount = envVars.count
+                envVars.withUnsafeMutableBufferPointer { buffer in
+                    surfaceConfig.env_vars = buffer.baseAddress
+                    surfaceConfig.env_var_count = envVarsCount
+                    self.surface = ghostty_surface_new(app, &surfaceConfig)
+                }
+            } else {
+                self.surface = ghostty_surface_new(app, &surfaceConfig)
+            }
+        }
+
+        if let workingDirectory, !workingDirectory.isEmpty {
+            workingDirectory.withCString { cWorkingDir in
+                surfaceConfig.working_directory = cWorkingDir
+                createSurface()
             }
         } else {
-            surface = ghostty_surface_new(app, &surfaceConfig)
+            createSurface()
         }
 
         if surface == nil {
diff --git a/Sources/TabManager.swift b/Sources/TabManager.swift
index f31afccf..0f47437f 100644
--- a/Sources/TabManager.swift
+++ b/Sources/TabManager.swift
@@ -16,11 +16,20 @@ class Tab: Identifiable, ObservableObject {
     @Published var surfaceDirectories: [UUID: String] = [:]
     var splitViewSize: CGSize = .zero
 
-    init(title: String = "Terminal") {
+    init(title: String = "Terminal", workingDirectory: String? = nil) {
         self.id = UUID()
         self.title = title
-        self.currentDirectory = FileManager.default.homeDirectoryForCurrentUser.path
-        let surface = TerminalSurface(tabId: id, context: GHOSTTY_SURFACE_CONTEXT_TAB, configTemplate: nil)
+        let trimmedWorkingDirectory = workingDirectory?.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines) ?? ""
+        let hasWorkingDirectory = !trimmedWorkingDirectory.isEmpty
+        self.currentDirectory = hasWorkingDirectory
+            ? trimmedWorkingDirectory
+            : FileManager.default.homeDirectoryForCurrentUser.path
+        let surface = TerminalSurface(
+            tabId: id,
+            context: GHOSTTY_SURFACE_CONTEXT_TAB,
+            configTemplate: nil,
+            workingDirectory: hasWorkingDirectory ? trimmedWorkingDirectory : nil
+        )
         self.splitTree = SplitTree(view: surface)
         self.focusedSurfaceId = surface.id
     }
@@ -302,8 +311,14 @@ class TabManager: ObservableObject {
 
     @discardableResult
     func addTab() -> Tab {
-        let newTab = Tab(title: "Terminal \(tabs.count + 1)")
-        tabs.append(newTab)
+        let workingDirectory = preferredWorkingDirectoryForNewTab()
+        let newTab = Tab(title: "Terminal \(tabs.count + 1)", workingDirectory: workingDirectory)
+        let insertIndex = newTabInsertIndex()
+        if insertIndex >= 0 && insertIndex <= tabs.count {
+            tabs.insert(newTab, at: insertIndex)
+        } else {
+            tabs.append(newTab)
+        }
         selectedTabId = newTab.id
         NotificationCenter.default.post(
             name: .ghosttyDidFocusTab,
@@ -313,6 +328,27 @@ class TabManager: ObservableObject {
         return newTab
     }
 
+    private func newTabInsertIndex() -> Int {
+        guard let selectedTabId,
+              let index = tabs.firstIndex(where: { $0.id == selectedTabId }) else {
+            return tabs.count
+        }
+        return min(index + 1, tabs.count)
+    }
+
+    private func preferredWorkingDirectoryForNewTab() -> String? {
+        guard let selectedTabId,
+              let tab = tabs.first(where: { $0.id == selectedTabId }) else {
+            return nil
+        }
+        let focusedDirectory = tab.focusedSurfaceId
+            .flatMap { tab.surfaceDirectories[$0] }
+        let candidate = focusedDirectory ?? tab.currentDirectory
+        let normalized = normalizeDirectory(candidate)
+        let trimmed = normalized.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
+        return trimmed.isEmpty ? nil : normalized
+    }
+
     func moveTabToTop(_ tabId: UUID) {
         guard let index = tabs.firstIndex(where: { $0.id == tabId }) else { return }
         guard index != 0 else { return }