More frequently than not, I’ll have more than just a handful of files open, and there is a threshold for the number of open files until the tabs become unusable:
I don’t always have the Side Bar open, although that works slightly better for managing large numbers of open files. Perhaps something like the open-document popdown menu that BBEdit uses may be more appropriate for quick access to the open files in a project:
It’s compact and out of the way and gives quick access to the open files in a project…