Terminal Tabs — Hotkeys, Focus & Claude Code

Browser-like hotkeys and reliable focus for VS Code terminals — with built-in Claude Code integration.

Why?

If you keep multiple terminals open in VS Code, switching between them is awkward:

• No default keyboard shortcut for jumping to terminal N
• Clicks sometimes leave focus on a stray Quick Open / palette instead of the terminal input
• Spawning a fresh Claude Code session is "toggle panel → new terminal → type claude"

This extension fixes all three.

The first two features work for any terminal (tail -f, dev servers, REPLs, shells). The Claude Code integration (one-click new session, terminal profile, name-aware filtering) is the cherry on top.

Features

Browser-like terminal hotkeys

Like browser tabs. Cmd+1..9 overrides VS Code's default "focus editor group N" — re-bind in your keybindings.json if you miss it.

Focus bulldozer

When the active terminal changes, the extension:

1. Closes any open Quick Open / command palette
2. Forces focus into the terminal input

So you can immediately type into Claude without clicking around. Toggle with claudeCodeTerminalTabs.enforceFocusOnSwitch or run command Toggle Enforce Focus On Switch.

One-click new session

Three ways to start a new Claude Code terminal:

• Hotkey Cmd+Shift+0
• Terminal profile Claude Code in the + ▾ dropdown next to the terminal tab list
• Command Palette → New Terminal Session

All three open a terminal in your workspace root and run claude immediately.

Auto-focus when Claude finishes a response

When Claude finishes a turn, focus snaps to the active terminal so you can keep typing without clicking back. This is wired through a Stop hook in ~/.claude/settings.json.

Setup — one-time:

1. Set claudeCodeTerminalTabs.autoFocusOnWaitingPrompt to true.
2. Run command Install Auto-Focus Hook (from the Command Palette, or click the link that appears under the setting in Settings UI). It writes the hook into ~/.claude/settings.json with a confirmation dialog and an automatic settings.json.bak backup.
3. In any running Claude session, type /hooks to reload — new sessions pick it up automatically.

To revert: run Uninstall Auto-Focus Hook. It removes our entry while leaving every other hook you may have configured intact.

Limitation: Claude's Notification event has a built-in delay (~60s) and does not fire for inline "Do you want to proceed?" permission prompts. Auto-focus works for the common "Claude finished, waiting for next prompt" case via Stop; mid-task permission prompts still require a manual click. Tracked upstream as anthropics/claude-code#13922.

Settings

Commands

• New Terminal Session — open new terminal and run Claude
• Focus Active Terminal — manual focus bulldozer
• Toggle Enforce Focus On Switch — flip the auto-focus setting
• Install Auto-Focus Hook — wire the Claude Stop hook into ~/.claude/settings.json
• Uninstall Auto-Focus Hook — remove our hook from ~/.claude/settings.json (preserves all other hooks)

Installation

Build from source

npm install
npx vsce package
code --install-extension claude-code-terminal-tabs-*.vsix

Caveats

• The terminal profile uses an exec-trick (claude; exec $SHELL -i) so the terminal stays alive after Claude exits. Works on bash / zsh. On other shells (fish, nu) behavior may differ.
• Cmd+1..9 will shadow VS Code's editor-group focus shortcuts. To restore them, add negated overrides in your user keybindings.json:

  { "key": "cmd+1", "command": "-workbench.action.terminal.focusAtIndex1" }
  

• Inline icon in the terminal toolbar (next to + ▾) is not added — VS Code's public extension API doesn't expose that surface.

License

MIT