ClaUi
A VS Code extension that gives Claude Code a rich chat UI - multiple tabs, model selection, file sending, image paste, and more.
Features
Tabs & Sessions
- Multi-tab sessions - Run multiple Claude conversations in parallel, each in its own VS Code tab
- Tab colors - Each tab gets a unique color from an 8-color palette (blue, coral, green, orange, purple, cyan, gold, brick) so you can tell them apart at a glance
- Auto-naming - Tabs are automatically named based on your first message using a lightweight AI call
- Tab renaming - Click the pencil icon in the top-right corner of any tab to rename it
- Activity indicator - A spinning indicator appears in the tab title while Claude is working, plus a summary of what it's currently doing
Conversation History
- Resume past sessions - Browse your conversation history and resume any past session. Claude picks up right where you left off, with the full conversation restored in the UI
- Prompt history - Click the H button in the input area to open a 3-tier prompt history panel (Session / Project / Global). Filter prompts with search, or use Arrow Up/Down in the textarea to cycle through recent prompts
- Image paste - Paste images from clipboard directly into the chat with
Ctrl+V. Thumbnails preview above the input before sending
- Cancel with Escape - Press Escape or click the Cancel button to stop Claude mid-response. The session auto-resumes so you can keep chatting immediately
- File sending - Send file paths via right-click context menu, the "+" button, or a keyboard shortcut
- Plan approval - Approve, reject, or give feedback on Claude's plans inline
Configuration
- Model selection - Switch between Sonnet, Opus, and Haiku from the status bar
- Permission modes - Choose between Full Access and Supervised (read-only) modes
- CLI path setting - Point to a custom Claude CLI executable via
claudeMirror.cliPath in VS Code settings
- Customizable fonts - Adjust chat font size and family, including Hebrew-friendly presets
- Typing personality themes - Pick Terminal Hacker, Retro, or Zen rendering styles for response display
Other
- RTL support - Full right-to-left support for Hebrew and Arabic
- Session logging - Per-session log files saved to disk
Prerequisites
| Requirement |
How to install |
| Claude Code CLI |
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code, then run claude once to sign in |
| VS Code |
Version 1.85 or later |
Getting Started
- Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace
- Press
Ctrl+Shift+C to open a new Claude session
- Type a message and press
Ctrl+Enter to send
That's it!
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut |
What it does |
Ctrl+Shift+C |
Open a new Claude session |
Ctrl+Enter |
Send your message |
Enter |
New line in the input (does NOT send) |
Escape |
Cancel the current response |
Ctrl+Shift+M |
Toggle Chat/Terminal view |
Ctrl+Shift+H |
Open conversation history |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C |
Send the current file's path to the chat |
Ctrl+V |
Paste an image from clipboard into the chat |
Ctrl+Alt+Q |
Stop the current session |
Ctrl+Alt+K |
Compact context (free up token space) |
Ctrl+Alt+R |
Resume a previous session |
Ctrl+Alt+Enter |
Send message (via input box) |
Ctrl+Alt+P |
Open plan documents |
Ctrl+Alt+L |
Open log directory |
Ctrl+Alt+A |
Toggle achievements |
Mac users: Replace Ctrl with Cmd for all shortcuts above.
To customize shortcuts, open Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl+K, Ctrl+S) and search for claudeMirror.
Sending Files
Three ways to reference files in your messages:
- Right-click in Explorer - Select "ClaUi: Send Path to Chat". Works with multiple files.
- The "+" button - Click the + button next to the chat input to open a file picker.
- Keyboard shortcut - Press
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C while editing a file.
The path is inserted into the input box so you can add context before sending.
Commands
Press Ctrl+Shift+P and type "ClaUi" to see all commands:
| Command |
What it does |
| Start New Session |
Open a new Claude chat tab |
| Stop Session |
Stop the active session's CLI process |
| Send Message |
Send the current input (same as Ctrl+Enter) |
| Compact Context |
Compact the conversation context |
| Resume Session |
Resume a previous session by ID |
| Conversation History |
Browse and resume past sessions |
| Cancel Current Response |
Stop Claude's current response |
| Send Path to Chat |
Insert a file/folder path into the chat input |
| Open Plan Document |
Open plan docs from the project |
| Open Log Directory |
Open the session logs folder |
Settings
All settings are under claudeMirror.* in VS Code Settings (Ctrl+,).
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
cliPath |
"claude" |
Path to Claude CLI executable |
useCtrlEnterToSend |
true |
Ctrl+Enter sends, Enter adds newline |
autoRestart |
true |
Auto-restart CLI process on crash |
chatFontSize |
14 |
Font size (px) for chat messages (10-32) |
chatFontFamily |
"" |
Font family for chat (empty = VS Code default) |
typingTheme |
"zen" |
Response rendering personality theme: terminal-hacker, retro, or zen |
autoNameSessions |
true |
Auto-generate tab names from first message |
activitySummary |
true |
Summarize Claude's activity in the tab title |
activitySummaryThreshold |
3 |
Tool uses before triggering a summary (1-10) |
model |
"" |
Claude model for new sessions (empty = CLI default) |
permissionMode |
"full-access" |
full-access or supervised (read-only tools) |
enableFileLogging |
true |
Write session logs to disk |
logDirectory |
"" |
Directory for log files (empty = default) |
Feedback & Suggestions
Have an idea, found a bug, or want to suggest a feature? Reach out:
Contributing
See DEVELOPMENT.md for build instructions, architecture overview, and development setup.
License
MIT
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