Claude Code Nonstop ♾️
A VS Code extension that keeps Claude Code going — even after you hit a usage limit. It adds an on/off toggle inside the Claude panel, automatically "pings" Claude to continue long-running tasks, and when you hit a rate limit it waits until the window resets and automatically resumes the last task. Great for overnight runs — but not only: any time your limit runs out mid-work, flip it on and forget about it.
Nonstop adds a ♾️ toggle to the Claude Code footer (left of the mode button). Click to start/stop — it pulses while active.
Right-click the ♾️ button for quick settings — interval, message, quiet hours, and stop limits.
Status: 0.2.2. The host core and the injected script are covered by unit tests and verified live in the panel — including permission/decision popup handling and a behaviorally verified wait→resume→ping cycle, plus a real overnight run that waited out a usage limit and resumed the task automatically. Rate-limit reset times are parsed in their reported timezone, with a safe fixed-wait fallback.
How it works
VS Code has no API for adding buttons to the Claude Code panel, so the extension uses a proven webview-injection technique:
- On the host side (
src/extension.js) it locates the active Claude Code version and appends the webview/nonstop.js script to the end of that version's webview/index.js file (with a backup and an atomic write).
- The injected script runs inside the panel's DOM: it builds a button in the footer, detects when Claude is waiting to continue, and sends a "ping".
The injection is marker-based and two-sided so it coexists peacefully with any other extension that injects into the same file.
Timing — what gets sent and when
- The
tick engine runs every second (pollMs). When off, it exits immediately; nothing is sent.
- When on, every second it detects the state and acts:
- Claude is working (output is growing) → wait.
- Rate limit → sleep until the reset time, then resume.
- Question → stop (or send a neutral answer, per
onQuestion).
- Waiting to continue → if
pingIntervalMs (60s) has passed since the last ping → send pingText ("continue").
- Before every send: not in quiet hours, no draft of yours in the input box, and you haven't typed in the box within the last
userActivityPauseMs.
- Stops automatically on: completion detection,
maxPings, maxRuntimeMs, or a manual toggle off.
Usage
- Clicking the footer button toggles it on/off. While on, it pulses.
- Commands (Command Palette):
Nonstop: Check & Inject, Nonstop: Remove Injection, Nonstop: Menu.
- After the first injection — Reload Window so the script loads.
Key settings
| Setting |
Default |
What |
nonstop.pingText |
continue |
The message sent on each ping |
nonstop.pingIntervalMs |
60000 |
Minimum interval between pings |
nonstop.maxRuntimeMs |
28800000 (8h) |
Max run length (rate-limit sleep time is not counted) |
nonstop.maxPings |
100 |
Max pings per shift |
nonstop.quietHours |
"" |
Optional window where the extension stays silent, e.g. 09:00-17:00 (so it runs overnight) |
nonstop.onQuestion |
stop |
When Claude asks a question: stop or answer |
nonstop.rateLimitFallbackMs |
18000000 (5h) |
Wait time when an exact reset time can't be determined |
nonstop.debug |
false |
Verbose recon logging in the panel console |
Safety
- Reliable stop = the off button in the panel. (The host's "Stop Now" command is best-effort only — there is no host↔webview channel in the MVP.)
maxRuntime/maxPings caps, quiet hours, and a pause when user activity is detected all prevent a runaway loop.- Against a rate limit the extension sleeps until reset instead of pinging in a loop.
Terms-of-service warning
Unsupervised, automated continuation of a model may violate the provider's usage policy and/or burn quota on unwanted work. Use at your own risk. The defaults are intentionally conservative.
Development
npm test # host unit tests (31 tests)
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
