Claude Buddy
A simple VS Code sidebar for managing Claude Code CLI projects.
Claude Buddy helps you organise your projects, keep a personal library of commands and agents, and launch Claude terminals — all from a sidebar panel. No configuration files to edit, no terminal commands to memorise.
What does it do?
- Manage multiple projects — add any folder and Claude Buddy tracks it. Switch between projects with one click.
- Central library — store your commands, agents, and skills in one place (
~/.claude-library/) and deploy them to any project.
- Setup wizard — scaffolds a
.claude/ folder with CLAUDE.md, settings, agents, skills, hooks, and rules so you don't have to create them by hand.
- Named terminals — every Claude session is labelled with the project name so you can tell them apart.
- Custom terminal configs — save presets for different Claude CLI flags (model, agent, permission mode, etc.) and launch them with one click.
- Restart button — kills and relaunches Claude so it picks up new commands without you closing tabs manually.
Install
From the VS Code Marketplace
- Open VS Code
- Go to the Extensions panel (the square icon on the left sidebar, or press
Ctrl+Shift+X)
- Search for Claude Buddy
- Click Install
From a .vsix file
If you downloaded the .vsix file directly:
- Open VS Code
- Go to Extensions > click the
... menu at the top > Install from VSIX...
- Pick the
.vsix file you downloaded
Getting started
- Open your project folder in VS Code (File > Open Folder)
- Look for the Claude Buddy icon in the left sidebar (it looks like a robot)
- Click Add a project — pick the folder you want Claude to work in
- If the folder doesn't have a
.claude/ setup yet, Claude Buddy will offer to run the setup wizard for you
- Click Set up project, fill in what you want, and hit the button
- Your project is ready — click the terminal icon to launch Claude
That's it. Your .claude/ folder and CLAUDE.md are created and ready to go.
Terminals
Shows all running Claude and shell terminals, grouped by project. You can:
- Start a new Claude terminal
- Start a custom Claude terminal (with saved flag presets)
- Open a plain shell
- Close or restart any session
Projects
Shows every project you've added, with its .claude/ folder contents. You can:
- Browse commands, agents, skills, and settings files
- Right-click a project to run the setup wizard or remove it
- Right-click a file to save it to your library
My Library
Your personal collection at ~/.claude-library/. Organised into commands/, agents/, and skills/. You can:
- Create new items (commands, command groups, full skills, agents)
- Deploy any item to a project with one click
- Import from the community marketplace
- Edit or delete items
Custom terminal configs
Want to launch Claude with specific flags every time? (A certain model, an agent, permission settings, etc.)
- Click the gear icon in the Terminals toolbar
- Fill out the config form — pick your model, agent, permissions, tools, and more
- Save it as a workspace preset (this project only) or global (all projects)
- Next time, just pick your saved config from the list and launch
Settings
Open VS Code settings (Ctrl+,) and search for "Claude Buddy" to find these:
| Setting |
What it does |
claudeBuddy.libraryPath |
Where your library lives. Default: ~/.claude-library/ |
claudeBuddy.claudeCommand |
The command to start Claude. Default: claude |
claudeBuddy.confirmLibraryDelete |
Ask before deleting library items. Default: on |
claudeBuddy.confirmProjectRemove |
Ask before removing a project. Default: on |
Tips
- You can add multiple project folders and manage them all from one VS Code window
- The project view auto-refreshes when files change inside
.claude/ — no need to hit refresh
- After deploying a command or agent, click "Restart Claude" so the running session picks it up
- Use the setup wizard any time — it won't overwrite files that already exist
Questions, bugs, feature requests
Email biondigroup@gmail.com with any feedback, bug reports, or feature requests. We'd love to hear from you.
License
MIT
