Monitor Claude Code sessions across VS Code windows with live status indicators.
Features
Auto-discover open windows and workspaces — detects folder windows and multi-root .code-workspace windows via a shared workspace registry
Worktree grouping — VS Code windows opened on a git worktree are nested under their parent repository in the tree
Jump to session terminal — click a Claude session to focus the exact terminal it runs in, even when that terminal lives in another VS Code window (integrated terminals only; sessions in external terminals like iTerm cannot be focused)
Live session status — see which projects have active or waiting Claude Code sessions at a glance
Sidebar panel — dedicated activity bar icon with a tree view of all your open projects
Focused window indicator — the current window's project shows a white border ring around its status dot for quick identification
Smart window switching — click to switch projects; on macOS the new window appears in the exact same position
Drag-and-drop reordering — drag projects in the sidebar to arrange them in your preferred order
Status bar — shows total Claude session count with color-coded status
Terminal integration — open a terminal at any project directory with one click
Hook integration — CLI hooks for instant status updates across all VS Code windows
Open the Claude Code Pulse panel in the activity bar (left sidebar)
Your open VS Code windows appear automatically
Run Claude Code Pulse: Install Status Hooks from the command palette for instant status updates
How It Works
The extension maintains a shared workspace registry at ~/.claude/vscode-workspaces/ — each open VS Code window registers its folder or .code-workspace file plus all workspace folders so all instances stay in sync. Session status is detected via CLI hooks that write marker files when Claude starts working or finishes a response. Clicking a session focuses the terminal hosting it: the extension walks process ancestry to find the owning integrated terminal, and uses small request files in ~/.claude/vscode-workspaces/focus-requests/ to hand off focus between windows.
Status
Dot color
Meaning
Working
Orange
Claude is actively processing
Needs input
Green
Claude finished — your turn
No session
Gray
No active Claude session
The current window's project gets a white border ring around its status dot so you can quickly spot it in the list.
Window switching on macOS uses AppleScript to capture the current window position before opening a new project, then repositions the new window to the same coordinates.
Configuration
Setting
Default
Description
claudeSessions.pollingInterval
3000
How often to check session status (ms)
claudeSessions.showStatusBar
true
Show session count in status bar
Requirements
macOS (window positioning and process detection use AppleScript and ps)
