ShellSense
Automatically analyzes shell commands executed in Claude Code / VSCode terminal and shows their meaning and risk level in real time.
Why ShellSense?
When developing with AI, the AI asks for permission to run commands. Beginners often approve them blindly without understanding what they do.
ShellSense tells you what a command does and how risky it is — right before it runs.
- Beginners — Learn what each command does as you develop
- Intermediate — Discover flags and commands you didn't know about
Use AI's power while staying in control of what you're building.
Preview
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ℹ️ ShellSense │
│ │
│ ⚠️ Risk: HIGH │
│ rm — Remove files or directories │
│ -r: Remove directories recursively │
│ -f: Force removal without confirmation │
│ Target: node_modules │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Features
- Auto command explanation — Notifies you what
rm -rf node_modules does before it runs
- Risk level detection — 4 levels: Low / Medium / High / Critical
- 320+ commands — Covers Git, Docker, AWS CLI, kubectl, npm and more
- Chain command analysis — Parses commands joined by
&&, ||, |, ;
- Subcommand recognition — Understands
git commit, docker build, npm install etc.
- Dual source detection — Captures commands from both Claude Code hook and VSCode Shell Integration
- 2 style presets — Legend (default) or Emoji
- Japanese / English — All dictionary entries and UI labels are bilingual
- Zero runtime dependencies — Minimal startup time
Installation
Search for "ShellSense" in the VSCode Extension Marketplace and install.
On first activation, the extension will offer to register itself as a Claude Code hook (~/.claude/settings.json). Once registered, ShellSense will notify you every time Claude Code runs a Bash command.
Configuration
Open settings (Ctrl+,) and search for shellsense, or edit settings.json directly.
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
shellsense.enabled |
true |
Enable / disable ShellSense |
shellsense.language |
"ja" |
Notification language (ja / en) |
shellsense.minRiskLevel |
"low" |
Minimum risk level to show notifications |
shellsense.hookEnabled |
true |
Notifications from Claude Code hook |
shellsense.terminalEnabled |
true |
Notifications from VSCode terminal |
shellsense.notificationFormat |
"detailed" |
Format (detailed / compact) |
shellsense.style |
"legend" |
Style preset (legend / emoji) |
shellsense.chainNumbering |
"dot" |
Chain numbering style |
Risk Levels
| Level |
Criteria |
Examples |
| Low |
Read-only |
ls, cat, pwd, grep |
| Medium |
File writes / modifications |
cp, mv, mkdir, npm install |
| High |
Deletion / overwrite |
rm, rm -rf, git reset |
| Critical |
System-level / irreversible |
sudo, git push --force, curl \| sh |
Style Presets
| Style |
Description |
| legend |
Block shade gauge, HUD-style compact display (default) |
| emoji |
Rich emoji decorations |
License
MIT
