Minimal Claude Chat v0.0.6
A minimal VS Code extension for Claude Code with real agentic capabilities, streaming responses, and model selection.
✨ Features
🎯 Easy Access
- Sidebar Icon - Always visible in activity bar
- Keyboard Shortcut -
Ctrl+Shift+C (Cmd+Shift+C on Mac)
- Status Bar - Shows current model, click for quick access
🤖 Full Agentic Mode
- Real-time file editing - Claude can modify your code
- Tool execution - Run commands, search files, etc.
- Streaming responses - See Claude's work in real-time
- Complete tool visibility - See what tools Claude uses
🎨 Model Selection
- Haiku - Fast responses (default for speed)
- Sonnet - Balanced performance (recommended)
- Opus - Most capable (best quality)
🧠 Plan First Mode
- Enable to make Claude plan before implementing
- Great for complex changes
- Ask for confirmation before proceeding
🛠 Built-in Debugging
- Dedicated debug log panel inside the chat view
- Toggle visibility or clear entries without leaving the sidebar
- Logs also stream to
View → Output → Minimal Claude Chat
📋 Requirements
Must have Claude Code CLI installed:
# Install Claude Code CLI
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
# Verify installation
claude --version
# Configure with your API key
claude config
🚀 Installation
Quick Install
- Download
minimal-claude-chat-0.0.6.vsix
- Install:
code --install-extension minimal-claude-chat-0.0.6.vsix
- Reload VS Code
- Click the chat icon in the sidebar!
From Source
git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/minimal-claude-chat.git
cd minimal-claude-chat
npm install
npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package
code --install-extension minimal-claude-chat-0.0.6.vsix
💡 Usage
Basic Chat
- Open the extension (sidebar icon or
Ctrl+Shift+C)
- Type your message
- Watch Claude work in real-time!
Model Selection
Click the model dropdown at the top:
- Haiku - Quick responses, lower cost
- Sonnet - Best balance (default)
- Opus - Highest quality
Plan First Mode
Toggle "Plan First" checkbox to make Claude:
- Create a detailed plan
- Ask for your confirmation
- Then implement the changes
Debug Log
All Claude CLI events are mirrored to two places:
- Chat sidebar log – use the “Show” checkbox to display live logs or clear them with the button.
- Output panel – open
View → Output and choose “Minimal Claude Chat” for the complete history.
Example Prompts
"Add error handling to this function"
"Refactor this component to use hooks"
"Create a new API endpoint for user authentication"
"Fix the bug in the login flow"
"Add tests for the UserService class"
🔧 How It Works
This extension uses the Claude Code CLI with:
--output-format stream-json for real-time streaming--model flag for model selection- Proper process spawning to avoid hanging
- Full tool execution visibility
Unlike simple chat interfaces, this gives Claude real agency:
- ✅ Edits files in your workspace
- ✅ Runs commands
- ✅ Searches your codebase
- ✅ Creates new files
- ✅ Reads documentation
🐛 Troubleshooting
"Claude Code CLI not found"
Install it:
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
Then restart VS Code.
No responses / hanging
Check Claude CLI works in terminal:
claude code "hello world"
Make sure you're in a workspace folder
Check Claude is authenticated:
claude config
On Windows
Make sure Node.js and npm are in your PATH. You may need to:
- Install via PowerShell as Administrator
- Restart your computer after installing Claude CLI
- Verify with:
where claude
📝 What's Different from Original?
Original extension:
- 10,000+ lines of code
- MCP servers
- Checkpoint system
- History management
- File attachments
- WSL integration
This minimal version:
- ~350 lines of code
- Core agentic functionality
- Real-time streaming
- Model selection
- Plan First mode
- Easy to understand and modify
🚀 Publishing
# Install vsce
npm install -g @vscode/vsce
# Package
vsce package
# Publish (requires Azure token)
vsce publish
See VS Code Publishing Guide
📄 License
MIT
🙏 Credits
