Claude Code Plus
Claude can lose track of unfinished work when you switch topics before the work is done, or when compaction summarizes older turns. Claude starts a plan when there is work to track and updates it as you talk. The plan lists numbered rows, one piece of work each, with states like discussing, todo, doing, or done.
The plan is stored in a file outside the conversation, and Claude gets its open rows every turn. Claude is asked to bring the rows it is working on up to date before automatic compaction and, after compaction, to read the plan file before anything else. Agent Plus, a separate extension installed along with this one, shows the plan in a view beside the Claude Code panel. You answer by row number and can settle several rows in one message, like "2.1: not now". Rows Claude proposes on its own start as discussing and become todo only when you agree.
Agent Plus's Conversations tab in the VS Code panel lists running Claude Code conversations in this window's workspace folders. Stopped conversations also appear while their plan, written in the last 7 days, still has open rows. Each plan's questions appear under its conversation, and an answer entered in the Answer view goes into the conversation's message input.
Requires Anthropic's Claude Code extension, Agent Plus and VS Code 1.96 or later. The work plan also needs Python 3.7 or later. On Windows without Python, the extension offers to download it from python.org (11 MB).
What it looks like
The work plan on the left of the Claude Code panel:
Work plan
Getting a plan
A conversation has no plan until there is something to track. Claude starts one when you raise work to track or ask it to keep a work plan.
In a longer conversation without a plan, Claude is told once that it could keep one. The thresholds are in Settings.
Talking about rows
Rows have numbers such as 1, 2 and 2.1. Refer to them in any order; one message can settle several rows:
2.1: not now
3: go ahead
A number marks a row's place in the file. Finishing a row leaves a gap. A child row is work that must be finished before its parent can be.
States
| State |
Meaning |
discussing |
Raised, not agreed yet. |
todo |
Agreed, not started. |
doing |
Being worked on now. |
waiting |
Started but held up outside the conversation by you, a build or CI, a reviewer, another conversation, or something else. |
parked |
Left for later, with the reason; still open. |
done |
Finished. |
dropped |
Decided against, with the reason. |
Work you ask Claude to do now goes straight to doing; work Claude suggests on its own starts as discussing. Only your agreement makes a row todo.
How Claude gets the plan
The extension registers a Claude Code plugin whose hooks hand the plan to Claude on each turn and around compactions. Its skill holds the rules Claude follows to keep the plan up to date.
- The plugin's skill description loads in every session at about 110 tokens.
- With a plan, every turn carries short fixed instructions and up to 40 rows. Every open top-level row is included, even past 40; the rows under them fill what is left of the 40, newest first, and a last line says how many open rows were left out. A finished row can be included when a row under it is still open. The cost grows with the number of rows and the length of their text; the page linked below has a measured example.
- Before an automatic compaction, Claude is asked to bring the rows it is working on up to date. After compaction, it is asked to read the plan file before anything else.
Where the plan lives
Each conversation has one file, named by session ID, under ~/.claude/plugins/data/agent-work-plan-claude-code-extras/.
Claude writes the file through a small command shipped with the plugin. To correct a plan by hand, open its file from the view's title-bar button or a row's context menu.
See How the work plan works for the hooks, thresholds and measurements.
Install
Search for Claude Code Plus in the Extensions view, or run
code --install-extension xnervwang.claude-code-plus. Anthropic's Claude Code extension and
Agent Plus install as dependencies.
If you have Work Plan for Claude Code (xnervwang.claude-code-extras), update it to its last version to install Claude Code Plus (xnervwang.claude-code-plus); you can then uninstall the old extension. While an earlier version is installed, Claude Code Plus does nothing except show a warning when you run a command, because both extensions would patch the same Claude Code files. If you uninstall an earlier version, VS Code runs its uninstall step on the next start: it copies plans to ~/.claude/agent-work-plan-plans-<time>/, then unregisters the plugin. Within half a minute, Claude Code Plus registers the plugin again and copies the plans back. On its first start, Claude Code Plus copies claudeCodeWorkPlan.* and claudeCodeExtras.* settings to claudeCodePlus.*. On each start, Claude Code Plus copies pins and session colors from the old extension's storage unless it already has its own. Install Claude Code Plus before uninstalling the old extension, since VS Code deletes that storage when it finishes removing the old extension at its next start.
Reload the VS Code window twice after installing. Run
Claude Code Plus: Show Status for the patch status. In a Remote SSH window, install on the
remote.
The extension works by editing files inside the installed Claude Code extension.
Verified against Claude Code 2.1.319.
Other features
| What it shows |
Where it appears |
Timestamps: Times from the transcript on every message and reply block, with start→result on tool calls; Claude Code's own message times are hidden while these are on. |
Messages, reply blocks, tool calls |
| Your time zone for Claude: When Claude runs on a machine in another time zone, as with Remote SSH, it is told yours, so it gives you times in your zone. |
Claude's context |
Reply figures: 2m10s · ctx 33% · cost $0.42 · opus-5 high shows turn duration, context-window use, running spend, model and effort. |
Each reply |
Sub-agent tags and filters: Tag each sub-agent's messages with its task, such as #look up tomorrow's weather, and filter to the main thread or one sub-agent. |
Tags on messages; filter in the footer |
Conversation navigation: Find your messages by time and first words or find compaction points; filter, click to scroll, step with arrows or , and ., or jump to the top or bottom. |
Right edge of the panel |
Focus view button: Toggle Claude Code's own Focus view; while it is on and Claude works, the working line shows the latest tool call and elapsed time, such as Bash running for 2m55s (since 11:11:18). |
Footer button; working line |
| Context meter: Keep the meter visible, outline it when 15% of the window remains, and hover for a breakdown by category, memory files and custom agents. |
Panel's context meter |
| Open sessions: The conversations open in this window, in an editor tab or in the sidebar while it is shown, most recently active first, each with the status dot the session list gives it; click one to switch to it. |
Top of the session list |
Open in a tab or the sidebar: New in tab and New in sidebar replace the New session button. A closed conversation's right-click menu offers Resume in tab and Resume in sidebar instead of Resume session; an open one keeps Switch to session. The choice applies to that conversation only: claudeCode.preferredLocation is not changed, and the Claude button at the right of the editor tabs opens where that setting says. |
Session list |
| Delete archived conversations: Delete session… in an archived conversation's right-click menu permanently deletes it from disk once you confirm: its transcripts, sub-agent conversations, saved tool outputs, file checkpoints (Claude Code's copies, not your files), debug log and work plan. It cannot be undone. A conversation open in a tab or the sidebar, or still running, is left alone. |
Archived sessions in the session list |
| Section and session ID on hover: Hovering over a conversation shows its session ID and where it sits in the list below Open sessions: its group, Ungrouped or Archived sessions. Rows in Open sessions show the same. |
Session list |
Search by session ID: The search box also finds a conversation by part of its session ID, such as 69f9: four or more characters, using only 0-9, a-f and hyphens. Shorter searches, and ones with other characters, match titles and branches only. |
Session list |
RECENTLY CLOSED: The conversations whose Claude Code editor tabs you closed in this workspace, most recently closed first; the list is kept across reloads. Click one to open it again. The section starts collapsed. Open conversations are not listed, and up to claudeCodePlus.recentClosedSessions are shown (10 by default). |
Session list, directly above Open sessions |
Session dates: 11d · 09/05→09/16 adds a date span after Claude Code's last-active time. |
Session list |
Pinned conversations: Click the pin at the start of a session-list row to keep that conversation from Claude Code's transcript cleanup (cleanupPeriodDays) and out of Archived sessions, as long as a window keeps connecting to its machine (see Known limits). |
Session list |
Text colors: Right-click a conversation and choose Text color to give its title one of the colors of Claude Code's /color. The color shows wherever the conversation is listed. |
Session list |
Background sessions left out: The list skips sessions started with claude --bg or claude -p, and empty transcripts. Turn off claudeCodePlus.hideBackgroundSessions to see them. |
Session list |
| Chimes: A short sound when a turn finishes, permission is requested or Claude asks a question, played on the machine showing the panel; mute it in the footer. |
Footer; machine showing the panel |
Background sessions: This conversation's claude --bg sessions, each state in its own colour and counted at the top, with what each waits for, its result, and the attach and logs commands. |
Agents button in the footer and its map |
| Scheduled prompts: See timers this conversation set through Claude Code's scheduled tasks, with each schedule, last-fired time and prompt. |
Agents button in the footer and its map |
Background commands: See a count such as 1 task while a background build, test run or sleep timer runs, with the list one click away. |
Footer |
| Tabs back after a restart: Claude Code tabs that were open when the window closed but that VS Code did not restore, as can happen after the window lost its remote connection, are opened again when it starts. Tabs you closed while connected stay closed. |
Editor tabs |
| Status dots: a Claude Code tab's logo shows a green dot while Claude works and a red one when it finished while you were away, where Claude Code shows nothing and orange. The session list uses the same green and red. |
Editor tabs, session list |
| Session information: See the session ID, Claude's process ID, starting directory, transcript location and size; click a value to copy it. |
Footer button |
With Claude Code's Focus view on, the tool calls are folded:
Settings
Open Claude Code Plus: Settings for all 36 settings. Most apply without a reload; installing or upgrading the patch needs a reload.
Work plan settings
| Setting |
Default |
What it does |
claudeCodePlus.workPlan |
on |
Off stops the work plan: turns carry nothing about it, and Claude cannot write one. |
claudeCodePlus.workPlanOfferMinTurns |
3 |
Messages you must have sent before a conversation without a plan is offered one. |
claudeCodePlus.workPlanOfferMinToolCalls |
25 |
Tool calls one turn must make before that offer. |
claudeCodePlus.workPlanQuietWhenReplyMatches |
empty |
Regular expression tested on the latest reply. A match silences the prompts before and after compaction, for conversations relaying another model's replies word for word. Empty matches nothing. |
To turn off
| What |
How |
| Timestamps, reply figures and sub-agent tags |
Set claudeCodePlus.enabled to off. Every other addition has its own claudeCodePlus.show.* setting. The patch stays and its scripts keep running. |
| Your time zone in Claude's context |
Set claudeCodePlus.tellClaudeYourTimeZone to off. |
| Work plan plugin, skill description included |
Run Claude Code Plus: Stop Loading the Work Plan Plugin. |
| Reopening Claude Code tabs VS Code did not restore |
Set claudeCodePlus.reopenDroppedTabs to off. |
| Pins on the session list |
Set claudeCodePlus.sessionPins to off. Pinned conversations are then cleaned up and archived as usual. |
| Patch and restore Claude Code's files |
Run Claude Code Plus: Remove from Claude Code (restore original files), or uninstall. |
Message appearance: claudeCodePlus.userMessageColor and claudeCodePlus.userMessageEdge.
Settings named claudeCodeWorkPlan.*, or claudeCodeExtras.* before that, are copied to the same names under claudeCodePlus.* the first time Claude Code Plus starts. Ones kept in a remote machine's own settings file are not moved; rename those by hand.
Commands
Work plan
| Command |
What it does |
Claude Code Plus: Install the Work Plan Plugin for Claude Code |
Register the plugin again. |
Claude Code Plus: Stop Loading the Work Plan Plugin |
Remove the plugin from Claude Code's settings. |
Settings and switches
| Command |
What it does |
Claude Code Plus: Settings |
Open this extension's settings. |
Claude Code Plus: Toggle On/Off |
Toggle the timestamps, reply figures and sub-agent tags. |
Claude Code Plus: Turn On |
Show the timestamps, reply figures and sub-agent tags. |
Claude Code Plus: Turn Off |
Hide the timestamps, reply figures and sub-agent tags. |
Repair and diagnostics
| Command |
What it does |
Claude Code Plus: Remove from Claude Code (restore original files) |
Restore Claude Code's files. |
Claude Code Plus: Show Status |
Show patch status and what was patched. |
Claude Code Plus: Show How Long Opening a Panel Took |
Show recorded panel-opening times. |
Known limits
- A plan file is deleted once its conversation's transcript is gone and the file has not been written for a week. Claude Code removes old transcripts, apart from those of conversations pinned on the session list.
- Uninstalling tries to copy plans to
~/.claude/agent-work-plan-plans-<timestamp>/ before unregistering the plugin, which deletes its data directory. Uninstalling continues if the copy fails, so keep your own copy of a plan that matters.
- Disabling the extension leaves the patch in place. Run
Claude Code Plus: Remove from Claude Code (restore original files) first.
- After you reload a window that lost its remote connection, the remote machine keeps the Claude Code processes from before the reload running for five minutes, then stops them. A Claude Code tab that VS Code did not restore, and whose conversation is still running there, opens only then, about five minutes after the reload. If Claude was writing a reply in it, the reply stops at that point; what it had written so far stays in the conversation.
- If you close a Claude Code tab while the window cannot reach its remote machine, the tab opens again the next time the window starts, because the close could not be recorded. Close it again once connected.
- An orange exclamation mark at the panel's top right means a Claude Code build changed something the patch relies on, and some panel features are not working.
- To protect a pinned conversation, the extension moves its files' modification time forward once they are old enough for the cleanup. The row still shows when the conversation was last active, but the list sorts it by the moved time. Uninstalling the extension removes the pins; the conversations stay, and the cleanup treats them as usual again.
- A pin protects a conversation only while some VS Code window with this extension connects to the machine that holds its transcript, and stays open for at least a minute, at least once every
claudeCodePlus.sessionPinsMarginDays days (14 by default, and never more than half of cleanupPeriodDays). The folder the window has open does not matter: each window refreshes every pinned conversation on that machine a minute after it starts and every 30 minutes while it stays open. After a longer gap, Claude Code's cleanup can delete pinned conversations the next time Claude Code runs on that machine, in a terminal or as a background session.
- Pins are kept on the machine that holds the transcripts. Pins on your computer do not protect a remote machine's conversations, or the other way round; a remote machine's pins are refreshed only by windows connected to it.
- Editor-tab panels that stay blank in every window after running version 1.0.8 or earlier: quit VS Code and delete the
CacheStorage folders under WebStorage in VS Code's data folder (~/Library/Application Support/Code on macOS, %APPDATA%\Code on Windows, ~/.config/Code on Linux).
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for the layout, checks, and verified-build records.
License
BSD 3-Clause.
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