[Feature Request] VS Code Extension: Start session from specific folder via context menu or setting

[shwankim7]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

When using Claude Code VS Code extension in a monorepo, sessions always start from the workspace root. There's no way to start a session from a specific subdirectory (e.g., packages/backend/).

Current behavior:

• VS Code extension always starts Claude session from workspace root
• No option to specify a different starting directory
• Must use terminal CLI as workaround: cd packages/backend && claude

Desired behavior:

• Right-click on a folder in Explorer → "Start Claude Code Here"
• Or: Command Palette option to select starting directory
• Or: Setting like claude-code.workingDirectory per workspace folder

Proposed Solutions

Option A: Context menu

• Right-click folder in Explorer → "Start Claude Code Session Here"

Option B: Command Palette

• "Claude Code: Start Session in Folder..." → folder picker

Option C: Multi-root workspace awareness

• In multi-root workspaces, start session based on active file's workspace folder

Workaround

Currently using terminal:

cd packages/backend
claude

But this loses VS Code extension benefits (inline diffs, plan review UI, etc.)

Alternative Solutions

No response

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

Developer tools/SDK

Use Case Example

In a monorepo structure:

monorepo/
├── CLAUDE.md              # Global rules
├── packages/
│   ├── backend/
│   │   └── CLAUDE.md      # Backend-specific rules (NestJS, GraphQL)
│   ├── frontend/
│   │   └── CLAUDE.md      # Frontend-specific rules (React)
│   └── mobile/
│       └── CLAUDE.md      # Mobile-specific rules (Flutter)

When working on backend only, I want Claude to:

1. Start with packages/backend/ as working directory
2. Focus context on that package
3. Still inherit parent CLAUDE.md rules (which already works via upward traversal)

Currently, starting from root means:

• Claude sees entire monorepo (unnecessary context)
• More tokens consumed exploring irrelevant packages
• Less focused responses

Additional Context

No response

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. [BUG] Claude cannot open a session in another vscode workspace repo, always defaults to the top level #18814
2. [BUG] In vscode workspace, Claude Code always starts in first project #12808
3. [BUG] IDE connection only works in VSCode's open folder directory, fails in subdirectories (v2.0.74) #14832

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

• If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
• To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically closed as a duplicate of #18814.

If this is incorrect, please re-open this issue or create a new one.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.