VS Code extension: resuming a session doesn't connect to the running CLI session

[samkorn]

Description

When opening an active CLI session from the VS Code extension's "past conversations" dropdown, the extension displays the session history but does not properly connect to the running session. Messages entered in the extension do not appear in the CLI, suggesting the extension is either forking the session or opening it in a read-only/disconnected state.

Steps to reproduce

1. Start a Claude Code session in the terminal CLI
2. Have an active conversation going
3. Open the Claude Code VS Code extension (tested in Cursor, a VS Code fork)
4. Find and open the same session from "past conversations"
5. Send a message in the extension
6. Observe that the message does not appear in the CLI session

Expected behavior

Resuming a running session from the extension should fully connect to it — messages sent from either surface (CLI or extension) should appear in both, as a shared session.

Actual behavior

The extension appears to display the session transcript but operates disconnected from the running CLI session. Input in the extension does not reach the CLI.

Environment

• Claude Code CLI (terminal session)
• Claude Code VS Code extension running in Cursor
• macOS

[samkorn]

Additional context: This was a remote control session — the VS Code extension (in Cursor) was connecting to a running CLI session via remote control. This is likely the core issue: the remote control connection appears to establish enough to display the session transcript but not enough to relay new input back to the CLI session.

Given that remote control is a new feature, this may be a remote-control-specific bug rather than a general session resumption issue.

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[gonewx]

+1 on this. Session management is probably the biggest pain point with Claude Code right now.

My current workflow:

1. Export sessions weekly (Settings → Export Data)
2. Use a local tool to index and search the exported JSON
3. For critical debugging sessions, I save them to a separate folder

What would really help:

• Persistent session list — Don't hide old sessions behind /resume
• Search across sessions — Find that conversation about the auth bug from last month
• Session tags/labels — Mark important sessions for easy retrieval

Anyone know of tools that solve this? I've been looking for something that can index Claude's JSONL files and provide cross-session search.

[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.