Show timestamps on chat messages

[jasonnickel]

Add a small timestamp (HH:MM) next to each message in the chat timeline -- both user and assistant messages. This helps users:

• See how long ago Claude responded
• Know how long a message has been sitting on screen waiting for attention
• Track session pacing without external tools

A simple hour:minute display next to each message bubble would be sufficient. Optional day display for long sessions.

This would be useful across all interfaces (CLI, VS Code extension, desktop app).

[yurukusa]

Until native timestamps are added, you can get timing info via a PostToolUse hook:

echo "⏱ $(date +%H:%M:%S)" >&2
exit 0

This prints a timestamp after every tool call, giving you a rough timeline of when Claude was active.
For session-level timestamps, the JSONL session file already includes timestamp on every message:

jq -r '.timestamp[:19] + " " + (.message.role // "system")' ~/.claude/projects/*/sessions/*.jsonl | tail -20

[ProducerGuy]

@jasonnickel you said "without external tools" — does one install command and then never thinking about it again count? claude-timecodes. Close enough lol.

[s-a-s-k-i-a]

I built a plugin that addresses this as a workaround until native support lands:

claude-code-timestamps — adds a /timestamps command that displays a timestamped message timeline from your current session's transcript data.

--- Message Timeline ---

14:02  You     Can you refactor the auth module?
14:02  Claude  I'll start by reading the current auth implementation...
14:05  Claude  I've refactored the auth module. Here's what changed...
14:32  You     Looks good. Now add tests for the new token refresh logic.

• Uses HH:MM for same-day, YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM for older messages
• Reads existing transcript JSONL — no data collected, everything local
• Install: clone, add to settings.json, restart

A native UI integration would obviously be better, but this can help in the meantime.

[github-actions]

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

[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.