[Cloud Mode] Allow overriding the diff view base branch (currently locked to repo default branch)

[bizk-sato]

Problem

In Claude Code Cloud Mode, the diff view always compares the current
working branch against the GitHub repository's default branch
(typically main). When a feature branch is created off a non-default
base — e.g. a release/YYYY-MM-DD branch — the diff view shows the
entire delta between that release branch and main, drowning out the
user's actual changes.

Terminal git diff works correctly because it honors the user's
explicit base. Only Cloud Mode's UI is affected.

Reproduction

1. Repo with default branch main
2. Cut a release/2025-01-15 branch from main, push it
3. Create a feature branch off release/2025-01-15
4. Make a 1-line change, open the branch in Cloud Mode
5. Cloud Mode's diff view shows hundreds of files (everything in
   release/2025-01-15 vs main), not the 1-line change

Request

A per-session or per-repo setting to override the diff base branch.
Possible shapes:

• .claude/settings.json key like "diff.baseBranch": "release/2025-01-15"
• A CLAUDE.md directive
• A UI dropdown in Cloud Mode to pick the base for the current session
• Auto-detect from the branch's upstream / merge-base if set

Changing the GitHub repository default branch is not a viable
workaround because it affects the whole team (PR base, CI, branch
protection, Dependabot, etc.).

Environment

• Claude Code Cloud Mode (claude.ai/code), May 2026
• Anthropic Claude Opus 4.7

[github-actions]

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

[noahm]

This is a perpetual pain point for me, as my main side project has most of the development happening in a very long-running non-default with tens of thousands of lines changed. The diff feature of Claude Code Web is entirely useless to me there.