Feature / TODO list — session detection, status, detail view, and more

[grimmerk]

Feature / TODO List

Collected from recent sessions. Ordered by suggested priority.

High Priority

1. Rewrite detection with ~/.claude/sessions/ (#65) ✅ Done (PR #67)

• Replace ps aux + regex + lsof + cross-reference with reading ~/.claude/sessions/<PID>.json
• Direct PID → sessionId mapping, ~5ms vs ~200-450ms
• Solves "unsolvable" bare claude + no /rename case (for iTerm2/cmux with TTY)
• Enables VS Code session detection (entrypoint: "claude-vscode")
• name field gives -n session names without parsing process args
• Handles /clear correctly (updates session ID — see c9watch PR #73)
• Fallback to current approach if sessions/ doesn't exist (old Claude Code versions)
• Reference: agent-sessions, claude-control, claude-sessions

2. Active session status: idle / needs-attention (#63 related)

• Show different colored dots on first screen (not just purple = active)
  • Purple: active + idle (ready)
  • Orange/amber: needs attention (tool permission or user question)
  • Working indicator: currently processing
• Approach A — Hook-based (preferred): inject Claude Code hook config → on Stop event, write to SQLite or send HTTP to CodeV (port 55688). Near-zero CPU when idle.
• Approach B — Polling JSONL: read last N lines of session JSONL periodically (c9watch approach, 5-9% CPU at 3.75s interval)
• Reference: c9watch PR #66 — NeedsPermission → NeedsAttention, AskUserQuestion detection, question mark heuristic with 20s grace period
• Reference: c9watch PR #14 — CPU optimization from 15% → 5-9%

3. Detail view (Space key preview)

• Press Space on a session item → full detail view (like macOS Finder Quick Look)
• Esc to return to list
• Content: full first/last prompt, session ID (click to copy resume command), terminal selector, entrypoint badge
• Platform for future features: in-session search, session history, terminal choice
• Reference: c9watch history → click item → shows session ID at top, click to copy

Medium Priority

4. Show final assistant message for all sessions (not just active)

• Currently only active sessions show blue assistant response text
• Extend to all sessions via async tail -n 200 + grep on JSONL
• 100 sessions parallel: ~400ms (SWR pattern, acceptable)
• Future optimization: use Node.js fs.read with seek instead of spawning tail processes, or Rust native module for large-scale

5. VS Code Claude Code session support

• Detection: via ~/.claude/sessions/ with entrypoint: "claude-vscode" (comes free with feat: add UI part of delete button #1)
• Display: show [VSCODE] badge, use ai-title from session JSONL as display name
• Switch: activate VS Code window only (cannot focus specific Claude tab — VS Code limitation, no URI handler registered)
• Launch: code --goto or open -a "Visual Studio Code"
• Limitation: no /rename support (#33165), not in history.jsonl (#24579, #18619)

6. Quick launch via search bar

• Type !ghost ~/git/project in CodeV search → open new session in Ghostty at that path
• Shortcuts: !ghost, !iterm, !cmux, !code (VS Code), !tmux
• Path completion (autocomplete from working directory)
• Support multiple Claude accounts/endpoints (different CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR env vars)

7. In-app update check ✅ Done (PR #73 + PR #74)

• update-electron-app + update.electronjs.org (Squirrel.Mac) — no need for electron-builder
• PR feat: in-app auto-update via update-electron-app #73: auto-update infra (notifyUser: true, CI signed zip)
• PR feat: custom update UI in Settings popup #74: custom update UI in Settings popup (notifyUser: false)
  • "Check for Update" manual button + auto check every 1 hour in background
  • States: Checking → Downloading → Install & Restart / Latest / Retry
  • 30s timeout for dev mode / network issues

8. UX improvements ✅ Done (PR #72)

• 8a. Mouse hover on background return: when CodeV returns from background with mouse in middle of screen, selected item jumps to mouse position → fix by ignoring onMouseEnter briefly after window focus
• 8b. Assistant message color: blue (#64B5F6) is slightly too prominent → tone down to a subtler shade
• 8c. Settings in switcher: copy some menu bar settings (IDE Preference, etc.) to the Settings panel in the switcher's top-right corner

9. Custom keyboard shortcuts ✅ Done (PR #72)

• Let users rebind global shortcuts (⌃+⌘+R, ⌃+⌘+E, ⌃+⌘+C)
• Conflict detection:

Scope	Can detect?	How
macOS system shortcuts	Partially	Read ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist
CodeV's own shortcuts	Fully	Internal map
Other apps' global shortcuts	No reliable way	No unified API; apps use CGEventTap/MASShortcut independently

• Practical approach: use Electron's globalShortcut.register() — if registration fails, the shortcut is occupied → show "already in use by another app"
• Effort: small to medium

10. Remote control (mobile monitoring)

• Let users monitor/control sessions from phone
• Final assistant message + input capability
• Claude Code's --input-format stream-json / --output-format stream-json enables programmatic I/O
• Requires: relay server + auth + mobile UI
• Colleague's request: "don't need full chat history, final message is enough, focus on remote control"
• Effort: large

Lower Priority

11. AI Assistant cleanup / optimization

• Insight Chat + Smart Chat features are rarely used
• Three directions:

Option	Description	Effort	Risk
A. Remove entirely	Delete Insight Chat + Smart Chat code + UI + API key settings	Small	Sunk cost; some users may use occasionally
B. Accessibility API (like Bob Translate)	Use macOS Accessibility API to read selected text directly (no ⌘+C needed), popup on shortcut	Large	Needs Accessibility permission; MAS review risk (Apple strict on Accessibility API)
C. Simplify (recommended)	Remove Insight Chat prompt settings; keep Smart Chat as quick Claude chat; ⌃+⌘+E reads clipboard directly	Small	Minimal

• Recommendation: Option C short-term. Long-term, Claude Code's VS Code extension chat may make CodeV's AI Assistant redundant → remove entirely.
• If doing Option B: need Swift native module for AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue, not feasible for MAS version.

🤖 On behalf of @grimmerk — generated with Claude Code

[grimmerk]

Research note: macOS Accessibility API as unified switch fallback

Currently each terminal has its own switch mechanism (iTerm2: AppleScript, cmux: CLI, Ghostty: AppleScript partial). VS Code and Claude Desktop have no switch-to-tab capability at all.

macOS Accessibility API (AXUIElement) could provide a unified title-match switch across all apps:

App	Current switch	Accessibility API
iTerm2	AppleScript title/TTY match ✓	Not needed
cmux	CLI tree + focus-panel ✓	Not needed
Ghostty (no TTY upstream)	Title match ✓, cwd fallback for same-cwd ✗	Could enumerate AX tabs + title match
VS Code	Activate window only	Could find + focus Claude Code webview tab
Claude Desktop	No support yet	Could find + focus session panel

Pros: one mechanism covers Ghostty, VS Code, Claude Desktop without depending on each app's API
Cons: needs Accessibility permission, MAS version can't use it, AX hierarchy is fragile across app versions, cannot provide TTY/PID (only title match)

Worth exploring as Phase 2 after ~/.claude/sessions/ detection rewrite.

🤖 On behalf of @grimmerk — generated with Claude Code

[grimmerk]

Note on VS Code session support (item 5)

VS Code sessions are NOT in history.jsonl (Claude Code bug #24579). Without this fix, CodeV cannot show them in the session list via the normal path.

Workaround: read ~/.claude/sessions/ to discover active VS Code sessions, but the data is limited:

Info	Source	Available?
Show in list	sessions/ cwd + name + entrypoint	✓ but minimal (no prompts, no msg count)
Purple dot	sessions/ PID	✓ already works
Switch (activate VS Code window)	open -a "Visual Studio Code"	✓
Search	Only cwd and name	Limited
First/last prompt, message count	Need to read JSONL	Possible but slow, and sessionId may not match JSONL filename

Recommendation: wait for Claude Code to fix history.jsonl for VS Code sessions. Once fixed, they'll appear in the list automatically with full metadata. The workaround gives a degraded experience for significant effort.

🤖 On behalf of @grimmerk — generated with Claude Code

[grimmerk]

Alternative for VS Code session support: Claude Code badge in Projects tab

Instead of adding VS Code sessions to the Sessions tab (limited data, poor UX), show a Claude Code badge on Projects items that have active sessions:

• Read ~/.claude/sessions/ → match cwd against project paths
• Show badge with entrypoint type: CLI, VSCODE, DESKTOP
• User sees at a glance which projects have Claude Code running
• Click project → opens IDE (same as current behavior)

Pros: natural fit in Projects UI, small effort (sessions/ data already available), no need for history.jsonl workaround
Cons: no session-level detail (prompts, msg count) — that stays in Sessions tab for terminal sessions

🤖 On behalf of @grimmerk — generated with Claude Code

[m13v]

the accessibility API approach for unified switching (item 11) is the right call. we use AXUIElement extensively and it works well for tab/window discovery across apps. a few practical notes:

the AX tree hierarchy for VS Code is deep but predictable. the Claude Code webview tab is findable by walking AXWindow > AXGroup > AXTabGroup > AXTab, matching on the title attribute. the tricky part is that tab titles update asynchronously, so you might need to wait briefly after activation for the title to settle.

for Ghostty, the AX tree is much simpler. tabs are direct children of the window and you can match by AXTitle without deep traversal.

the MAS concern is real. Apple rejects Accessibility API usage unless the app genuinely needs it for accessibility purposes (screen readers, voice control). developer tools and session managers have been rejected before. one option: ship two builds, one for MAS without AX features and a direct download version with full AX support.

regarding the CPU optimization for session status (item 2), the hook-based approach at near-zero CPU is clearly better than polling JSONL. we do something similar, write state changes to a lightweight file that a watcher can pick up instantly.

[m13v]

our macOS accessibility tree traversal + AXUIElement handling (the patterns for window/tab discovery across apps): https://github.com/mediar-ai/mcp-server-macos-use/blob/main/Sources/MCPServer/main.swift

[grimmerk]

Updates from PR #72

• Debug migration server #8 UX improvements ✅ Done
  • 8a: Mouse hover fix on background return
  • 8b: Assistant message color toned down
  • 8c: Settings popup redesign (grouped, IDE/Left-Click moved from menu bar, MAS Grant Access)
• fix folder selector entitlement & fix migration part while disabling server #9 Custom keyboard shortcuts ✅ Done
  • Edit/Save/Reset from Settings popup
  • Conflict detection, modifier key requirement, pause during edit

🤖 On behalf of @grimmerk — generated with Claude Code

[grimmerk]

Note: VS Code active sessions — partial support possible

VS Code sessions are not in history.jsonl (Claude Code bug #24579), so they don't appear in CodeV's session list.

What's possible now: discover active VS Code sessions from ~/.claude/sessions/ (entrypoint: "claude-vscode"), then read their session JSONL for first/last prompt (~19ms/file via tail/head). Switch via code -r <project_path> (c9watch approach).

Limitation: only active VS Code sessions can be shown. Closed VS Code sessions are invisible (not in history.jsonl).

c9watch reference: reads session JSONL directly (Rust, fast for large files), uses code -r -g <path> for VS Code switch. See ~/git/c9watch/src-tauri/src/actions.rs and polling.rs.

🤖 On behalf of @grimmerk — generated with Claude Code

[grimmerk]

@m13v Thanks for the detailed notes and the reference repo!

Good to hear the hook-based approach is validated — that's the direction I'm going. Near-zero CPU is hard to beat over polling.

The AX tree walkthrough for VS Code and Ghostty is super useful. Will probably revisit the Accessibility API path when there's clearer demand for VS Code / Claude Desktop tab switching. Bookmarking the mcp-server-macos-use patterns and the dual-build idea for then.

Appreciate the experience sharing 🙏