[FEATURE] Desktop Code tab: let users start a side task (task chip) themselves, without asking Claude

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing requests. The closest is #68333, which the inactivity bot closed as not planned on 2026-09-14 and asked for a new issue if still relevant. This is that new issue.
• [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

In the Claude desktop app's Code tab, Claude can call spawn_task to put a task chip in the conversation. The desktop changelog calls these "side-task suggestions". One click on the chip starts the task as its own session in a fresh git worktree, linked to the current session. The desktop docs only describe Claude suggesting these chips.

Users have no direct way to make one. I couldn't find a button, menu item, shortcut or slash command for it. The only route is to ask Claude in chat, for example "open a new side task chip for xyz". That route has three problems:

• It shares the input with the main conversation. If Claude is mid-turn, the message either interrupts the turn or waits until the turn ends.
• It spends a model turn on what is really a UI action.
• The user doesn't write the brief. Claude writes the prompt the new session gets. The chip shows Claude's title and summary, not that prompt.

Proposed Solution

Give users their own way to create the same thing spawn_task creates:

• A New side task action in the session's ⋯ menu and next to the composer, plus a keyboard shortcut.
• A small form with the fields the chip already has: title, prompt, and where to start (worktree, local or cloud).
• It works while Claude is mid-turn, without interrupting the turn or queueing behind it.
• The result is a chip you can start later, or a session that starts right away. Either way, it's linked to the current session as its parent, like chip-spawned sessions are today.
• Nice to have: Spin off as side task on selected text in a message, with the selection pre-filled as the prompt.

Alternative Solutions

• Ask Claude in chat for a chip. This works, but has the problems above.
• Start a new session with the worktree option (⌘N). This gives an isolated checkout, but the session isn't linked to the one you're in and starts with none of its context.
• Use /fork [prompt] in the CLI. It copies the current conversation into a background session that makes its own worktree. It's the closest match, but it carries the whole transcript instead of a short brief, and the desktop docs don't mention it.

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

Other

Use Case Example

1. Claude is halfway through a long refactor in my session.
2. I notice an unrelated flaky test.
3. Today: I type "open a side task chip to fix the flaky test in X". That interrupts the refactor turn or waits until it ends. Then Claude writes the chip and I click it.
4. Proposed: I press a shortcut, type "Fix the flaky test in tests/foo_test.go", pick worktree, and it starts. The refactor turn keeps running.

Additional Context

• Same request as #68333 ("GUI: user-initiated parallel task spawning without interrupting current turn"), which was closed only for inactivity.
• Related but different: #99530 (park chips and reach them from the ⋯ menu), #89783 (let Claude auto-start child sessions), #84425 (/spawn a new chat that carries the current context).
• Environment: Claude desktop 2.26454.2, macOS 15.7.9.