[BUG] VS Code: spinner word cannot be changed; spinnerVerbs ignored and plugin rewrites get labeled

Summary

In the VS Code extension there is no way to change the spinner word without the UI adding clutter around it.

• The spinnerVerbs setting is ignored in VS Code. This is #41905, still open. At least six duplicates were closed, several as stale: #60814, #80742, #56453, #53360, #23695.
• A plugin that rewrites the spinner word with a ui.render hook on Spinner gets the plugin's name prepended to it.
• A plugin that returns its own tree for Spinner gets that tree drawn as a separate window.

So every route to change one word fails in VS Code: the setting, a plugin rewrite, and a plugin-drawn line.

Frustration, stated plainly

This is a single word in a status line. The setting for it exists and works in the terminal. It has been reported over and over for months. Each report gets closed as a duplicate or as stale while the original sits open. The plugin system, which looks like the escape hatch, stamps its own name on the result. It is hard to understand how a company with this much compute and engineering cannot make one documented setting apply in its own editor extension. Please fix the setting, not just the issue tracker.

Environment

• Claude Code VS Code extension 2.1.299, linux-x64
• Linux

Repro

1. Set this in ~/.claude/settings.json:

``json
"spinnerVerbs": { "mode": "replace", "verbs": ["Processing"] }
``

1. Run any prompt in the VS Code extension. The spinner shows sampled words such as "Forming...", not "Processing".
2. Install a plugin with this hook:

``ts
on('ui.render', { component: 'Spinner' }, ($, e, next) =>
next({ ...e, props: { ...e.props, word: 'Processing' } }))
``
The spinner shows "<plugin-name> plugin Processing…".

1. Change the hook to return a tree: $.ui.resolve(e).Text({ children: 'Processing…' }). The line is drawn in a separate window.

Expected

Any one of these would work:

• VS Code honors spinnerVerbs, as the terminal does.
• A plugin's spinner rewrite is shown without the plugin's name, or there is a setting to hide that attribution.
• A plugin-drawn Spinner tree is drawn inline, in place of the spinner line.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code