[FEATURE] VS Code extension: Stream bash command output in real-time
Open 💬 20 comments Opened Dec 17, 2025 by BenNewman100
Preflight Checklist
- [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
- [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)
Problem Statement
When Claude runs bash commands in the VS Code extension's graphical panel, the output is buffered and only displayed after the command completes. This makes it difficult to:
- Monitor progress of long-running commands (builds, tests, installations)
- Know if a command is stuck or still working
- See incremental output that might inform whether to cancel early
The CLI/TUI has related requests (#2221, #4346), but those don't address the VS Code extension's graphical panel specifically.
Proposed Solution
Stream bash command output in real-time within the VS Code extension panel, similar to how a normal terminal works. The output could still be collapsed by default (with Ctrl+O to expand), but the content should update live as the command produces output.
Ideally:
- Output streams incrementally as the command runs
- A visual indicator shows the command is still running (spinner, elapsed time, etc.)
- User can expand to watch live output or leave collapsed and check when done
Alternative Solutions
- Current workaround: Switch to terminal mode or run
claudein the integrated terminal. However, this defeats the purpose of using the VS Code extension - the graphical UI is significantly cleaner with expandable panes, inline diffs, and better visual organization. Telling users to "just use the terminal" isn't a real solution when the GUI is the reason they chose the extension. - No practical alternative exists for getting real-time output while keeping the benefits of the graphical interface.
Priority
Medium - Would be very helpful
Feature Category
VS Code - Extension
Use Case Example
- I ask Claude to run a build command for a large project
- The command takes several minutes to complete
- Currently I see nothing until it finishes - no way to know if it's working or frozen
- With this feature, I could watch build progress and catch errors as they happen
- If I notice an error mid-stream, I could cancel early instead of waiting for completion
Additional Context
- Related CLI/TUI issues: #2221, #4346
- Related collapsed output issue: #10636 (configurable line limit before collapse)
- The
Ctrl+Oexpand functionality already exists - this request is about when output appears, not how it's displayed
20 Comments
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+1
+1
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Ideal solution for me – the way it was made in Cursor. Sandbox terminal for commands only that you can view, you can mention terminal lines, you can view full history. Full control.
+1
+1
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:+1:comments are useful to nobody, and send e-mails/notifications to every single person who's interacted with an issue. It's a lot kinder (to everyone) to just use the 'reaction' feature of GitHub itself; click the 👍 on the OP to add your vote to an issue that affects you.(And apologies for adding to the noise myself.)
@ELLIOTTCABLE, as nobody "seems" to work on important/main features, we need to continue with comments. The bot marks the tickets for
autoclosefor inactivity.Well I think I need to comment to keep this open, otherwise the bots would just go around closing this same topic over and over.
Github Copilot has this in an even better way. It's a shame github has lost to claude in branding. The Copilot integration with VS Code is so good, going from Copilot to Claude code feels like a downgrade, but I have to since Copilot seems to be ending their services for now.
Commenting this to keep the maniac bot from closing good threads.
+1
This is critical because Claude Desktop doesn't support WSL development. The only way to use ClaudeCode's GUI-ish thing in WSL is a remote VS Code connection.
I would also extend this request to streaming plain text output, not only bash output: sometimes AI is generating a lot of text, and I can't tell whether it is stuck or it's working hard.
+1
I hope this issue can be resolved as soon as possible
Can this be a thing please? It waiting random amount of time and grep reading off the temporary log file is very weird and not convenient. Make a panel that live real time streams the outputs?
+1
Would be nice to have this feature.
would be nice to have.. it gives more visibility and understanding of whats going on than having a snippet on the chat window. clicking the snippet gives some data but not as useful as the live terminal output like copilot.
hi everyone if you have not "thumbs uped" 👍 the original post, please do so.
Only the highest voted issues get look at my a real person at anthropic.
Adding a different angle on why this matters: when working with Claude Code side-by-side, I can't actually help troubleshoot or catch issues in real time if I can't see the same output the AI sees. Copilot Chat's live terminal view lets me watch commands execute and step in when something looks off. The current text-block-after-the-fact rendering means I only ever see the result, never the process — which defeats a lot of the value of pairing with an AI on a task.
This isn't a minor UX nitpick — it's a real reason people are choosing Copilot over Claude Code for VS Code work. Would really like to see this prioritized.