Feature request: Make spinner verbs configurable

Status Fixed / completed
Maintainer reply ✓ Yes — bcherny
Activity 4 comments · opened Jan 30, 2026 · closed Feb 1, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (bcherny, collaborator) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Feature Request

Allow users to configure or disable the "fidget" verbs that appear while Claude is thinking (e.g., "cerebrating", "envisioning", "pondering", etc.).

Use Case

These creative verbs can be distracting. Users should be able to:

  1. Disable them entirely - show nothing or a static indicator
  2. Override with custom text - e.g., just "Busy" or "Working"

Proposed Solution

Add a spinnerVerbs setting to settings.json:

{
  "spinnerVerbs": {
    "mode": "replace",
    "verbs": ["Busy"]
  }
}

Options:

  • mode: "replace" - Use only the custom verbs
  • mode: "append" - Add custom verbs to defaults
  • mode: "disable" - Show no verb at all

Current Behavior

The verbs are hardcoded and appear even offline, indicating they're bundled in the installation. There's no way to customize or disable them.

Environment

  • Claude Code VSCode Extension
  • macOS

View original on GitHub ↗

4 Comments

github-actions[bot] · 8 months ago

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

  1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/21521
  2. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/20879
  3. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

  • If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
  • To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

internationils · 8 months ago

This is a dupe of #4034 ... fixed for Claude CLI, not fixed for VSCode unfortunately

bcherny collaborator · 8 months ago

This is done, going out for VSCode in the next release

github-actions[bot] · 8 months ago

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.