[BUG] CLAUDE CODE panel appears broken by default; Plan Mode behavior is undocumented and undiscoverable

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

The “CLAUDE CODE” panel appears indistinguishable from a broken feature.

By default, the panel is completely empty:

• no input field
• no placeholder text
• no explanation of purpose
• no indication whether this is an error or intended behavior

As a user, there is no way to tell whether:

• the extension failed to initialize,
• authentication is missing,
• setup is incomplete,
• or the panel is intentionally empty.

After several hours of investigation, I learned (from external explanation, not from the UI or docs) that:

• CHAT is the primary and only interactive surface
• The CLAUDE CODE panel is Plan Mode–only
• Plan Mode is activated via an undocumented key chord (Shift+Tab twice)
• The panel is expected to remain empty unless Plan Mode is active

This behavior is not communicated anywhere in-product and is extremely misleading, especially given the panel name “CLAUDE CODE.”

What Should Happen?

The product should clearly communicate the intended behavior of the CLAUDE CODE panel.

At minimum, one of the following should be true:

• The panel should be hidden or disabled until Plan Mode is active
• OR the panel should display placeholder text explaining:
• what it is for
• that it only activates in Plan Mode
• how to enter Plan Mode (e.g., Shift+Tab twice)
• OR the documentation and UI should explicitly state that CHAT is the primary interface and CLAUDE CODE is a secondary, read-only planning surface

Production software should not rely on undocumented key chords for core functionality, and users should never have to guess whether an empty panel represents a failure state or intended behavior.

Error Messages/Logs

No explicit error logs are produced.

The extension activates successfully and functions via the CHAT panel.
The CLAUDE CODE panel remains empty by design unless Plan Mode is activated.

This issue is not a runtime error, but a UX / discoverability problem:
there is no indication whether the empty panel is a failure state or intended behavior.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install the Claude Code VS Code extension (production version).
2. Open VS Code and open any workspace.
3. Open the Claude Code panel so that both tabs (CHAT and CLAUDE CODE) are visible.
4. Observe the CLAUDE CODE tab.

Result:

• The CLAUDE CODE panel is completely empty.
• There is no input field, placeholder text, or explanation.
• There is no indication whether this is an error or intended behavior.

1. Use the CHAT tab normally (this works as expected).
2. Without prior knowledge, there is no discoverable action that explains or activates the CLAUDE CODE panel.

Optional discovery (not documented):

1. Focus the CHAT input field.
2. Press Shift+Tab twice to activate Plan Mode.
3. Observe that the CLAUDE CODE panel now populates with a plan.

This Plan Mode activation mechanism is undocumented and not discoverable from the UI.

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

first time using the plug in

Claude Code Version

claude CLI not found on PATH. Running which claude returns: claude not found Unable to run claude --version.

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Additional context:

The requirement to run claude --version implies a locally installed Claude CLI, but no such CLI is installed or discoverable as part of the VS Code extension setup. This adds to the ambiguity around what components are expected to exist and how users are meant to verify versions.

Combined with the undocumented Plan Mode behavior and an empty-by-default CLAUDE CODE panel, this reinforces that the extension’s operational model is not clearly communicated, despite being labeled production-ready.