[FEATURE] Allow customizing terminal tab title via config or hooks"

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 running multiple Claude Code sessions in parallel (e.g., in VS Code-based editors like Antigravity, Cursor,
Windsurf), every terminal tab is titled "Claude Code." This makes it impossible to distinguish between sessions at a
glance.

Users working on multiple tasks — compliance work in one tab, UI design in another, a node server in a third — have to
click into each tab to figure out which is which. The only workaround is manually right-clicking and renaming each tab
every time.

Because Claude Code takes over the terminal process, shell-level solutions (like zsh precmd hooks with escape
sequences) don't work — the shell never gets a chance to fire its prompt hook while Claude Code is running.

Proposed Solution

1. Respect a config option for terminal title format — e.g., terminalTitle in settings.json or .claude/settings.json

that supports variables like ${topic}, ${branch}, ${cwd}, or a static string.

1. Allow setting the title via hooks or a file — Claude Code could watch a file (e.g., ~/.claude-task) or support a

hook event that updates the terminal title escape sequence from within the running session.

1. Auto-set a topic-based title — Claude Code could infer a short topic from the first user message or the conversation

context and set the terminal tab title accordingly (similar to how chat UIs auto-title conversations).

Any of these would make multi-session workflows significantly easier to manage.

Alternative Solutions

_No response_

Priority

Low - Nice to have

Feature Category

CLI commands and flags

Use Case Example

_No response_

Additional Context

_No response_