[BUG] Sessions list disappeared after update for paying subscribers (tengu_slate_ridge gate removed

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?

I'm a paying Claude subscriber. After updating to v2.1.71, the conversation history/sessions list feature disappeared. I found this is controlled by the tengu_slate_ridge experiment gate, which is no longer being granted.

This feature is critical for my development workflow. As a paying customer, I expect access to features that were previously available to me. Please either re-enable this for paying subscribers or make it a permanent feature.

Platform: VSCode extension, Windows 11

What Should Happen?

The conversation history (sessions list) sidebar should be visible and accessible to all paying Claude subscribers, regardless of experiment gate (tengu_slate_ridge) assignment. Previously, I could browse and resume past conversations directly from the VSCode extension. This feature should be permanently available, not hidden behind an A/B test flag.

Error Messages/Logs

No error messages are shown. The sessions sidebar simply does not appear in the UI. After inspecting extension.js, the root cause is the tengu_slate_ridge experiment gate being set to false (or absent), which causes claude-vscode.sessionsListEnabled context to remain false, hiding the entire sessions sidebar view.

Relevant code in extension.js:


r.commands.executeCommand("setContext","claude-vscode.sessionsListEnabled"

Steps to Reproduce

1 Install Claude Code VSCode extension (v2.1.71)
2 Sign in with a paid Claude account
3 Have previously used the sessions list feature (conversation history sidebar) in an earlier version
4 Update the extension to the latest version
5 Open VSCode — the sessions/conversation history sidebar is no longer visible
6 Root cause (for developers):
The tengu_slate_ridge experiment gate is no longer being granted to this account. On extension activation, the check:

if (z.globalState.get("experimentGates")?.tengu_slate_ridge)
executeCommand("setContext", "claude-vscode.sessionsListEnabled", true)

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.70

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

The sessions list feature is gated behind the tengu_slate_ridge experiment flag. As a paying subscriber who previously had access, losing this feature after an update significantly impacts my productivity.

Key findings from inspecting extension.js:

Sessions sidebar is registered: registerWebviewViewProvider("claudeVSCodeSessionsList", ...)
But only shown when: when: "claude-vscode.sessionsListEnabled"
Which is set by: executeCommand("setContext", "claude-vscode.sessionsListEnabled", !!z.tengu_slate_ridge)
All conversation data is intact at:
C:\Users\[username]\.claude\projects\[project-id]\*.jsonl

Temporary fix applied locally: changed !!z.tengu_slate_ridge → !0 in extension.js. Feature works perfectly after this change, confirming it is purely a gate issue, not a functional bug.