[BUG] If a chat is already open and you open it from the side bar on vscode it opens it again in new tab.

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?

1. Have VSCode that has the following versions

Version: 1.111.0 (Universal)
Commit: ce099c1ed25d9eb3076c11e4a280f3eb52b4fbeb
Date: 2026-03-06T23:06:10Z (2 wks ago)

1. Have Claude code VSCode extension: 2.1.78
2. Do something on many different tabs using Claude code VSCode extensions
3. Keep the chats open, there's now too many of them to read the chat name.
4. Forget about what you did on a particular chat window
5. Go to browse for all chats on the VSCode sidebar where the Claude code extension appears, click and search for your chat.
6. You found it
7. Open it, realize it was already there.
8. It is now open twice

What Should Happen?

1. Have VSCode that has the following versions

Version: 1.111.0 (Universal)
Commit: ce099c1ed25d9eb3076c11e4a280f3eb52b4fbeb
Date: 2026-03-06T23:06:10Z (2 wks ago)

1. Have Claude code VSCode extension: 2.1.78
2. Do something on many different tabs using Claude code VSCode extensions
3. Keep the chats open, there's now too many of them to read the chat name.
4. Forget about what you did on a particular chat window
5. Go to browse for all chats on the VSCode sidebar where the Claude code extension appears, click and search for your chat.
6. You found it
7. Open it, it goes to the already open chat window in your editor of the chat you are willing to look again at.
8. Continue with your work.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Refer sections above.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.78

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

This may be more of a workflow thing to keep so many tabs open, but it does happen when you work in parallel across multiple repositories.