[FEATURE] Surface execution progress in Chat matching Cowork's transparency

Problem

Chat shows nothing while Claude is working. Cowork shows everything — the plan, steps, tool calls, progress. Users in Chat have no visibility into whether Claude is actively working, how complex the task is, or how long to wait. A thinking indicator is insufficient.

This is especially painful when Chat is used for planning or multi-step reasoning that takes 30–90 seconds. The user stares at a pulsing dot with no idea if Claude is mid-thought, stuck, or nearly done.

Current behavior

• Chat: Pulsing "thinking" indicator. No plan, no steps, no progress. Dead silence.
• Cowork: Full execution visibility — plan outline, step-by-step progress, tool calls, intermediate results.

Expected behavior

Chat should surface a progress signal equivalent to what Cowork shows for complex responses. At minimum:

1. Task complexity indicator — signal whether this is a quick answer or a multi-step operation
2. Step progress — show what Claude is currently doing (e.g., "Searching for related issues…", "Drafting response…")
3. Elapsed time — how long the current operation has been running

This doesn't need to be as detailed as Cowork's full execution panel, but it needs to be more than a pulsing dot.

Why this matters

Users who work across Chat and Cowork (planning in Chat, executing in Cowork) experience a jarring transparency gap. Chat feels broken by comparison. This erodes trust in Chat for anything beyond simple Q&A, pushing complex work to Cowork even when Chat would be the better surface.

Related issues

• #31962 — Desktop app Code tab: no way to distinguish cogitation from completion
• #30444 — Windows taskbar notification / progress indicator when long-running tasks complete
• #20079 — Claude Code hangs during task execution with no progress indication

These address related symptoms but none specifically request parity between Chat and Cowork execution transparency.

Environment

• Claude Desktop (macOS, latest)
• 50+ Cowork sessions for reference comparison
• Regular Chat user for planning and multi-step reasoning