Option to disable humorous verb choice

yes and it's even worse now, and not funny. I'm not here for 'jokes', so please add option to remove entirely

I'm enjoying verbs and find them playful. But I agree that it's better to add an option to turn that off, in case in one day I get bored of them

can you give some examples of that i've never seen it, perhaps it depends on your writing style?, serious talks results in serious talks back it only mimics ourselves i think. I'm quite curious about llm behaviours, did you ask it think it cannt possibly know so humor was a polite way to excuse for unclarity?

As seen in the related issues (https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/6548, https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/8714), my problem refers to verbs such as tomfoolering, Befuddling, etc seen in the loading animation.

The annoying "thinking verbs" can be configured with the tweakcc tool (see this comment for a similar customization). This requires a local npm install though, it doesn't work with the "native install" of Claude Code.

I've successfully configured it to just show "Generating..." all the time.

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As far as I can see there is still no option to disable the verbs in Claude Code v2.0.60

An example of a case makes this _particularly_ annoying is when the verb _means_ something. Like, when Claude says "Creating..." after I simply ask for information, I did not ask it to create anything! What is it creating?! Very distracting and disturbing at a glance.

(But to be clear, any silly "thinking" verb variety here is distracting. Like everyone else here, I just want all the thinking verbs to go away entirely.)

The tweakcc method does not work... And it feels odd to have an external tool making changes to claude... Please allow us to disable the humor. It feels bad when it backfires.

If you are really in the mood, you can make a backup of this file and then edit it to remove the humorous verbs: /home/USER/.nvm/versions/node/v22.1.0/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js. Use VS Code as this file is huge. Look for one of the verbs, keep only one entry on the list and use your favorite verb.

Mine ended up like:

xP5={words:["Working"]}

@petersenna Good idea. The thing I ended up needing to edit (with a Win11 VS Code Extension installation) was
users\<me>\.vscode\extensions\anthropic.claude-code-blahblahblah\webview\index.js with a simple list of strings. Editing that seems to have worked. Of course, it'll go away the next time the extension is updated. Maybe I'll write a tool to do it... :)

+1. These messages don't play well with my neurodivergent brain and add cognitive load to every command. I'm using the native install on MacOS and there doesn't appear to be a way to edit any config file to turn them off.

Please consider this enhancement, it should not be too complicated to make it SIMPLER compared to what it is doing currently.
The whimsical "thinking" words are distracting and frustrating over long term

I find these very distracting. Please allow options for something like:

• Status messages that give more details about what is happening, so they are worth reading
• A percentage (if that is possible), or else a "token usage" counter, or something else to indicate progress / amount of work performed
• A static text with a spinner that does not change every few seconds

The forced wordplay and puns are so distracting that I can't watch the output being generated. I literally have to look away and wait for it to finish. This significantly impacts usability.

Its a fun little visual feature. Minimize the terminal if its distracting. This is complaining just for the sake of complaining.

Its a fun little visual feature. Minimize the terminal if its distracting. This is complaining just for the sake of complaining.

In the interest of assuming you're acting in good faith:

1. Minimizing isn't an option as watching the progress is often useful.
2. This is genuinely a problem for people. We are not complaining for the sake of complaining. Many of the people asking for this feature change, like me, are Autistic and this is a genuine sensory issue and distraction.
3. If you like it (which you haven't indicated) be aware most of us have been asking for a toggle; we have not asked for it to be removed for anyone who does enjoy it.
4. As far as I can tell, this is a regression. Based on reading older issues, this used to have a toggle when it actually asked the LLM for the terms, and now that it's hardcoded they removed the toggle.

I agree. The forced whimsy is neither funny nor clever. While I can't imagine who could appreciate it after more than a few hours of exposure, the point @dsteinbock raises is even more important, as the feature effectively mandates a specific skill that is unrelated to software engineering.

By contrast, I continue to find it hilarious when your competitor amp detects that a model spat out "You're absolutely right!" and highlights it in rainbow colors.

I think I understand the issue now. The Claude Code creator runs multiple Claude terminals simultaneously (which can easily be 5+ at once). Because he's spawning many threads, he doesn't actually watch the real-time output—he switches away immediately. Since he never experiences reading the responses as they stream, he doesn't realize how distracting the forced whimsy is.

Still, I'd appreciate an option to opt out until I master multitasking like the pros.

https://nitter.net/bcherny/status/2007179832300581177

It's particularly annoying for me when legit messages are mixed in with the whimsy: e.g. "Compacting" is a real thing that's happening.

Hi folks at Anthropic @bcherny @ashwin-ant @fvolcic . Sorry for a quick ping.

This is a small issue that clearly, a significant number of users feel very strongly about, for a valid, wide set of reasons. The cost of that fix would be practically zero.

Would you please consider adding an opt-in fix.

Many if not all of us are loyal, paying customers.

Cheers - V

Just started using Claude today and it's very annoying that the UI essentially changes every single time so I have to parse what's happening. And it's unprofessional.

Just opened a duplicate here for similar reasons but have decided to pile on to this ticket.

I get irrationally angry when food words are mixed with non-food concepts, like (grimace) "baking code" or "Cooked for 20s". I'm running out of tricks to hide/elide/censor/replace these words. Thanks @dsteinbock for your comment here: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3684822250 , I appreciate the representation.

A similar issue suggests https://opencode.ai as an alternative.

update: whoa, OpenCode is _nice_. It uses some very competent and free models out of the box. Even if you stick with Claude Code, you should give OpenCode a go.

The annoying "thinking verbs" can be configured with the tweakcc tool (see this comment for a similar customization). This requires a local npm install though, it doesn't work with the "native install" of Claude Code. I've successfully configured it to just show "Generating..." all the time.

Workaround: https://github.com/Piebald-AI/tweakcc

Actually this is silly. We're all developers here. So, assuming you've installed npm and bun (which I guess you could ask claude to do),

  cd somewhere
  npm pack @anthropic-ai/claude-code
  tar -xzf anthropic-ai-claude-code-*.tgz

Then edit package/cli.js to your heart's content; it's minified, but still just plain text. If you search for ing", you'll eventually find a declaration of a long array of strings - in the latest version: ["Accomplishing","Actioning" ... ,"Zesting","Zigzagging"]. Change it to ["Annoying"] or whatever you like. Then run bun cli.js.
There's other amusing stuff in there.

Running bun over third-party packages seems fairly subject to breakage.

Anyway, yes, I could edit the files. In my case they're not compressed.

Scripts (for 2.0.32 - may not work for you):

https://gist.github.com/vemv/c6333d53ede16198a23eb95425051b7b

Anthropic owns bun these days, so it's more like 2.5th party. I think what's more subject to breakage is the list of words and they way they're stored in minified code. In 2.0.76, the minified code looks like cc7={words:["Accomplishing","Actioning",..., when I download 2.1.3 it's x62=["Accomplishing","Actioning",... (not nested in a map), and in the 2.1.3 claude downloaded itself, the minified variable is Tg_. Anyway, I did it in emacs.

Actually this is silly. We're all developers here. So, assuming you've installed npm and bun (which I guess you could ask claude to do),

good inspiration, thanks!
I couldn't take those words anymore.

claude-depester

<img width="406" height="362" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a1c28d4a-a456-4c73-9dde-b59f2dd2f2f5" />

I built a small tool to replace Claude Code's silly thinking words ("Flibbertigibbeting", "Discombobulating", "Clauding", etc.) with a simple "Thinking".

Install & Use

``npx claude-depester``

That's it. Restart Claude Code.

Features

• Works with native binaries (uses node-lief for proper Bun extraction/repacking)
• Auto-detects installation (native, npm, homebrew)
• Creates backup (restore anytime with --restore)
• Optional auto-patch hook: npx claude-depester --install-hook

Links

• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/claude-depester
• GitHub: https://github.com/ominiverdi/claude-depester

Built on the excellent work from tweakcc (https://github.com/Piebald-AI/tweakcc) for the binary patching approach.

Is it possible to do this for the VSCode extension as well?

Is it possible to do this for the VSCode extension as well?

I don't use VScode. I use the TUI. Would you like to try and let me know if it works?

Is it possible to do this for the VSCode extension as well?

<img width="344" height="105" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b5a49852-8de1-4144-b433-3b29c784993d" />

I upgraded it and tested on VScodium on Linux. It works.
V1.2.1 should work on Windows and Mac also (I couldn't test it).

To find (maybe) all the possible CC potential installation paths, the commands needs to be called like that:

``npx claude-depester --all``

For respect to the participants of this topic, if you have questions about the Claude-Depester please use the Issues of that project: https://github.com/ominiverdi/claude-depester/issues

Also good to check the docs and try the --dry-run before going for it:
https://github.com/ominiverdi/claude-depester

I _think_ the list of gerunds is used for multiple other things, e.g. for
naming sessions/plans/... and wonder whether this causes other issues to
just edit the list.
Hopefully Anthropic can provide a real toggle for this _even if_ the above
works perfectly (Especially since installing things like this isn't always
possible at work)

• Yoni

he/him

On Sun, Jan 11, 2026 at 9:42 AM ominiverdi @.***> wrote:

ominiverdi left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#4034) <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3735157206> Is it possible to do this for the VSCode extension as well? image.png (view on web) <https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b5a49852-8de1-4144-b433-3b29c784993d> I upgraded it and tested on VScodium on Linux. It works. V1.2.1 should work on Windows and Mac also (I couldn't test it). To find (maybe) all the possible CC potential installation paths, the commands needs to be called like that: npx claude-depester --all For respect top this topic participants, if you have questions about the Claude-Depester please use the Issues of that project: https://github.com/ominiverdi/claude-depester/issues Also good to check the docs and try the --dry-run before going for it: https://github.com/ominiverdi/claude-depester — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3735157206>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAU67IL5NZMN4A7TN7IRSED4GKDRPAVCNFSM6AAAAACB6LUEJ6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTOMZVGE2TOMRQGY> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: @.***>

I _think_ the list of gerunds is used for multiple other things, e.g. for naming sessions/plans/... and wonder whether this causes other issues to just edit the list.

Good point.
I checked and the array (Tte in webview, ouI in CLI) is only used for the spinner animation - picking a random word and calculating text width for display. Replacing it with ["Thinking"] doesn't break anything else.
That said, I agree - it would be better if Anthropic provided an official toggle. The tool is just a workaround for those of us who find the silly words distracting/annoying.

In the late 1990s, I had a friend who was really proud of using ad-supported dial-up internet providers, but covering up the strip of advertisements with masking tape. I guess that’s an option here, since the gerund is always in the same place.

On Sun, Jan 11, 2026, at 15:06, Yoni wrote:

fizzfaldt left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#4034) <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3735644990> I _think_ the list of gerunds is used for multiple other things, e.g. for naming sessions/plans/... and wonder whether this causes other issues to just edit the list. Hopefully Anthropic can provide a real toggle for this _even if_ the above works perfectly (Especially since installing things like this isn't always possible at work) - Yoni he/him On Sun, Jan 11, 2026 at 9:42 AM ominiverdi @.***> wrote: > ominiverdi left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#4034) > <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3735157206> > > Is it possible to do this for the VSCode extension as well? > > image.png (view on web) > <https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b5a49852-8de1-4144-b433-3b29c784993d> > > I upgraded it and tested on VScodium on Linux. It works. > V1.2.1 should work on Windows and Mac also (I couldn't test it). > > To find (maybe) all the possible CC potential installation paths, the > commands needs to be called like that: > npx claude-depester --all > > For respect top this topic participants, if you have questions about the > Claude-Depester please use the Issues of that project: > https://github.com/ominiverdi/claude-depester/issues > > Also good to check the docs and try the --dry-run before going for it: > https://github.com/ominiverdi/claude-depester > > — > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3735157206>, > or unsubscribe > <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAU67IL5NZMN4A7TN7IRSED4GKDRPAVCNFSM6AAAAACB6LUEJ6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTOMZVGE2TOMRQGY> > . > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message > ID: @.> > — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3735644990>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAJU73P6VYW5MSXGDADCWJ34GKUMBAVCNFSM6AAAAACB6LUEJ6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTOMZVGY2DIOJZGA>. You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.>

just a +1 agreeing that this feature should be user-controllable.
OP said it well: "They stopped being funny to me long ago and they're a nuisance that steals precious focus from me"

Rather than an on/off toggle, I'd prefer to have to ability to provide my own list (whether via file, env var, whatever) of "Thinking" words. That would kinda solve the problem for everyone: folks who don't like the distraction can leave it empty or set to "Thinking", while other folks can get really silly with it 🤷

<img width="430" height="182" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1ef63c90-4f60-41e7-a347-6fd013978751" />

thanks to SmartManoj for the feature request:
Remove turn completion verbs
https://github.com/ominiverdi/claude-depester/issues/1

Changelog for 2.1.7

• Added showTurnDuration setting to hide turn duration messages (e.g., "Cooked for 1m 6s")

...so now there is a toggle to disable a message with useful information ...

> Changelog for 2.1.7 > Added showTurnDuration setting to hide turn duration messages (e.g., "Cooked for 1m 6s") ...so now there is a toggle to disable a message with useful information ...

Setting doesn't appear in /config and doesn't seem to work in ~/.claude/settings.json with a value of false.

Has anyone got this setting to work?

$ claude --version
2.1.7 (Claude Code)

$ claude doctor

 Diagnostics
 └ Currently running: unknown (2.1.7)
 └ Path: /home/[user]/.local/share/fnm/node-versions/v22.19.0/installation/bin/node
 └ Invoked: /run/user/1000/fnm_multishells/1811541_1768390858561/bin/claude
 └ Config install method: global
 └ Search: OK (vendor)

 Updates
 └ Auto-updates: enabled
 └ Auto-update channel: latest
 └ Stable version: 2.1.2
 └ Latest version: 2.1.7

 Press Enter to continue…

Changelog for 2.1.7 * Added showTurnDuration setting to hide turn duration messages (e.g., "Cooked for 1m 6s") ...so now there is a toggle to disable a message with useful information ...

it feels like a social experiment.
one of the most upvoted feature request that gets apparently ignored. meanwhile adding similar features but not quite... :)

@lsh-0 the schema is missing showTurnDuration. So I think it was included in the changelog incorrectly.

I just realized an unintended benefit of this feature is that it's good for eye health -- it's so annoying I literally have to look away from the screen when it runs.

This issue has been ignored for 192 days. Please stop the meaningless nonsense words from distracting serious professional engineers. ty

i just noticed that it looks like there's a fix in 2.1.23 (haven't tested it yet):

     Version 2.1.23:        
     • Added customizable spinner verbs setting (spinnerVerbs)

Related: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/21599

Settings page missing spinnerVerbs configuration documentation

Seems to work. You can have mode append or replace. I added this to settings.local.json:

"spinnerVerbs": {
  "mode": "replace",
  "verbs": ["Clauding", "Claudifying"]
}

though I still got ✻ Worked for 37s and Sauteed etc. when it was done, but thats much less annoying

cheers @internationils , confirmed working.

any idea how to fix these?

<img width="617" height="169" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/78353c89-1313-4a3d-82c8-ad0f9365aabf" />

This is what the problem looks like:

<img width="279" height="100" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e7c54213-6d17-4405-8731-e52dff0ae3b3" />

<img width="183" height="103" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b7d2c9d1-d677-475a-9753-15a55fe84ef4" />

<img width="222" height="86" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e70680bb-2f82-47e0-9db5-c182e94ccf1c" />

<img width="305" height="70" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e104d70f-c95e-497b-ad8c-424a5f821d05" />

cheers @internationils , confirmed working. any idea how to fix these? <img alt="Image" width="617" height="169" src="https://private-user-images.githubusercontent.com/2142748/542121124-78353c89-1313-4a3d-82c8-ad0f9365aabf.png?jwt=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.khadJ8ZGTFjhu-1npuzn5fTPJUiTAE0wp_2qrfVF-oo">

<img width="451" height="190" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/962a0d8e-b198-4978-85b8-72b2e73c4912" />

https://github.com/ominiverdi/claude-depester

Claude Code has two word arrays: spinner verbs (shown during thinking: "Flibbertigibbeting...") and completion verbs (shown after: "Baked for 42s"). The new spinnerVerbs config only controls the first. claude-depester patches both - replacing completion verbs with "Thought" so you see "Thought for 38s" instead of "Baked for 38s".

We now need to ask for a new flag on the completion verbs... hopefully not waiting 190 days again.

Also, this appears to work in Claude CLI, but in VSCode it is still happily spouting words unfortunately... tried restarting extensions, vscode, new sessions, still happily spouting.

This is done, going out for VSCode in the next release

@bcherny what does this mean "going out for VSCode..."?

The ask here is to disable the distracting nonsense words in the CLI version. Does this issue marked as "completed" also mean that CLI users will have the option to disable the distracting content words? Please be specific in your answer. ty

@nexusmedialab , this is fixed in the Claude Code/CLI version, see this comment: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3816529399

unfortunately this is only fixed for _spinner_ verbs and not _completion_ verbs, as per https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3819919926

I'd like to re-open this ticket based on that alone, unless there is another ticket for completion verbs out there?

@bcherny
while i appreciate the fix for the spinner verbs, as noted above, the completion verbs are still an issue. if the team accepts that the spinner verbs were annoying enough that they warranted an official fix, it seems to me the completion verbs should also be similarly customizable.

Solution
To customize the "spinner verbs" displayed by claude-code CLI for an individual project directory, edit the file .claude/settings.local.json and add the following lines:

"spinnerVerbs": {
  "mode": "replace",
  "verbs": ["Processing"]
}

@nexusmedialab, yes, we know, see here: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3849818612

quoting myself:

unfortunately this is only fixed for spinner verbs and not completion verbs, as per https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/4034#issuecomment-3819919926

and @guppy-jpf:

if the team accepts that the spinner verbs were annoying enough that they warranted an official fix, it seems to me the completion verbs should also be similarly customizable.

We would like this ticket re-opened and the problem comprehensively fixed.

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.