[FEATURE]

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

Summary
Claude Code exposes several environment details to the model at session start (platform, OS version, shell, working directory, git status, model ID). It does not expose which client the user is running: desktop app, CLI, or web (claude.ai/code).

Problem
When a user asks about client-specific behavior (session management, keyboard shortcuts, UI features, settings location), the model has to ask "which client are you using?" before it can help. This adds a round-trip to every client-specific question. Worse, it assumes that you are using the Mac version or the CLI when answering questions, resulting in a lot of back-and-forth "user said / Claude said" behavior that wastes time and tokens.

The model also cannot proactively tailor advice. For example, file path handling, available UI features, and session storage all differ by client, but the model has no way to know which applies.

Proposed Solution

Proposed Solution
Add a client field to the environment context provided at session start. Something like:

Client: desktop-app | cli | web

Same pattern as the existing Platform, Shell, and OS Version fields.

Current Environment Fields (for reference)
Primary working directory
Git repository status
Platform (e.g., win32)
Shell (e.g., bash)
OS Version (e.g., Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200)
Model name and ID
Knowledge cutoff date
Client is the obvious missing piece.

Alternative Solutions

_No response_

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

Configuration and settings

Use Case Example

_No response_

Additional Context

_No response_