Allow diff pane to accept remote diff sources (GitHub PR URL, API, or unified diff)
Problem
The Desktop diff pane is currently limited to Claude's in-session file modifications. This makes it unusable as a review surface for external diffs — most notably GitHub pull requests.
For PR review workflows (e.g., a skill that walks through open PRs using the gh CLI and Jira MCP context), there's no native way to render the PR diff in a rich, GitHub-style viewer. The options today are:
- Dump
gh pr diffoutput as text in the transcript (loses file tree, no syntax highlighting, no per-file navigation) - Open the PR in the browser via
gh pr view --web(leaves Claude Code entirely) - Check out the PR branch locally (pollutes the working tree, which most review workflows explicitly avoid)
Proposed Solution
Extend the diff pane to accept remote diff sources. Possible input shapes:
- A GitHub PR URL or shorthand (e.g.,
owner/repo#1313) - A GitHub API response body
- A generic unified-diff URL or file path
- An MCP-callable interface so skills can open a diff programmatically
Nice-to-haves
- File tree navigation (already present for session diffs)
- Configurable base ref (e.g., "diff against main" vs "diff against last-reviewed commit" for incremental re-reviews)
- Inline comments that write back as PR review comments via
ghor an MCP tool - Metadata sidebar: author, status, labels, CI checks, reviewers
Impact
This would turn Claude Code Desktop into a viable PR review surface and unlock rich skill-driven review workflows (triage, merge coordination, Jira integration, etc.) without forcing users to context-switch between Claude Code and a browser.
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