[FEATURE] VSCode extension: configurable tool call visibility (hide / collapse / group)

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

When using the Claude Code VSCode extension, every Grep, Bash, Read, etc. call appears inline in the chat as a full expanded entry. For power users who trust Claude's tool usage, this output is mostly noise — the signal is Claude's text responses, not the intermediate tool mechanics.

Requested options (any/all would be welcome):

a) Hide entirely — A setting to suppress tool call entries from the chat view completely. The tool still runs, the output is still used — it just doesn't appear in the UI.

b) Collapsed by default — Show a minimal one-line summary (e.g. Grep "pattern" in src/) that can be expanded on click, but is closed by default. Similar to how the claude.ai web app handles tool outputs.

c) Group similar/consecutive calls — When Claude runs 4 Grep calls in a row, collapse them into a single grouped entry (e.g. 4 searches) rather than 4 separate blocks. This mirrors how IDEs collapse repeated log lines.

Why this matters:

The chat becomes very long, very fast. Scrolling through 30 tool calls to find Claude's actual response or a decision point is friction. The text responses are what users act on — tool calls are implementation detail.

Proposed Solution

Suggested implementation:

A setting in VSCode extension settings with a sensible default of "collapsed" for most users:

// Global default
"claude.toolVisibility": "show" | "collapsed" | "hidden"

// Per-tool overrides
"claude.toolVisibilityOverrides": {
"Bash": "hidden",
"Grep": "hidden",
"Read": "collapsed",
"Edit": "show"
}
Per-tool overrides would let users hide the truly noisy tools (Bash, Grep) while keeping visibility on tools where the output matters to them (Edit, Write).

Alternative Solutions

_No response_

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

Developer tools/SDK

Use Case Example

_No response_

Additional Context

_No response_