Support inline images/gifs in terminal output
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Apr 17, 2026 by jdidion Closed Apr 21, 2026
Feature Request
It would be great if Claude Code could display inline images or gifs in terminals that support it (iTerm2, Kitty, WezTerm, Ghostty) during long-running operations like model downloads, builds, or test suites.
Use case
When waiting for a multi-minute background task (e.g., downloading a 18GB model), a fun "now we dance" gif or relevant image would make the experience more engaging than dry status text.
Technical feasibility
Several terminal emulators already support inline image display:
- iTerm2: Inline Images Protocol
- Kitty: Graphics Protocol
- WezTerm: Supports iTerm2 inline image protocol
- Ghostty: Image support
Detection of terminal capabilities could gate the feature so it only activates in supported terminals.
Suggested behavior
- Detect terminal image capability at startup
- Allow Claude to display images inline (useful for image generation results, plots, screenshots, etc.)
- Optionally show fun waiting animations during long background tasks
- Could also be useful for showing diff visualizations, architecture diagrams, etc.
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