Feature: open Claude Desktop to a specific session UUID via CLI flag or deep link
Summary
No supported way to launch Claude Desktop (Windows/Mac/Linux) directly into a specific session by UUID. Restart / session-sharing / external-launcher tooling has to leave the user at the home screen.
Use case
Building a /restart plugin for Claude Code (forty4420/cc-restart — private testing, plan to make public). Flow:
- User: "restart yourself" (or
/restart) - Plugin preflights (dirty git, running background work)
- Plugin captures the current session UUID from the child CLI process command line (
--resume <uuid>) - Plugin gracefully closes desktop via
WM_CLOSE(so Electron persists state) - Plugin relaunches
Claude.exe
Step 5 works, but the app opens to the home screen. There is no CLI flag or deep-link that can say "open session <uuid>".
What I tried
Claude.exe --resume <uuid>— flag ignoredclaude://...URL protocol handler is registered (HKCU\Software\Classes\claude), but no documented path format- Disassembled
app.asar— foundclaude-nest:/claude-nest-dev:/claude-nest-prod:protocols referenced, but no/session/route Local Storage/ leveldb persistence is binary-encoded and not a documented surface--remote-debugging-portflag is dropped because of Electron's single-instance lock (new launches are redirected to the running PID, flags stripped)
Ask
Either of these unlocks a lot of external tooling:
A. CLI flag
Claude.exe --resume <session-uuid>Opens desktop directly to that session, or noop-with-warning if unknown UUID.
B. Deep link
claude://session/<session-uuid>or equivalent. Route the existing registered claude:// URL handler to the session router.
Why this matters
Unblocks:
- Self-restart plugins (preserve active session across restart)
- Session bookmarking / sharing between machines via URL
- External task launchers ("open Claude to session X when this build finishes")
- IDE integrations that want to jump to a specific conversation
Related: #34320 (terminal /restart), #46927 (cowork restart loses sessions).
Platform
Windows 11. Claude Desktop 1.3109.0 (MSIX). Willing to test on mac/linux too if useful.
3 Comments
Direct navigation to a specific session UUID via CLI flag or deep link (
claude --session <uuid>orclaude://session/<uuid>) is a meaningful UX improvement for power users managing many sessions — particularly for automation, scripting, and multi-agent coordination where session IDs are known programmatically.From an agent identity and session management perspective, the session UUID is the canonical identity for a conversation. Having a direct navigation path from UUID to active session closes the gap between "I have a session ID" (from logs, API responses, automation outputs) and "I can open that session."
Three implementation options in increasing complexity:
claude --session <uuid>starts or resumes the specified session. If the session exists, resumes it. If not, creates a new session with that UUID (or errors). This is the most scriptable option and works in all contexts.claude://session/<uuid>opens the Desktop app to the specified session. Standard URL scheme registration on macOS/Windows. Enables "open session" from other apps, scripts, scripts triggered by notifications./gotoslash command: In an active session,/goto <uuid>opens the specified session in a new tab (for multi-session Desktop support). Complementary to the above rather than a replacement.Use cases:
This connects directly to the auto-rename sessions request (#50040) — if sessions can be navigated by UUID, programmatic naming becomes even more useful for disambiguation.
Found 3 possible duplicate issues:
This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.
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