[FEATURE] Desktop app: setting to auto-expand Edit/Write diffs by default
Feature Request
In the Claude Code desktop app, Edit/Write tool calls render with the diff collapsed by default. Reviewing a conversation that contains multiple edits requires clicking each diff card individually to see what changed.
Add a setting (e.g. desktop.diffs.expandedByDefault: true in ~/.claude/settings.json, or a toggle in the desktop app preferences UI) that renders every Edit/Write diff in the expanded state from the start.
Use Case
When reviewing a session — either live as Claude works, or scrolling back through a completed conversation — I want to see what was changed without clicking. The collapsed-by-default behavior optimizes for vertical density at the cost of every-diff being a manual interaction. For users who care more about reviewing changes than skimming a long transcript, the inverse default is more useful.
This is especially noticeable in sessions with many small edits (refactors, fixups, codegen passes) where the cost of expanding each one adds up quickly.
Suggested Behavior
- A user preference (settings.json key and/or preferences UI toggle) that defaults all Edit/Write diff cards to expanded state on render.
- Should apply to both pending approval prompts and completed tool results.
- Individual diffs remain manually collapsible/expandable as today; the setting only controls the initial state.
Prior Art / Related Issues
- #48744 (open) — "Add 'Expand All' / 'Collapse All' buttons for diffs in the desktop app." Adjacent but distinct: that's a manual one-shot action, this is a persistent default.
- #33562 (closed) — "Option to expand code diffs by default." Exact-title match for this request, but auto-closed as a duplicate of #33412 (which is actually about suppressing diff output in the terminal — the opposite direction). The dedup was incorrect; the request was never properly addressed.
Environment
- Claude Code version: 2.1.145
- OS: macOS 15.6.1 (Darwin 24.6.0)
- Surface: Claude Code desktop app
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5 Comments
+1 — this is the behavior I keep wanting too.
I regularly run sessions that touch many files in one pass — refactors, cleanups, codegen, multi-file features — so a single conversation produces dozens of small Edit/Write diffs. When I scroll back to review what actually changed, nearly every card has to be expanded by hand. Collapsed-by-default optimizes for transcript density, but when the whole reason I'm reviewing is to see the changes, every diff being a click is a real tax — and it scales with exactly the sessions where review matters most.
A persistent expandedByDefault preference (settings.json key and/or a desktop toggle) would solve it cleanly, and since individual diffs stay manually collapsible, it costs nothing for people who prefer density.
Also worth flagging: this one is stale with no comments despite being tightly scoped — and as it notes, #33562 was incorrectly auto-closed as a dup of a terminal suppress-diffs request (opposite direction). Would be great to see it picked up.
+1
+1 would love to see this
Adding a +1. Somehow I have this working on one machine, but not the other. Quite frustrating. Seems such basic functionality that it's incredible that it's missing.
+1 on this. The current collapsed-by-default behavior makes the desktop app actively harder to use for anyone who cares about reviewing what Claude actually changed, not just skimming a transcript.
Reviewing code changes is the primary use case for most of us using this tool seriously, not an edge case. Every session with more than a couple of edits turns into a click-through chore just to see what happened, which defeats a lot of the value of having the changes visible in the first place. I'd go as far as saying auto-expanded should probably be the default, with collapsed as the opt-in for people who prioritize density over review.
At minimum, please ship this as a settings.json key (e.g. diffs.expandedByDefault: true) so power users aren't blocked on a UI toggle. A preferences UI option would be a nice add on top, but the config key is the part that actually unblocks people now.
This has been open a while, would appreciate a status update on whether it's planned, and if so, roughly when.