[FEATURE] Option to restore the detailed/colored dynamic workflow progress display (removed in 2.1.152)

Resolved 💬 1 comment Opened Jun 3, 2026 by baobingzhang Closed Jul 7, 2026

Summary

Please add an opt-in option (settings field, env var, or flag) to restore the detailed, colored progress tree for dynamic workflows (the Workflow tool) that was simplified away in v2.1.152.

What changed

  • v2.1.152 changelog: "Simplified the Workflow tool's inline progress display — live agent counts now show only in the persistent workflow status row below the prompt."
  • v2.1.161 further changed the workflow progress line (agents now shown as done/total).

Previous behavior (<= 2.1.151)

Running a dynamic workflow rendered a colored, nested progress tree in the tool output: phase titles, per-agent status dots/spinners, and narrator (log()) lines, each color-highlighted — easy to see at a glance which phase was active and which agents had finished/failed.

Current behavior (2.1.152 -> 2.1.161)

The inline tree is gone; progress is now a single monochrome line (done/total) in the status row below the prompt. For workflows that fan out 10–17 agents across multiple phases, it is much harder to follow what is happening, and the color cues are gone entirely.

Request

Add a way to opt back into the detailed colored progress display, e.g. one of:

  • a settings.json field (e.g. "workflowProgress": "detailed" / "tree"),
  • an env var (e.g. CLAUDE_CODE_WORKFLOW_PROGRESS=detailed), or
  • a /workflows verbose flag.

Why

  • Multi-agent workflows are hard to monitor without the per-agent / per-phase tree.
  • Color conveys phase/status at a glance; the single-line count loses that.
  • Users who relied on the richer display currently have no configuration option to get it back — the only workaround is downgrading to 2.1.151.

Environment

  • Claude Code 2.1.161 (npm global), Linux, terminal xterm-256color / COLORTERM=truecolor, theme dark-daltonized.
  • Confirmed not a theme or terminal issue: switching themes has no effect, NO_COLOR is unset, not running inside tmux. The change is purely the 2.1.152 UI simplification.

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