[FEATURE] [VSCode extension] Clicking a session in the sessions list ignores preferredLocation and always opens in an editor tab (no way to open in the secondary sidebar)

I just got Claude access at my workplace today - and this same issue was present for me - id like this to be prioritized - copilot chat worked like this and it was convenient.

was going to open a bug but then saw this adding my info here

Bug Report
Title: Sessions list click ignores preferredLocation: "sidebar" — always opens in editor tab

Extension: Claude Code for VS Code (anthropic.claude-code)
Version: 2.1.186
VS Code version: (user to fill in — Help → About)

<img width="372" height="277" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cd91fbcb-0832-4bdb-a8e3-3cca4720faa8" />

OS: Windows 11 Enterprise

Description

When claudeCode.preferredLocation is set to "sidebar", clicking a session in the sessions list panel opens it as a new editor tab instead of in the sidebar. The claude-vscode.sidebar.open command (via Ctrl+Shift+P) works correctly and does open in the sidebar, but the sessions list does not respect the same preference.

Steps to reproduce

Set "claudeCode.preferredLocation": "sidebar" in VS Code user settings (settings.json).
Open the Claude Code sessions list in the activity bar.
Click any session item in the list.
Expected behavior

The session opens in the sidebar (same as running Claude Code: Open in Side Bar from the command palette).

Actual behavior

The session opens as a new tab in the editor area, and the preferredLocation setting appears to be reset to "panel" as a side effect, undoing the user's preference.

Workaround

Use Ctrl+Shift+P → Claude Code: Open in Side Bar each time.

Root cause (from extension source)

The extension registers a claude-vscode.editor.openLast command that correctly checks getPreferredLocation() and routes to the sidebar when set. However, the sessions list view (claudeVSCodeSessionsList) appears to invoke claude-vscode.primaryEditor.open or claude-vscode.editor.open directly — bypassing the preference check — and the non-active-column path calls setPreferredLocation("panel"), actively overwriting the user's setting.

(asking AI i see two different sidbar views

<img width="571" height="483" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5d75091c-4ae2-42e1-a691-b5c53b6b29c0" />

<img width="564" height="995" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c5618fb7-a8ae-4cd4-a372-2e834af8f3ea" />

Those are two separate views registered by the Claude Code extension:

Sessions list (first icon) — the session browser/manager. Shows all your conversations, lets you switch between them. This is claudeVSCodeSessionsList.

Claude chat (second icon) — the actual conversation interface. This is the sidebar-embedded chat view (claudeVSCodeSidebarSecondary), which is what opens when you use Ctrl+Shift+P → Claude Code: Open in Side Bar.

The intended workflow is:

Use the sessions list to pick which conversation you want
The chat view then loads that conversation in the chat panel
The bug you found is exactly the disconnect — clicking a session in the first panel should load it into the second panel (sidebar chat), but instead it opens a new editor tab. They're not wired together correctly when preferredLocation is sidebar.

@Cade-Rasmussen @Finrod927 I also ran into this issue and upvoted. But in the meantime, you can use /resume in your current claude chat, in the sidebar, and it will provide a dropdown of old conversations you can select to resume there instead of in a new editor tab

Still wanted as of extension 2.1.228 (VS Code 1.132). Adding a root-cause trace in case it helps someone pick this up - the change looks well contained.

Cause

The sessions list in the activity bar sends an open_in_editor request to the host. The host then calls claude-vscode.editor.open with ViewColumn.Active. This path does not read claudeCode.preferredLocation. Only claude-vscode.editor.openLast reads that setting. The status bar item also reads it, but only to set its first visibility.

The New session button at the top of the same list sends the same request. Therefore, that button also ignores the setting. It always opens an editor tab.

No command can do this task from outside the extension. The claude-vscode.sidebar.open command accepts no arguments. Therefore, it can show the sidebar, but it cannot load a selected session. Issue #40169 asks for a command that accepts a session ID.

Why the change is small

The sidebar can already load a session into the current view. The session history menu in the chat header does this. It does this when the surface does not use the open-in-tab mode.

The host needs only a method to send a session to that surface. There are three steps:

1. Send the resume action to the sidebar when preferredLocation has the value sidebar. As an alternative, add a claude-vscode.openSessionInSidebar command that accepts a session ID. This alternative also closes issue #40169.
2. Send a message to the sidebar webview. The message must tell the webview to load the session. Wait until the webview client is ready. If you do not wait, a new sidebar can lose the message.
3. Set the session as the active session in the webview. The session history menu uses the same step.

Two conditions to remember

• Send the message only to surfaces where openNewInTab is false. If you do not do this, a click on New session opens a new tab in each open Claude editor tab. That click sends no session ID.
• Keep session IDs that have the remote: prefix on the current path. These sessions need the teleport function.

Test result

I verified this shape by patching my local install - session-list clicks now load into the secondary sidebar, and nothing else changed behavior. Happy to test a real build.