Add a compact/collapsed-by-default mode for tool call cards and thinking labels

Open 💬 1 comment Opened Jul 3, 2026 by andreastandalone

Problem

The chat view expands every tool call by default: full Bash IN/OUT blocks, full Edit diffs, plus a "Thought for Xs" label between each step. On any multi-step task this turns into a long wall of expanded information the user has to scroll through, and it makes the actual response text (the part that matters) very hard to find in the middle of the noise. It's a bad experience, especially for non-trivial sessions with several tool calls in a row.

Current workaround

Checked /config — no relevant option (thinking/verbose control content, not layout). Checked the VSCode extension's contributed settings (claudeCode.* in package.json) — nothing there either. So today there is no way to make tool cards collapsed by default or to hide the "Thought for Xs" labels.

Request

A "compact mode" (or similar) that:

  • collapses Bash/Edit/tool-call cards by default, expandable on click
  • hides or minimizes the "Thought for Xs" labels between steps
  • keeps the final response text as the primary, immediately visible content

Environment

Claude Code VSCode extension, macOS.

View original on GitHub ↗

This issue has 1 comment on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗