[BUG] VS Code extension: session tab bar neither shrinks nor scrolls — tabs past the panel width become unreachable
Preflight Checklist
- [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
- [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
- [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code
What's Wrong?
<img width="2560" height="158" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/85a4cf22-5b16-48c6-9663-5f855c962d8e" />
The Claude Code VS Code extension lays its session tabs out in a strip that has no overflow handling. Once enough sessions are open that the tabs exceed the panel width, the tabs:
- do not shrink further to fit (unlike VS Code's own editor tabs), and
- do not become horizontally scrollable.
The tabs past the right edge are simply clipped, and there is no way to reach them — no scroll arrows/chevrons, no overflow ("show hidden tabs") dropdown, and no scrolling with the mouse wheel over the tab strip.
Each tab has an apparent minimum width and truncates its own label with an ellipsis (e.g. Debug Freightcar ONT Ord...), but the strip stops at the panel edge rather than compressing or scrolling the tabs. The result is that sessions beyond the visible width become unreachable — the only workarounds are to close tabs to the left of them, or to widen the window.
This gets worse the more sessions you keep open, which is exactly the workflow the tab bar exists to support. On a 2560px-wide maximised window only ~9 tabs fit; everything opened after that is inaccessible.
What Should Happen?
The session tab bar should handle overflow the way VS Code's own editor tab bar does — ideally reusing the same behaviour/settings so it feels native:
- Shrink tabs to fit as more are opened (VS Code's
workbench.editor.tabSizing: "shrink"behaviour), and/or - Scroll horizontally when tabs can't shrink further — scroll arrows at the edges plus mouse-wheel / shift+wheel over the strip, and/or
- Offer an overflow dropdown listing the hidden tabs (equivalent to VS Code's "Show Opened Editors" chevron).
Any one of these would resolve it. The essential requirement is that an open session must always be reachable, regardless of how many are open or how narrow the panel is.
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
- Install the Claude Code VS Code extension (v2.1.211) on Windows 11 and open the Claude Code panel.
- Use a wide/maximised window (reproduced at 2560px wide).
- Open session tabs until they exceed the available width — about 9 tabs at 2560px, fewer on a narrower window/panel.
- Observe that tabs past the right edge are clipped.
- Try to reach the clipped tabs:
- no scroll arrows / chevrons at either end of the strip
- no overflow menu listing the hidden tabs
- mouse wheel (and shift+wheel) over the tab strip does not scroll it
- opening further sessions does not shrink the existing tabs to make room
- The only way to reach a hidden session is to close tabs to its left.
Result: hidden sessions are unreachable.
Expected: tabs shrink, and/or the strip scrolls, and/or an overflow menu exposes them.
Claude Model
None
Is this a regression?
I don't know
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
2.1.211 (Claude Code) — VS Code extension anthropic.claude-code-2.1.211-win32-x64
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
VS Code integrated terminal
Additional Information
Environment
| | |
|---|---|
| Claude Code CLI | 2.1.211 |
| VS Code extension | anthropic.claude-code-2.1.211-win32-x64 |
| VS Code | 1.128.1 (x64) |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200 |
| Window width | 2560px (maximised) |
Observed layout: ~9 tabs fill the entire 2560px strip, each truncated to roughly the same fixed width (Debug Freightcar ONT Ord..., Build order-level accoun..., Restrict user-specific p..., …), with the remaining tabs clipped off the right edge and no affordance to reach them.
Note: the … at the far right of the tab strip is the extension's own overflow/actions menu — it does not list or expose the hidden session tabs.