### Preflight Checklist - [x] I have searched [existing requests](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20label%3Aenhancement) and this feature hasn't been requested yet - [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features) ### Problem Statement When I start substantive work in Claude Code's Desktop app (Code mode) — debugging, a refactor, an architecture discussion where Claude builds up real context — that conversation gets stranded on that surface. I hit tw

[FEATURE] Ability to share transcript link from Claude Desktop (similar to claude.ai)

Status Open

Maintainer reply None cached

Workaround ✓ Mentioned in description ↑

Activity 0 comments · opened Jul 25, 2026

Preflight Checklist

[x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
[x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

When I start substantive work in Claude Code's Desktop app (Code mode) — debugging, a refactor, an architecture discussion where Claude builds up real context — that conversation gets stranded on that surface. I hit two walls:

I can't get a transcript out. Running /export in Desktop Code mode returns "/export isn't a recognized command here. Some commands only work in the Claude Code terminal." There's no documented way to export or save the conversation from within Desktop Code mode.
I can't continue it in the terminal. The Desktop app and the terminal CLI maintain separate session histories, so claude --resume / --continue in the terminal never see the Desktop session — it doesn't appear in the picker.

What makes this especially frustrating: the terminal can already hand a session to Desktop via /desktop, but there is no reverse path. So choosing Desktop Code mode for a task silently locks the conversation there — I can neither export it nor move it to the terminal — and I've started avoiding Desktop Code mode for anything I might later need elsewhere.

Proposed Solution

Two asks. The first is the one I need most and should be small; the second is the fuller fix.

Primary — export parity. Make /export work in Desktop Code mode with the same behavior the terminal already has: open a menu to copy the conversation to the clipboard or save it as a plain-text file, or accept a filename directly (/export session.md). A GUI export/copy button in the session panel would be an equally good implementation. This alone unblocks me: I can get the conversation out and re-seed it wherever I need.

Secondary — symmetric reverse handoff. /desktop already moves a live session from the terminal into the Desktop app (the CLI serializes the session, exits, and Desktop reopens it). There is no counterpart in the other direction. I'd like a mirror of it: a /terminal command or a "Continue in terminal" action in Desktop Code mode that hands the current session to a resumable terminal session in the same project directory, so I land in the CLI with the conversation intact rather than starting over.

Alternative Solutions

Workarounds I'm currently using, all imperfect:

Locating the Desktop session's raw JSONL transcript on disk and feeding it to a fresh terminal session. Fragile: per Anthropic's own docs the JSONL entry format is internal and changes between versions, so it isn't a stable interface, and it's unclear where Desktop stores its history versus the CLI.
Manually selecting and copy-pasting the conversation out of the Desktop UI into a markdown file. Zero-dependency but tedious and lossy.

Both transfer text only — they lose live session state, checkpoints, and tool context, and they produce a new thread rather than continuing the original.

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

Interactive mode (TUI)

Use Case Example

I open the Claude Desktop app, enter Code mode, and start debugging a failing integration test. Over ~20 messages Claude accumulates context: the repo layout, the root cause, the fix strategy.
I want to continue in the terminal — for terminal-only features, a longer interactive session, or to hand the transcript to a teammate.
I run /export session.md in Desktop Code mode → blocked with "not a recognized command here."
I switch to the terminal, cd into the same project, and run claude --resume → the Desktop session isn't in the picker, because the histories are separate.
I'm left hunting for the JSONL on disk or copy-pasting the whole thread by hand — and even then I get only the text, not a resumable session.

A five-second "continue this over there" becomes a manual, lossy chore.

Additional Context

The one-directional handoff already exists: /desktop moves a CLI session into the Desktop app and is currently the only way to do so. The asymmetry — handoff exists terminal→desktop but not desktop→terminal — is the specific gap this request is about. See issue #52743 (the /desktop handoff / --desktop flag request) for confirmation that this handoff mechanism exists and is maintained.
Related request: issue #50067 ("Add /resume (session resume) to desktop app"), which notes that CLI and desktop diverge on core session workflows and that users switching between them lose the ability to pick up prior work.
Relevant constraint: sessions are stored per surface as JSONL, and the format is documented as internal and version-dependent — which is why on-disk extraction is a fragile workaround rather than a real answer.
Prior art within the product: the terminal already solves the single-surface version of this with --continue / --resume / /resume and /export. This request asks for that same portability to cross the Desktop↔terminal boundary.
Screenshot to attach: the /export error message shown in Desktop Code mode.

View original on GitHub ↗