[FEATURE] Claude Code VS Code Extension - disable the spinner icon

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

Electron apps like VS Code don't play nice with extensions that have continuous animations - they cause Electron to redraw the page and trigger excessive WindowServer CPU usage, particularly on older Intel macOS devices.

On an older mac, if I hide/minimize to the side the Clause Code extension panel, WindowServer uses 10% CPU. With the Claude Code panel displayed, it jumps to 30%. One spinner is eating CPU.

Overriding the spinner verbs to just "Thinking..." has helped cut down some of the noise, but the spinner itself is still causing Electron page refresh.

Can we have a setting to disable the spinner entirely? Thanks!

Please can you route this feature request to the Claude Code VS Code Extension Team?

Proposed Solution

Ideally, there would be a setting in the VSCode settings

  "claudeCode.spinnerVisable": false

Or a config in ~/.claude/settings.json if it is to apply to both Extension and CLI.

Thanks!

Alternative Solutions

Hide the Claude Code Extension Panel, but you don't then know that task is complete.

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

Other

Use Case Example

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Additional Context

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