VS Code extension: renaming a session via the sidebar pencil icon doesn't sync with /rename / cross-session messaging name

Status Open
Reported on v2.1.241
Maintainer reply None cached
Activity 0 comments · opened Aug 23, 2026

Description

In the Claude Code VS Code extension, the sessions sidebar panel lets you rename a session tab via the pencil (✏️) icon. This changes the label shown in the sidebar, but it does not update the session's actual name as seen by ListAgents/SendMessage (cross-session messaging). Conversely, running /rename inside a session's chat updates the cross-session-messaging name, but I could not confirm whether it reliably updates the sidebar label either.

This creates a confusing state: a session can show a custom name in the sidebar (e.g. "My Custom Session Name") while still being addressed by its old auto-generated name (e.g. abc-def-12) in ListAgents. There's no visible indicator in either UI that the two names have diverged.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open several sessions as tabs in the VS Code extension's sessions panel.
  2. Rename one via the pencil icon in the sidebar (e.g. to "My Custom Session Name").
  3. From another session, run ListAgents.
  4. Observe the renamed session still listed under its old auto-generated name (e.g. abc-def-12), not the new sidebar label.
  5. Run /rename My Custom Session Name inside that session's chat — ListAgents now shows the correct name.

Expected behavior

Renaming a session anywhere (sidebar pencil icon or /rename in chat) should update the same underlying session name, so the sidebar label and the name used for ListAgents/SendMessage always match. At minimum, if these are intentionally two separate name fields, the sidebar should surface the cross-session-messaging name too (or flag when they differ), so it's clear which name to use when addressing that session from another one.

Actual behavior

The sidebar pencil-icon rename and the /rename chat command appear to update two different, unsynced name fields, with no indication in the UI that they've diverged.

Environment

  • Claude Code CLI/extension version: 2.1.241
  • Host: VS Code extension
  • OS: macOS (Darwin 23.6.0)

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