Desktop app: preference to always open chat links in system default browser
Status Open
Maintainer reply None cached
Activity 1 comment · opened Aug 25, 2026
Feature request
Add a persistent preference to make links clicked in the chat window always open in the system default browser, with no chooser dialog.
Current behavior
In the Claude Code desktop app (Windows 11), clicking a link in the conversation shows a chooser ("Open in app" / "Default browser"), and Ctrl+Click opens the system browser directly. There is no setting to make the system default browser the permanent default; the choice has to be made per link or per session.
Why
- Repeated chooser prompts add friction when a session produces many links (e.g. dozens of Azure DevOps work item links during backlog work).
- The in-app Browser pane does not carry the user's existing authenticated sessions (SSO logins, etc.), so links to tools like Azure DevOps do not work properly there and always require re-authentication or fail. For links into authenticated tools the in-app browser is effectively never the right target.
- Ctrl+Click as the only bypass is easy to forget and undiscoverable.
Proposal
A setting such as "defaultLinkTarget": "system-browser" | "app" | "ask" (settings.json or app preferences), defaulting to today's "ask" behavior.
Environment
- Claude Code desktop app, Windows 11 Enterprise (10.0.26200)
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