[FEATURE] Adjustable line spacing (leading) in the desktop app — accessibility
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
I have difficulty focusing on long text, and dense blocks are hard for me to follow. Generous line spacing is the accommodation that helps most — more air between lines makes it much easier to track along a line and to re-find my place after my attention breaks.
The desktop app lets me increase font size and column width, and I have already done both. It does not let me change line spacing, and nothing else in the app achieves the same thing.
Ctrl +/- is page zoom, which scales the entire layout proportionally — type and leading grow by the same factor, so the ratio between them never changes. Increasing font size behaves the same way. That ratio is precisely what I need to adjust.
The result is that the one lever that would actually help is the only one not exposed. To get more space between lines I have to enlarge everything, which puts less of the conversation on screen and adds scrolling — working directly against the reading problem it is supposed to solve.
Proposed Solution
A line-spacing control in the same settings surface that already offers font size and column width, independent of both font size and zoom.
Range roughly 1.2x to 2.0x, defaulting to the current value
Applies to the conversation transcript; code blocks may keep their own tighter leading
Persists across sessions like the existing appearance settings
A settings.json key would work too, and would let people share an accessible configuration across machines. Today there is no appearance key of any kind in settings.json, so this would be new surface rather than an addition to an existing group.
Alternative Solutions
Page zoom (Ctrl +/-) — scales type and leading together, so the ratio is unchanged. Does not address the problem.
Larger font size — same proportional scaling, plus it reduces how much of the conversation is visible at once.
Wider column — helps line length, which is a different variable. I have already maximized it.
Editing config by hand — not possible. There is no appearance key in settings.json or in ~/.claude.json to override.
Related but distinct: #50543 asks for font size that does not scale the whole UI. Same underlying frustration with proportional scaling, aimed at a different property.
Priority
Medium - Would be very helpful
Feature Category
Interactive mode (TUI)
Use Case Example
I use Claude Code for long code-review and documentation sessions, where responses run to several screens of prose. With the current fixed leading, paragraphs read as a single grey mass and I lose my place repeatedly, which means re-reading the same block several times.
WCAG 2.1 is the relevant standard here. SC 1.4.12 (Text Spacing, AA) treats line height at 1.5x font size as a baseline that content must support. SC 1.4.8 (Visual Presentation, AAA) asks for line spacing that the user can adjust to at least 1.5x within paragraphs — user-adjustable is the operative part, and that is the part missing.
Increased leading is a standard, well-evidenced accommodation for dyslexia and for attention-related reading difficulty. This is an accessibility request, not a cosmetic preference.
Additional Context
Environment: Claude Code desktop app, Windows 11.