Claude Code (desktop)

What it is

The Code tab is Claude’s agentic coding environment — a graphical frontend to the same engine you’d use from the Claude Code CLI, but with a visual interface for picking repositories, branches, and worktrees. You point it at a local folder, describe what you want, and Claude runs: edits files, runs tests, commits, opens PRs.

Where to find it

On desktop

Code — the Code side of the top-level Home | Code toggle (formerly the third top-level tab, before the Chat and Cowork tabs merged into Home). Its sidebar has New session · Artifacts · Customize · More, with Recents below.
The composer chrome shows chips for Local / repo / branch / worktree once you’ve picked a working directory.

How to use it

Start a session

Code tab → pick a working directory (the Projects list includes folder-backed projects).
Pick a branch or a worktree from the chip in the window chrome.
Type your task in the composer. Submit.

Browse stats and history

The Code landing page includes a stats dashboard, a Recents list, and worktree chips for quick access to ongoing sessions.

Return to a running session

Recents under Code list your past and current sessions. Click to reopen; Claude picks up where it left off.

Good to know

Worktrees — if a repo has multiple worktrees configured, the chip lets you switch between them without changing directories. Each worktree is effectively its own session.
Connectors apply here too. Customize → Connectors is the same source of truth; enable Supabase, Vercel, GitHub, and Claude Code can use them inside a session.
Claude Code Desktop is a GUI for the same engine as the CLI. If you’ve used claude on the command line, the mental model is the same: agentic coding, turn-by-turn, against a local repo.

What’s changed recently

2026-07-12 — Top-level nav changed to a Home | Code toggle (the separate Chat and Cowork tabs merged into Home); Code is now the Code side of that toggle rather than a third standalone tab. Composer defaults observed as Opus 4.8 · High. Verified on build 1.20186.1.
2026-04-18 — Page verified against desktop build 1.3109.0.