Better Claude Code UI

Why a UI?

Claude Code is powerful, but it's a CLI. That means no visual feedback, no drag-and-drop, no persistent sidebar, and no way to manage context across sessions. Conare wraps Claude Code in a native desktop app (Tauri) that keeps all the power while adding the UX you'd expect from a modern tool.

Message Queue

The biggest UX win. In the CLI, you type a message, wait for Claude to finish, then type the next one. In Conare:

• Keep typing while Claude works — messages queue up with orange position indicators
• Queue is per-session — each conversation has its own queue
• Cancel anytime — press Esc to interrupt the current response

This alone makes multi-step workflows dramatically faster. Queue up "fix the tests", "update the types", "add error handling" — Claude processes them sequentially while you move on.

Model Switching

Switch between Claude models without restarting:

Extended Context (1M)

Toggle "1M Context" in the model selector to unlock 1 million token context windows on Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.5. The UI clearly shows which mode you're in.

Fast Mode

Opus 4.6 offers a Fast Mode that trades cost (6x: $30/$150 per MTok) for faster output. Conare shows a clear cost warning before enabling and remembers your acknowledgment.

Floating Composer

The input bar floats at the bottom of the chat view with three rows:

1. Input area — Auto-growing textarea with @ file search and slash commands
2. Attachments — Drag-and-drop image previews with remove buttons
3. Controls — Send button, model selector, thinking mode toggle

Image Support

Paste or drag images directly into the composer. They appear as thumbnail previews and get sent to Claude as base64 content — no manual file path management.

File References

Type @ anywhere in the input to trigger fuzzy file search across your project. Select a file and it gets formatted as an explicit reference that Claude can read.

Sidebar

A persistent sidebar shows all your conversations:

• Pinned chats — Pin important conversations to the top
• Recent chats — Auto-sorted by last activity
• Status indicators — Orange dot = processing, green badge = new messages
• Right-click menu — Pin, rename, delete without leaving the chat
• Collapse — Toggle sidebar visibility for more screen space

Sessions are created instantly with temporary IDs — no waiting for Claude to initialize before you see your chat appear.

Chat Experience

Markdown Rendering

Claude's responses render as rich Markdown with:

• Syntax-highlighted code blocks (Shiki)
• Copy button on hover for code blocks
• Proper headings, lists, tables, and inline code
• FIFO render cache (200 entries) for smooth scrolling

Tool Use Display

When Claude uses tools (file edits, bash commands, etc.), Conare shows:

• Tool name and status — clear visual for what's happening
• Diff display — side-by-side or inline diffs for file edits
• Collapsible output — long tool results collapse to keep the chat clean

Auto-Scroll

Smart scroll behavior:

• Auto-scrolls to bottom as new content streams in
• Scrolling up manually disables auto-scroll (so you can read)
• "Scroll to bottom" button appears when you're scrolled up

Keyboard Shortcuts

Terminal Integration

Built-in terminal pane powered by xterm.js with:

• Multiple tabs — run different commands in parallel
• Persistent sessions — terminal state survives navigation
• Context capture — right-click to add terminal output as a context item
• Draggable divider — resize the terminal pane to your preference