claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [FEATURE] [FEATURE] Show elapsed thinking time as a live timer in VSCode extension

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

When Claude is thinking (extended thinking / adaptive thinking), the VSCode extension only shows an animated spinner with no indication of how long the thinking has been running. As a user, I have no way to gauge whether the model is still actively processing or if something has gone wrong. This is especially problematic for complex tasks where thinking can take 30+ seconds — I find myself constantly wondering "is it still working?" and sometimes interrupt the process prematurely, or wait longer than necessary thinking it's still thinking when it's actually stuck.

The terminal CLI already shows elapsed seconds (e.g., "Thinking... 5s"), but the VSCode extension does not. Users who prefer the VSCode native panel UI lose this useful feedback.

Proposed Solution

Add a live elapsed time counter next to the thinking indicator in the VSCode extension's webview panel. For example, instead of just showing the animated dots/spinner, display something like:Thinking... 12s This counter should:

Start when the model begins processing (after user submits a prompt) Update in real-time (every second) Stop when tokens begin streaming back Be visible by default (no configuration needed) Optionally, make it a togglable setting like claudeCode.showThinkingTimer for users who prefer a cleaner UI.

Alternative Solutions

showTurnDuration setting: Shows total turn duration after completion ("Cooked for 1m 23s"), but this is post-hoc — I need real-time feedback during thinking, not after. Switching to terminal mode (claudeCode.useTerminal: true): The terminal CLI does show elapsed time, but this loses the native VSCode panel UI which is more integrated with the editor. Hooks (UserPromptSubmit/Stop): Can run shell commands at turn boundaries but cannot inject UI elements into the VSCode webview panel. statusLine config: Only works in terminal mode, not in the VSCode native panel. None of these alternatives provide what's needed: a live, in-context timer visible during thinking in the VSCode panel.

Priority

Low - Nice to have

Feature Category

Other

Use Case Example

I'm debugging a complex TypeScript type error in a large codebase I ask Claude to analyze the error and suggest a fix Claude starts thinking — the spinner appears in the VSCode panel With this feature, I'd see "Thinking... 8s... 12s... 18s..." updating in real-time At 25s I can make an informed decision: "this is a complex problem, the thinking time is reasonable, I'll wait" Without this feature, I have no idea if it's been 5 seconds or 50 seconds, and I might interrupt the process or assume it's stuck This is especially valuable for extended thinking on Opus models where thinking can take 1-2 minutes

Additional Context

The terminal CLI (claude command) already shows elapsed time during thinking — this is parity with an existing feature, not a new concept The VSCode extension already has a thinking indicator (animated dots) — adding a timer is a small UI enhancement to existing infrastructure This aligns with how other AI coding tools handle waiting states (e.g., Cursor shows elapsed time during generation)