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Claude Code desktop vs terminal vs VS Code: which to use

Same Claude Code engine, three surfaces. Here's what each one actually adds.

Claude Code desktop vs terminal isn't really a fork in the road: the docs describe the terminal, VS Code, the desktop app, and the web as surfaces on top of the same underlying engine, sharing your repo's CLAUDE.md, settings, and MCP servers. The short version: stay in the terminal if you live there and run several sessions with tmux or separate windows; use the VS Code extension if you want diffs and plan review inside your editor; use the desktop app if you want sessions managed for you, each with its own git worktree, plus visual diff review and drag-and-drop panes. This guide goes through what each surface's own docs say it does, so you can pick without guessing. If you're new to running several Claude Code sessions at once, see our Claude Code worktrees guide first.

The terminal CLI

The terminal is "the full-featured CLI for working with Claude Code directly in your terminal," installed with curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash (or Homebrew, WinGet, apt/dnf/apk) and started with claude in any project directory. It's composable by design: Claude Code "follows the Unix philosophy," so you can pipe logs into it, run it in CI, or chain it with other tools, for example tail -200 app.log | claude -p "Slack me if you see any anomalies" or git diff main --name-only | claude -p "review these changed files for security issues". The -p flag runs it non-interactively for scripting.

This is why power users stay in the terminal: it's the surface every automation path assumes (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, cron jobs), and it's what runs inside tmux, Ghostty, or any multiplexer so you can keep several sessions open in separate panes or windows without a GUI managing them for you. claude --worktree <name> (or -w) creates an isolated git worktree and starts a session in it, which is how terminal users run parallel agents without one session's edits colliding with another's. See our Claude Code worktrees guide for the full flag reference and cleanup behavior.

The desktop app

The desktop app is described as a way to "get more out of Claude Code Desktop: parallel sessions with Git isolation, drag-and-drop pane layout, integrated terminal and file editor, side chats, computer use, Dispatch sessions from your phone, visual diff review, app previews, PR monitoring, connectors, and enterprise configuration." Each conversation is a session with its own chat history, project folder, and code changes, independent of other sessions, and the sidebar lets you run several in parallel (Cmd+N / Ctrl+N for a new one, Ctrl+Tab to cycle).

For git repositories, the docs state plainly: "each session gets its own isolated copy of your project using Git worktrees, so changes in one session don't affect other sessions until you commit them." Worktrees live in <project-root>/.claude/worktrees/ by default (configurable), and archiving a session from the sidebar removes its worktree. That's the desktop app's core pitch over the terminal: you don't type --worktree yourself, or remember to clean one up, the app does it per session, and you get visual diff review, an integrated terminal, and a file editor pane in the same window.

What you give up: it's a separate app, so it doesn't live inside your existing terminal workflow, and it only sees sessions it started itself. The docs are explicit that "Claude doesn't see cloud sessions, or sessions you started from the terminal CLI or the VS Code extension, even in worktrees of the same project." A paid subscription is required.

The VS Code extension

The VS Code extension "provides a native graphical interface for Claude Code, integrated directly into your IDE," and per the docs is "the recommended way to use Claude Code in VS Code." With it you can "review and edit Claude's plans before accepting them, auto-accept edits as they're made, @-mention files with specific line ranges from your selection, access conversation history, and open multiple conversations in separate tabs or windows." Its headline features are inline diffs, @-mentions, plan review, and keyboard shortcuts, all shown in the editor rather than a terminal pane.

It fits when your loop is editor-centric: you want to see Claude's proposed diff next to the file it touches, without switching windows. It's not a replacement for the CLI, though: "the extension bundles its own copy of the CLI for the chat panel," but "installing the extension does not put claude on your shell PATH." For CLI-only features, the docs say to open VS Code's integrated terminal and run the standalone CLI install. The extension and CLI do share conversation history: run claude --resume in the terminal to continue an extension conversation there.

How they compare

See every worktree in one window

One thing none of the three surfaces solve on their own: the terminal cannot show you, at a glance, which files changed across five worktrees without running git status in each one. The desktop app's worktrees are visible in its own sidebar, but only for sessions it started. If you run claude --worktree from several terminal tabs, or mix terminal and desktop sessions on the same repo, there's no single view of what's changed where.

That's the gap teebe fills. It's a native macOS git worktree GUI that pins as a small always-on-top window beside your terminal. It lists every worktree of every repo you add, badges files live the instant an agent touches them on disk, and lets you peek any diff inline with Space, no editor required. Because it watches the filesystem and git directly, it doesn't care whether the change came from a terminal session, a desktop session, or a VS Code tab, so it works as the one shared view across all three surfaces. It also opens files in whatever native editor you already use, and can add or remove worktrees itself. See our guide to reviewing Claude Code changes, or the full comparison of git worktree GUIs for Mac.

Recommendation by workflow

• Solo, scripted, or CI work: the terminal CLI. It's the only surface with -p, pipes, and the automation paths (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, hooks).
• Running several agents in parallel: either terminal windows with --worktree per session, or the desktop app if you want the sidebar, automatic worktrees, and archive-on-done managed for you.
• Editor-centric work on one task at a time: the VS Code extension, for inline diffs and plan review without leaving the file you're editing.

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude Code desktop the same model as the CLI?

The docs say each surface, terminal, VS Code, desktop, and web, connects to the same underlying Claude Code engine, so your repo's CLAUDE.md files, settings, and MCP servers work across all of them.

Can I use the terminal and the desktop app on the same project?

Yes. You can run both on the same machine and the same project. They share configuration: CLAUDE.md files, settings, and MCP servers. Session history stays separate, and the desktop app's own docs note it does not see sessions you started from the terminal CLI or the VS Code extension, so the two run independently.

Does the VS Code extension replace the CLI?

No. The extension bundles its own copy of the CLI for its chat panel, but does not put claude on your shell PATH. Some features are CLI-only; the docs point you to VS Code's integrated terminal and the standalone CLI install for those.

How do I see what Claude changed from the terminal?

The CLI has no built-in visual diff browser across worktrees. The usual options are git status and git diff in each worktree, your editor's source control panel, or a dedicated git worktree GUI like teebe that badges changed files live and shows inline diffs beside your terminal.

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