# Claude Flightdeck: a live dashboard for Claude Code context, cost, permissions and subagents

> Source: <https://dev.to/dedupedai/claude-flightdeck-a-live-dashboard-for-claude-code-context-cost-permissions-and-subagents-3pg5>
> Published: 2026-10-26 01:06:25+00:00

When Claude Code fans out five subagents, you mostly see a spinner. How full is the context window? What did that run cost? Which tool calls were allowed silently, and which were denied? [Flightdeck](https://github.com/scasella/claude-flightdeck) is a Claude Code mod that answers all of that in a live pane next to your transcript: a context gauge with compactions, cost and rate-limit resets, a timeline of advisor and architect consults, one cell per permission check, and your subagents as cards or swimlanes.

Two things make it easy to trust. Every number comes from a real session event, and it only watches: every hook passes its event on unchanged, so it never denies, rewrites or delays a tool call. Nothing leaves your machine.

`claude --version`.`/flightdeck` command.
Inside Claude Code:

```
/plugin marketplace add scasella/claude-flightdeck
/plugin install flightdeck@claude-flightdeck
/reload-plugins
/flightdeck
```

Or from your shell:

```
claude plugin marketplace add scasella/claude-flightdeck
claude plugin install flightdeck@claude-flightdeck
```

To try it for one session without installing, load it from a clone:

```
git clone https://github.com/scasella/claude-flightdeck
claude --plugin-dir ./claude-flightdeck
```

If the installer says config options are not set, ignore it. The defaults are fine.

`max_tokens` shows in red. When cards no longer fit, they become swimlanes on one time axis.
Panels with nothing to show take no room, so a simple session shows just the main box and the log.

Keep the pane docked in a fullscreen terminal. When the gauge climbs toward a compaction, you know to wrap up a task or start a fresh session before the model loses earlier detail. The compaction counter tells you how many times that already happened.

Focus the pane with `ctrl+x tab`, then press `f`, `s` or `o` to open the file, shell or other drill-down. Each shows the last five checks and their verdicts, with credentials masked. This is the fastest way to see what an agent tried to touch during an unattended run.

Start a task that spawns subagents, then press `1`, `2` and so on to expand a card or lane: its full task, its last three tool calls and the start of its answer. A red `max_tokens` is your cue that an agent ran out of room.

```
/flightdeck            open the pane
/flightdeck close      close it
/flightdeck reset      clear agents, checks, consults, log and the turn
/flightdeck layout auto|compact|wide|mini
```

Options live in `/config`, or in your user `settings.json` under `pluginConfigs["flightdeck@claude-flightdeck"].options`. Note that project level `.claude/settings.json` entries are ignored without a warning. Handy ones: `maxCards` (1 to 6 cards before swimlanes), `motion: off` if the animation is distracting, `palette: pastel` if colours look wrong, and `statusLine` to mirror context, agents and denials into the status line.

`/reload-plugins` then `flightdeck:` that names the failing hook.`claude` in VS Code's integrated terminal instead.`/flightdeck reset`.
Mods are early access and their API can change between Claude Code releases, so expect occasional breakage after updates. Consult "moments" are inferred and labelled as such. It pairs well with a status line tool like claude-hud rather than replacing it.

Each page has who it is for, the steps and a prompt you can paste into your coding agent.

Use case: [Watch context, cost and rate limits during a session](https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/scasella-claude-flightdeck/watch-context-and-cost-live/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=howto_claude_flightdeck)

Use case: [Audit every permission check a session makes](https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/scasella-claude-flightdeck/audit-permission-checks-in-a-session/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=howto_claude_flightdeck)

Use case: [Follow subagents as cards or swimlanes](https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/scasella-claude-flightdeck/track-subagents-as-cards-or-swimlanes/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=howto_claude_flightdeck)

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