# How to sync messages of Claude Code extension in VS Code and Claude Code app? > Source: > Published: 2026-06-20 11:16:37+00:00 **Make a Claude Code chat you started in VS Code show up in the Claude Code desktop app — so you can carry one conversation back and forth between both apps.** Windows · one PowerShell script · no install · never edits your chats · MIT licensed Full explanations are below — but if you just want it done, this is the whole thing. ``` STEP 1 Download the script (green "Code" button → Download ZIP → Extract). STEP 2 In VS Code: Terminal → New Terminal. Paste ONE line, swap in your folder, press Enter: powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "‹PATH TO THE .ps1›" -ProjectPath "‹YOUR VS CODE PROJECT FOLDER›" -Apply STEP 3 Fully quit the desktop app (tray icon → Quit) and reopen it. Done — your VS Code chats from that folder now appear in the desktop app's sidebar. ``` 👉 Confused by `‹PATH TO THE .ps1›` vs `‹YOUR PROJECT FOLDER›` ? Read ** the 3-folders section** — it's the #1 thing people trip on. **Understand it (5-min read):** [📖 The one idea behind everything](#idea)— notebook + index card[❓ The WH questions](#wh)— who / what / why / when / where / how[🔒 Is it safe?](#safe)— yes, and exactly why **Do it (copy-paste):** [📥 Install — get the script onto your PC](#install)[🧩 IMPORTANT: don't mix up these 3 folders](#folders)—**read this first**[🚀 How to use it — copy-paste recipes](#recipes)— restart the desktop app⚠️ The step everyone forgets[🆘 Red error? The two common fixes](#errors) **Use it:** [🔁 Carry one chat between both apps (ping-pong)](#pingpong)[🗑️ How to undo](#undo)[🧭 Bonus: the folder → "drawer" naming](#drawer)·⚠️ Honest limitations[📜 License](#license) Imagine every Claude Code chat is a **notebook**, and there's a **library index card** that points to it. ``` THE NOTEBOOK = your actual chat (every message you and Claude wrote) THE INDEX CARD = a tiny note that says "a notebook exists, here's its name and where it is" ``` - The **VS Code extension** finds notebooks**by looking on the shelf**(the folder on your disk). - The **desktop app** is lazier — it**only reads index cards**. No card = it can't see the notebook,*even though the notebook is right there.* When you start a chat in the **desktop app**, it writes the index card for you. ✅ When you start a chat in **VS Code**, **no card gets written.** ❌ → the desktop app is blind to it. **This tool writes the missing index card.** That's the whole thing. One card per chat. ``` YOUR VS-CODE CHAT notebook ✔ (your messages — already on disk, we never touch it) index card ✘ MISSING ──run this tool──► index card ✔ ──► desktop app sees it ``` Anyone who uses **Claude Code in more than one place** — the **VS Code extension** and the **desktop app** — and is annoyed that chats started in VS Code never appear in the desktop app's sidebar. It creates a small "index card" file (Claude Code calls it a *session wrapper*) for chats that don't have one. With the card in place, the desktop app lists the chat and can open it. **It adds tiny pointer files. Nothing else.** Both apps and the terminal CLI **share the exact same chat file** on disk. But the desktop app builds its sidebar **only** from index cards, and **only the desktop app writes those cards** — VS Code never does. So VS-Code-born chats are invisible to the desktop app until someone writes the card. This tool writes it. Whenever you started a chat in VS Code and now want it in the desktop app too. Run it as often as you like — **it skips chats that already have a card**, so re-running is always safe. ``` THE NOTEBOOK (your chat — we only READ it, never change it): C:\Users\\.claude\projects\\.jsonl THE INDEX CARD (what this tool WRITES): C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Claude\claude-code-sessions\\\local_.json ``` For each VS-Code-born chat in a folder, the tool: ``` 1. Opens the chat file and reads ONLY its first ~50 lines (a read-only peek) 2. Figures out two things: • which folder the chat belongs to • a friendly title (the chat's first message), with the date in front e.g. "[Jun 13] hey help me find the claude's sesins..." 3. Writes a tiny index card whose pointer ("cliSessionId") aims at that chat file 4. Drops the card next to the desktop app's other cards ``` That's it. It **reads** your chats (peek only) and **writes** new little card files. ``` ✘ It NEVER edits, moves, or deletes your actual chat files (.jsonl) ✘ It NEVER overwrites a card that already exists (it skips those) ✘ It NEVER deletes anything — it only ADDS card files ✔ It is DRY-RUN by default — it writes NOTHING unless you add -Apply ✔ It is trivially reversible — delete the card file it made, and the listing is gone (your chat stays perfectly safe, because the card was never the chat) ``` You need just **ONE file**: `register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1` . There is **nothing to compile or install** — you save this one file and run it. Pick either way to get it. ``` 1. Open https://github.com/budhasantosh010/claude-code-session-bridge 2. Click the green "< > Code" button → "Download ZIP" 3. Find claude-code-session-bridge-main.zip in your Downloads folder 4. Right-click it → "Extract All…" → choose a PERMANENT home, e.g. C:\Users\\Tools 5. You now have the script here: C:\Users\\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge-main\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1 cd C:\Users\\Tools git clone https://github.com/budhasantosh010/claude-code-session-bridge.git ``` Result: ``` C:\Users\\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1 ``` 📌 Keep it somewhere permanent you'll remember (a `Tools\` folder is perfect).Don't leave it in Downloads— too easy to delete by accident. ``` 1. In File Explorer, find register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1 2. Hold SHIFT, right-click it → "Copy as path" 3. The full path is now on your clipboard, e.g.: "C:\Users\Alex\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1" ``` Almost everyone trips on this at first — including the person who *built* this tool. There are **three completely different folders** in play, and they are NOT the same thing: ``` ① THE SCRIPT (the tool) ← a .ps1 file. Just a helper program. Lives ANYWHERE. C:\Users\Alex\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1 ② YOUR PROJECT FOLDER ← where YOUR code/work lives. The folder you open in VS Code. C:\Users\Alex\Documents\my-website ③ CLAUDE'S SESSIONS FOLDER ← Claude's OWN private storage. You NEVER point at this. C:\Users\Alex\.claude\projects\... ``` 👉 **Folder ② — your project folder** (the one you open in VS Code). 🚫 **NOT folder ③** (`.claude\projects\...` ). Why? The `-ProjectPath` part is asking **"which project's chats do you want?"** — and you name a project by **where its code lives** (its human name, like `...\my-website` ). The script then quietly translates that into folder ③ for you. **You never type folder ③ yourself.** ``` YOU type: -ProjectPath "C:\Users\Alex\Documents\my-website" ← folder ② (your code) SCRIPT figures: → look inside C:\Users\Alex\.claude\projects\c--Users-...-my-website\ ← folder ③ (it does this itself — not your job) ``` **No.** Here's the key idea: The `.ps1` file isNOT part of Claude.It's a small helper program. It has nothing to do with Claude's internal machinery, so it doesnotbelong in`.claude` . ``` .claude\ = Claude's house. Claude's own stuff (sessions, settings, memory). ── you don't store your own tools inside someone else's house ── the .ps1 = YOUR screwdriver. A tool. It can sit in ANY drawer you like — Desktop, a Tools\ folder, anywhere. It works exactly the same. ``` The script's **location doesn't matter at all.** What matters is that your command **points at it** with the `-File "..."` part: ``` -File "C:\Users\Alex\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1" └─────────── "hey PowerShell, run THIS tool — it's right here" ───────────┘ ``` Move the `.ps1` to `C:\Tools\` ? Then just change that to `-File "C:\Tools\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1"` and it still runs fine. ``` RUN this tool ① ── to bookmark the chats of this project ② ── into the desktop app. (-File "...ps1") (-ProjectPath "...your code folder") Folder ③ (.claude) = Claude's private storage. The tool reads it FOR you. You never name it. ① SCRIPT PATH = where you saved register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1 (copied just above) ② PROJECT PATH = the folder you open in VS Code for that chat ``` **To copy the PROJECT PATH:** in VS Code, right-click the top folder in the Explorer sidebar → **"Copy Path"**. (Or in File Explorer, Shift+right-click the folder → **"Copy as path"**.) ``` 1. Open PowerShell: in VS Code click Terminal → New Terminal (or press the Windows key, type "PowerShell", press Enter) 2. Paste a recipe below — with YOUR two paths filled in 3. Press Enter ``` 💡 Golden habit:run itwithout`-Apply` first — that's apreviewand writes nothing. Happy with what it lists? Add`-Apply` and run again to actually write the cards. **👇 Every recipe below uses this ONE concrete example. Just swap in your own two paths.** ``` Example SCRIPT PATH : C:\Users\Alex\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1 Example PROJECT PATH: C:\Users\Alex\Documents\my-website ``` Plain English: "Look at my-website's chats and add a card for any that doesn't have one yet." ``` powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Users\Alex\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1" -ProjectPath "C:\Users\Alex\Documents\my-website" -Apply ``` Plain English: "Show me what you WOULD add, but don't touch anything yet." ``` powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Users\Alex\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1" -ProjectPath "C:\Users\Alex\Documents\my-website" ``` Plain English: "I only want this single chat in the desktop app, not all of them." **Step 1 — find the chat's id:** ``` 1. Open File Explorer and go to: C:\Users\\.claude\projects\ 2. Open the "drawer" for your project. Its name is your PROJECT PATH with every space and symbol turned into a dash. So: C:\Users\Alex\Documents\my-website → c--Users-Alex-Documents-my-website 3. Inside, each chat is a file named .jsonl . The filename IS the id: 41c938f1-e81e-4d13-ad39-bde9636a51c0.jsonl └──────────────── this is the id ───────────────┘ ``` **Step 2 — run it (paste the id after -SessionId):** ``` powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Users\Alex\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1" -SessionId 41c938f1-e81e-4d13-ad39-bde9636a51c0 -Apply ``` Plain English: "Sweep all my projects at once." Note: no`-ProjectPath` here —`-AllProjects` takes its place. ``` powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Users\Alex\Tools\claude-code-session-bridge\register_vscode_session_in_desktop.ps1" -AllProjects -Apply powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "‹SCRIPT PATH›" -ProjectPath "‹PROJECT PATH›" -Apply └─ paste path ① └─ paste path ② ``` **After running with -Apply, fully QUIT and RE-OPEN the desktop app.** The sidebar reads index cards **only when it starts up**— new cards won't appear until you restart. (Quit properly: right-click the Claude icon in the Windows tray, bottom-right near the clock → **Quit**. Just closing the window may not be enough.) ``` "... cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled ..." → You forgot the -ExecutionPolicy Bypass part. Copy the WHOLE recipe line; it's already in there. "No cabinet drawer for: C:\...\your-folder" → That PROJECT PATH has no Claude Code chats yet, OR the path is slightly wrong. Fix: make sure you copied the EXACT folder you open in VS Code (Explorer → right-click top folder → "Copy Path"). Run Recipe B (preview) first to check before using -Apply. WROTE 41c938f1 [Jun 19] read the project_log... ← a new card was written WOULD 9f089261 [Jun 13] hey help me find... ← preview only (you left off -Apply) Result: 1 new sticky-note(s), 4 already registered (skipped). └ added this run └ already had cards, left untouched ``` | Flag | Meaning | |---|---| (none) | Dry run — lists what it would do, writes nothing. | `-Apply` | Actually write the card file(s). | `-ProjectPath ""` | The folder you opened in VS Code (default: current folder). | `-SessionId ` | Do just one chat, by its id. | `-AllProjects` | Every project folder under `~/.claude/projects` , not just one. | Here's the part that surprises people: **there is nothing to "sync."** Your messages already live in **one shared notebook**. No copying, no uploading. The only trick is **each app re-reads the notebook when you OPEN the chat** — so "syncing" just means *open the chat in the other app.* ``` DESKTOP ──you type, Claude replies──► the shared notebook grows │ │ ① STOP (let the reply finish) ▼ VS CODE ──open the SAME folder → /resume → pick the chat──► it re-reads the notebook → your desktop messages are right there │ │ ② type, Claude replies → notebook grows again, then STOP ▼ DESKTOP ──re-open the chat from the sidebar──► re-reads → your VS Code messages appear 🔴 THE ONE GOLDEN RULE Only ONE app "live" on a chat at a time. Finish your turn → STOP → switch → open/resume → continue. Never type in both at the same second (both would scribble in the same notebook at once and could smear a line). When you return to an app, OPEN THE CHAT FRESH so it re-reads from disk — don't trust a tab you left sitting open; it may still show the old page. 1. Go to: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Claude\claude-code-sessions\\\ 2. Find: local_.json 3. Delete it. 4. Restart the desktop app → the chat is gone from the sidebar. ``` **index card**. Your actual chat (the notebook `.jsonl` ) is **never touched** and stays safe. Claude Code files each chat under a folder name made from the chat's working directory, where **every character that isn't a letter or number becomes a dash -**: ``` C:\Users\Me\Music\my project │ (every space / symbol → dash) ▼ c--Users-Me-Music-my-project ← the "drawer" inside ~/.claude/projects\ ``` That's why the **exact** folder matters: a parent folder, a subfolder, or a renamed folder becomes a *different* drawer — and therefore a different list of chats. **Windows only**(it uses Windows paths + PowerShell). Pull requests for macOS/Linux desktop paths are very welcome.** The title is a best guess**from the chat's first message — rename it inside the app if you like.- The card stamps **default settings**(model, effort, no MCP tools). When you open the chat, the** notebook is the source of truth**; the card's settings are just defaults for the listing. - Tested against the Claude Code desktop app's card format as of **mid-2026**. If the desktop app changes that format later, the script may need a small update. **Community tool, not affiliated with Anthropic.** **MIT** — see [LICENSE](/budhasantosh010/claude-code-session-bridge/blob/main/LICENSE). Use it, fork it, share it, ship it.