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Use case

A fuller sidebar for Claude Code in the Claude desktop app

Pairbar is a macOS app that lays its own sidebar over the Claude desktop app's sidebar and turns it into a manager for your Claude Code chats. It lists every Claude Code chat across all your projects with live status (working, needs you, finished), searches inside conversations, groups chats by branch in a Tasks view, and adds tabs for your skills, agents and scheduled workflows. You only need the Claude app: Pairbar works with Claude Code alone, with Codex alone, or with both.

Last updated

✎Search chats or type a commandNEEDS YOU?Pick a chart libraryRecharts or Chart.js?ACME-BACKENDRun the migration testsBash · npm testUpdate the READMEFinished 2m agoRefactor billing APIfeature/billingPlan-limit ringstightest of the 5-hour and weekly windowsNeeds youmoved to the top, with the questionWorkingand on what: tool and targetUnreadfinished since you last looked
The Chats tab over the Claude app: a Needs you section on top, working chats with what they're doing, finished chats with an unread dot, and the limit ring in the header.

The problem

The Claude desktop app's sidebar is built for conversations. Once Claude Code is doing real work in several repositories at once, the questions you have are about the work, and the app's list doesn't answer them at a glance:

  • Which chats are working right now, and on what?
  • Which one has stopped to ask me something, and what is it asking?
  • Which chat was about the payments repo, and what did it say about the migration?
  • Which branches have a pull request with failing checks?
  • How much of my plan's 5-hour window is left?

How Pairbar solves it

  1. Install Pairbar and open Claude
    Pairbar draws a glass panel exactly over Claude's own sidebar, matching its width, position and corners, and fills the Chats tab straight away. It reads the files the Claude app already keeps on your Mac, read-only, and never modifies Claude.
  2. Read the list at a glance
    An orange ? on a chat's icon means it needs you, and the chat moves to a Needs you section at the top with its question under the title. A green dot means working, with what it's doing ("Bash · git push", "Edit · Store.swift"). A dot on the right means it finished or asked something since you last looked.
  3. Find any chat with ⌘K
    Press ⌘K and type: Pairbar matches titles, projects and branches, and everything said in the conversations. The same field runs actions, such as New chat, View: Tasks or any setting. See Search.
  4. Switch to Tasks when you think in branches
    Group by → Tasks groups chats by the branch or worktree they work on, in sections for needs you, working, ready to review and done, with each branch's PR and checks when gh is installed. See Tasks.
  5. Use the other tabs
    The tab bar at the bottom has Agents (your Claude Code agents), Skills (every skill Claude can load), Workflows (scheduled prompts and check-ins) and Settings.
  6. Reach Claude's own sidebar when you need it
    Hold ⌥ over Pairbar to peek at Claude's own sidebar (for example, your regular non-coding chats, which Pairbar doesn't list), or press ⌃⌥S to collapse Pairbar into a small round button.

Shortcuts

ShortcutWhat it doesWhere
⌘KSearch chats and run actionsClaude in front
⌃⌥KQuick search from any appanywhere
⌃1–9Open the nth chat on screenClaude in front
⌥ (hold)Peek at Claude's own sidebarpointer over Pairbar
⌃⌥SShow or hide Pairbaranywhere

What's in the sidebar

PartWhat it gives you
Headerthe plan-limit ring for Claude (5-hour and weekly windows, see Limits), ✎ New chat and Hide Pairbar
Context cardfor the chat Claude is showing: its project, branch, PR and checks, the skills and agents that fit, and quick actions such as Fork or Copy branch. See the focused chat's context
Chats tabevery Claude Code chat, local and cloud, grouped by project to start with; group by date, status or label instead, or by task
Agents tabyour personal, project and plugin Claude Code agents, with ready-made commands and how often each ran
Skills tabevery skill Claude can load, which projects see it, and copies that drifted apart
Workflows tabprompts that run on a schedule through your own claude, and check-ins that re-prompt a chat on a timer

What it doesn't do

  • It doesn't replace Claude. You chat in the Claude app as before; clicking a row opens the chat there.
  • It doesn't list regular Claude chats (not Claude Code). Hold ⌥ to see them in Claude's own sidebar.
  • A Claude Code cloud session shows once the Claude app has loaded its Code sessions list (open Code in Claude), and is as current as the app's copy. See Cloud chats.
  • It never shows on top of other apps: with another app in front, it stays on Claude's window, and notifications, the menu-bar count and ⌃⌥K quick search keep you informed instead.

Without Pairbar

Without Pairbar, Claude Code users usually rely on one of these:

Without PairbarWhat you getWhat's missing
The Claude app's own sidebaryour Claude Code sessions, local and cloud, and Claude's own featuresno search inside conversations, no branch or PR view, no skills or agents library (see Pairbar vs the Claude app's sidebar)
claude --resume in a terminala picker of past sessions for the current projectone project at a time, no live status
One terminal tab per sessioneverything running side by sideyou check each tab yourself to see what's waiting

Frequently asked questions

Do I need the Codex app to use Pairbar?
No. Pairbar works with the Claude desktop app alone, the Codex app alone, or both. With only Claude, everything in the sidebar is about your Claude Code chats. See Is Pairbar worth it with only Claude Code?
Does Pairbar change or patch the Claude app?
No. It's a separate app that draws over Claude's sidebar and opens chats through Claude's own claude:// links. It changes Claude's settings only if you click Install… for optional live status, after a backup.
Can I still use Claude's own sidebar?
Yes. Hold ⌥ over Pairbar to peek at it, double-tap ⌥ to keep it showing, or press ⌃⌥S to collapse Pairbar into a round button.
Does it upload my chats?
No. Pairbar reads local files on your Mac and has no account or analytics. Its own network requests are the licence check and the update feed.

Related

Try Pairbar free for 7 days

One sidebar for the Claude and Codex desktop apps. Everything on for 7 days, no card needed; then $49/year ($39 first year with LAUNCH), $9/month or $129 lifetime (first 200 buyers). macOS 26 or later, Apple silicon.

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