Claude Code desktop overhaul

Anthropic rebuilt Claude Code’s desktop app this week around running multiple coding sessions side by side in one window. (macrumors.com) The redesign, released April 14, adds a session sidebar, drag-and-drop panes, and three activity views called Verbose, Normal, and Summary. Anthropic’s desktop quickstart says the app now supports parallel sessions with Git worktree isolation, visual diff review, live preview, scheduled tasks, and remote task runs. (macrumors.com) (code.claude.com) Anthropic also added an integrated terminal, an in-app file editor, a rebuilt diff viewer, and expanded preview support for HyperText Markup Language and Portable Document Format files. Thurrott reported that side chats inherit context from the main thread without changing that thread’s work. (siliconangle.com) (thurrott.com) Claude Code is Anthropic’s coding agent: a system that reads a repository, edits files, runs commands, and returns code instead of only suggesting snippets. Anthropic says the product can work in the terminal, in the desktop app, or through GitHub. (anthropic.com) (github.com) The new desktop push lands one week after Anthropic introduced Claude Managed Agents on April 8, a hosted service for running autonomous agents on Anthropic’s infrastructure. Anthropic’s documentation says Managed Agents handle tool execution, code runs, web browsing, and file access in a managed runtime rather than on a user’s machine. (claude.com) (platform.claude.com) That same shift shows up in a new Claude Code feature called Routines. Anthropic’s docs describe a routine as a saved configuration with a prompt, repositories, and connectors that can run automatically on a schedule, through an application programming interface call, or from GitHub events. (siliconangle.com) (code.claude.com) Anthropic says those routines run on Anthropic-managed cloud infrastructure, so they continue even when a laptop is closed. 9to5Mac reported the feature is part of the Claude app for Mac, while Anthropic’s desktop docs list the redesigned app for Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise users. (9to5mac.com) (code.claude.com) Competitors have been pushing the same direction, with coding assistants moving from chat boxes toward full workspaces that can edit, test, review, and monitor code in one place. VentureBeat wrote on April 16 that Anthropic’s graphical desktop interface is likely to become the review layer, while the command line interface remains the execution layer for many teams. (venturebeat.com) For Anthropic, the immediate change is practical: Claude Code on desktop now looks less like a single conversation and more like a control panel for several software tasks running at once. (macrumors.com) (code.claude.com)