Claude Code UI and GUI options, and where a dashboard fits

The short answer

There are five places you can use Claude Code: the terminal, VS Code (and Cursor), JetBrains editors, the Claude desktop app and the web at claude.ai/code. All five run the same engine underneath. So your CLAUDE.md files, settings and MCP servers (links to other tools) work in each one. That is from Anthropic's overview.

Want a visual app instead of a terminal? The desktop app does the most. It lists your sessions in a sidebar and can show two side by side. It also shows each change in a clear, visual way. In an editor, the VS Code extension shows changes right in your code and lets you review plans. To watch many sessions that run in the background, there is agent view.

None of them is built to show the state of your projects themselves. That means the goal, how far along each project is, and what's waiting on you. That's where a project dashboard fits. More on that below.

The options side by side

Each row comes from Anthropic's overview and the desktop app docs, as they were on 26 October 2026.

The desktop app: the closest thing to a Claude Code GUI

A GUI is a program you use with windows and buttons, not typed commands. In the desktop app, each conversation is a session. It has its own chat history and its own project folder. The sidebar lists your sessions, and you can run several at the same time. You can open two side by side, or give one its own window. A session can also run in its own git worktree: a separate copy of the project that git keeps track of. After Claude changes code, you can review the changes file by file. All of this is in the desktop app docs.

The app includes Claude Code. So you don't need the command-line tool as well. The app needs a paid plan, says the overview.

Agent view: many sessions in one terminal screen

Type claude agents to open agent view. It is one terminal screen with your background sessions. It shows which ones need you and which are done. By default it lists every background session you started, across all your projects. Use claude agents --cwd <path> to show just one project. Agent view is still a test version, a "research preview", so it may change. See the page on agent view.

"Claude Code projects"

Two different things go by this name:

• A project folder. Every Claude Code session works in a folder. Claude reads the CLAUDE.md in that folder and in the folders above it, says the CLAUDE.md docs.
• Projects, the feature. In Claude Code on the web and in the desktop app, a project is one ongoing conversation. In it, Claude runs a stream of related tasks for you, mostly as cloud sessions that run side by side. It is in public beta on Pro and Max plans, and reaches more accounts step by step. It is not yet offered on Team or Enterprise plans. See Claude Code Projects.

What the interfaces show, and what they don't

Every interface above is built around sessions. A session is one conversation, with its context, its changes and its status. Agent view and the desktop sidebar answer one question: what is each session doing?

When you run several projects, the question I actually have is a different one: where does each project stand? What's the goal, how far along is it, what's next, and which decision is waiting on me? A session ends; the project carries on. The answer lives in the project's own files, not in a session list. That gap is why I built Project HQ.

Which interface to pick

• New to the terminal: start with the desktop app. It runs on Windows too. The Windows guide covers both setups.
• You live in an editor: the VS Code extension (it also installs in Cursor) or the JetBrains plugin. The Cursor comparison goes deeper.
• You write scripts or automate: the terminal. Use claude -p to run Claude without a chat.
• You run many tasks at once: the desktop app's sidebar and split view, or agent view in the terminal. The best practices show how to run sessions side by side safely.
• You need a view of all your projects: none of the above is built for that. The Notion alternative guide shows ways to track projects, not sessions.

Requirements

Claude Code needs a Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise or Console account. A third-party API provider such as Amazon Bedrock also works. The free Claude plan does not include it, says the setup page. The desktop app needs a paid plan.