claude-devtools
The missing DevTools for Claude Code — inspect session logs, tool calls, token usage, subagents, and context window in a visual UI. Free, open source.
Install / Use
npx skills add matt1398/claude-devtoolsInstalls into whichever agent you are using.
CLAUDE.md
Claude Code project instructions
Quality Score
Category
AI & Machine LearningSupported Platforms
Tags
Skill content
View source on GitHubThe Problem
Claude Code started hiding what it does.
Since v2.1.20, Claude Code replaced detailed output with opaque summaries. Read 3 files. Searched for 1 pattern. Edited 2 files. No file paths. No content. No line numbers. The community backlash was immediate.
But the problem goes deeper than collapsed file paths:
- Thinking steps — Claude's chain-of-thought reasoning is completely invisible in the terminal
- Tool call details — you see a one-line summary, not the actual input/output
- Subagent activity — agents spawn agents, but you only see the final result
- Context window — a three-segment progress bar with no breakdown of what's consuming your tokens
- Team coordination — teammate messages, task delegation, shutdown requests — all buried
The only workaround is --verbose, which dumps raw JSON, internal system prompts, and thousands of lines of noise. There is no middle ground.
The Solution
claude-devtools is the debugging tool for Claude Code. It reads the Claude Code logs and session transcripts already saved to ~/.claude/ on your machine, and reconstructs everything.
| What the terminal hides | What claude-devtools shows |
|------------------------|---------------------------|
| Read 3 files | Exact file paths, syntax-highlighted content with line numbers |
| Searched for 1 pattern | The regex pattern, every matching file, matched lines |
| Edited 2 files | Inline diffs with added/removed highlighting |
| Three-segment context bar | Per-turn token attribution across 7 categories with compaction visualization |
| Collapsed subagent output | Full execution trees per agent with tool traces, tokens, duration, cost |
| Nothing about thinking | Extended thinking content, fully visible |
| --verbose JSON dump | Structured, filterable, navigable interface — no noise |
| Per-project Claude memory hidden in ~/.claude/projects/.../memory/ | MEMORY.md rendered as a clickable index of layers; open any layer in your editor |
| Copy from terminal = wrapped lines, ANSI codes, broken Markdown | Real selectable text, one-click copy on every message and code block |
Zero configuration. No API keys. No wrappers. Works with every session you've ever run.
[!TIP] If claude-devtools saves you time debugging Claude Code, leaving a ⭐ on the repo is the single best way to support the project — it helps other developers find it.
Installation
Homebrew (macOS)
brew install --cask claude-devtools
Direct Download
| Platform | Download | Notes |
|----------|----------|-------|
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | .dmg | Download the arm64 asset. Drag to Applications. On first launch: right-click → Open |
| macOS (Intel) | .dmg | Download the x64 asset. Drag to Applications. On first launch: right-click → Open |
| Linux | .AppImage / .deb / .rpm / .pacman | Choose the package format for your distro |
| Windows | .exe | Standard installer. May trigger SmartScreen — click "More info" → "Run anyway" |
| Docker | docker compose up | Open http://localhost:3456. See Docker deployment |
Key Features
Context Reconstruction
<img width="100%" alt="context" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9ff4a5a7-bcf6-47fb-8ca5-d4021540804b" />Per-turn token attribution across 7 categories — CLAUDE.md (global, project, directory), skills, @-mentioned files, tool I/O, thinking, team overhead, user text. See exactly what's in the context window at any point.
Terminal-Friendly Copy & Paste
<video src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/976dfc47-4d3c-4539-9be2-218037b3dc37" controls="controls" muted="muted" style="max-width: 100%;"></video>
Copying Claude Code output from the terminal mangles it — selection wraps at the terminal width, ANSI color codes leak into the clipboard, and code blocks lose their Markdown formatting. claude-devtools renders every message, tool call, and output as real selectable text with one-click copy on every code block, plus full-session export to Markdown / JSON / plain text.
Project Memory
<img width="100%" alt="Project memory viewer with layer list, frontmatter card, and Open-in launcher" src="public/memory.png" />Claude Code stores per-project memory at ~/.claude/projects/<project>/memory/ — a MEMORY.md index plus one .md file per layer (working style, architecture notes, etc.). claude-devtools surfaces this as a sidebar entry that opens a dedicated pane: layer list on the left, full markdown rendering on the right with frontmatter shown as a metadata card, Obsidian-style [[wikilinks]] for cross-layer navigation, and an icon-driven "Open in…" launcher that hands any layer (or the whole memory folder) off to Finder/Explorer, Cursor, VS Code, Zed, Xcode, iTerm, Ghostty, Terminal — or copies the absolute path.
Team & Subagent Trees
Isolated execution trees per agent with tool traces, token metrics, duration, and cost. Nested agents render recursively.
Tool Call Inspector
Every tool call expanded with specialized viewers — syntax-highlighted Read calls, inline Edit diffs, Bash output, and full subagent trees.
SSH Remote Sessions
Inspect sessions on any remote machine over SSH. Reads ~/.ssh/config, supports agent forwarding and key auth.
Compaction Visualization
<video src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/25281f09-05ed-4f81-97bc-7b1754b08b06" controls="controls" muted="muted" style="max-width: 100%;"></video>
See the moment your context hits the limit. Visualizes how context fills, compresses, and refills — so you know exactly what was lost. (Why did Claude forget? — debugging walkthrough)
Notification Triggers
<video src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3b07b3b4-57af-49ed-9539-be7c56a244f5" controls="controls" muted="muted" style="max-width: 100%;"></video>
System notifications for .env access, tool errors, high token usage, and custom regex patterns on any field.
Command Palette & Multi-Pane Layout
Cmd+K for cross-session search. Open multiple sessions side-by-side with drag-and-drop tabs.
📖 Full documentation: claude-dev.tools/docs · Copy from Claude Code: claude-dev.tools/docs/copy-paste · JSONL format reference: claude-dev.tools/docs/jsonl-format · claude --verbose comparison: claude-dev.tools/docs/verbose-vs-devtools
Not a Wrapper
claude-devtools does not wrap, modify, or interfere with Claude Code. It reads session logs that already exist on your machine. Works with sessions from the terminal, IDEs, or any tool that uses Claude Code.
Docker / Standalone Deployment
Run without Electron — in Docker, on a remote server, or anywhere Node.js runs.
docker compose up
# Open http://localhost:3456
Or manually:
docker build -t claude-devtools .
docker run -p 3456:3456 -v ~/.claude:/data/.claude:ro claude-devtools
| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| CLAUDE_ROOT | ~/.claude | Path to the .claude data directory |
| HOST | 0.0.0.0 | Bind address |
| PORT | 3456 | Listen port |
The standalone server has zero outbound network calls. For maximum isolation: docker run --network none -p 3456:3456 -v ~/.claude:/data/.claude:ro claude-devtools. See SECURITY.md.
Development
<details> <summary><strong>Build from source</strong></summary> <br />Prerequisites: Node.js 20+, pnpm 10+
git clone https://github.com/matt1398/claude-devtools.git
cd claude-devtools
pnpm install
pnpm dev
| Command | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| pnpm dev | Development with hot reload |
| pnpm build | Production build |
| pnpm typecheck | TypeScript type checking |
| pnpm test | Run all tests |
| pnpm check | Full quality gate (types + lint + test + build) |
Community
- Discussions — share ideas, ask questions, and read what others are doing in [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/matt139
Truncated for display — read the full file on GitHub.
Related Skills
caveman
107.1k🪨 why use many token when few token do trick. Viral skill + proxy for coding agents that cuts 65% of tokens by talking like a caveman.
claude-mem
94.4kPersistent Context Across Sessions for Every Agent – Captures everything your agent does during sessions, compresses it with AI, and injects relevant context back into future sessions. Works with Claude Code, OpenClaw, Codex, Gemini, Hermes, Copilot, OpenCode + More
Agent-Reach
84.2kGive your AI agent eyes to see the entire internet. Read & search Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, GitHub, Bilibili, XiaoHongShu — one CLI, zero API fees.
Understand-Anything
83.5kGraphs that teach > graphs that impress. Turn any code into an interactive knowledge graph you can explore, search, and ask questions about. Works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini CLI, and more.
