What is claude-chat-clean?

A clean chat view for Claude Code: your messages and Claude's replies, tool calls folded away. It is open-source on GitHub.

Is claude-chat-clean free to use?

claude-chat-clean is open-source under the MIT license, so it is free to use.

What category does claude-chat-clean belong to?

claude-chat-clean is listed under plugins in the Claudeers registry of Claude-compatible tools.

Platforms	cli, api, desktop
Operating systems	—
AI compatibility	claude
License	MIT
Pricing	open-source
Language	TypeScript

chat-clean. Read the chat, not the machinery.

chat-clean: a Claude Code mod by Nexus. Your messages and Claude's replies stay, every tool call of a turn folds into one line.

Quick start · Before and after · How it works · Contributing · agent.nexus

What is chat-clean

chat-clean is a Claude Code mod. It changes how the chat looks, not what Claude does.

Claude Code shows every tool call it makes: each command, each file read, each diff. On a long task that buries the conversation. chat-clean keeps your messages and Claude's replies, and folds the work of each turn into one line you can open.

It runs in the terminal and in the Claude Code desktop app. It is free, open source and MIT licensed.

Before and after

The same task, the same session. Left: Claude Code's own drawing. Right: with chat-clean.

Before	After
_{Every command, output and diff stays on screen.}	_{you and claude in a name column. The work folds into ○ 5 steps this turn ›.}
_{A raw API error.}	_{One line: what happened, then what to do.}

Helpers at a glance

Helpers launched together: one line above the input with the total, done and running counts, then one line per kind

Helpers (subagents) launched together show as one line above the input: the total, how many are done or running, and the time. Below it, one line per kind.

Quick start

You need Claude Code 2.1.289 or newer. Check with claude --version.

cd /path/to/your/project
git clone https://github.com/achammah/claude-chat-clean .claude/skills/chat-clean

Start Claude Code in that project with claude. The mod loads by itself. You know it works when the bottom right of the screen reads feed clean · /feed to switch.

Other ways to install

Way	Commands	When
One project (recommended)	`git clone https://github.com/achammah/claude-chat-clean .claude/skills/chat-clean`	You want it every time you work in this project
Try it once	`git clone https://github.com/achammah/claude-chat-clean ~/chat-clean`, then `claude --plugin-dir ~/chat-clean`	You want to see it before you keep it
Desktop app	Install as for one project, then open the project in the app	You use the Claude Code desktop app. If it was already open, type `/reload-plugins`

Update and remove

cd /path/to/your/project/.claude/skills/chat-clean
git pull

Open sessions reload the mod as soon as its files change. To remove it, delete the folder .claude/skills/chat-clean.

What it does

Part	What you see
Name column	`you` beside your messages, `claude` beside the replies, the time of each message at the right edge
Folded turns	Every tool call of a turn becomes one line, `○ 7 steps this turn ›`. The arrow opens it in place
Working line	While Claude works: a spinner, the step in plain words (`Reading app.py`), and the time
Helpers	Helpers launched together show above the input: `3 helpers · 1 done · 2 running · 24s`, one line per kind below
Background runs	After the turn: `Running in the background · Build the docs · 2m · you can keep typing`
Questions	Each answered question becomes one line: `? Which colour → Red`
Errors	One line that says what happened and what to do: `! Connection lost · check your internet · send again to retry`
Slash commands	The answer is one quiet line under the command
Helper messages	A helper's report reads as one line (who, state, time, summary), then its first paragraph, formatted. ctrl+o shows all
Safeguard stops	One line that says the model's safeguards stopped the reply and what to do: edit your message, or switch model
Light mode	The desktop band switches to pale tints when Claude Code's theme is light

Labels never show a raw command, a path or an id.

The three views

View	What you see
`clean` (default)	Your messages, Claude's replies, and one line per turn for the work
`normal`	Each run of tool calls is one line with counts: `Ran 3 shell commands · read 1 file`
`raw`	Claude Code's own drawing. The mod draws nothing

/feed clean, /feed normal or /feed raw switches the view, even while Claude runs.
/feed opens the settings page. Each setting has its own command, for example /feed group off.
/feed hide <kind> and /feed show <kind> switch one kind of row off or on: you, said, tool, agent, question, peer, helper, search.
ctrl+o still shows the full transcript. The view you pick is kept for your next sessions.

How it works

A Claude Code mod is a plugin folder. Claude Code loads it from .claude/skills/<name>/ and reloads it when a file changes.

chat-clean/
  .claude-plugin/plugin.json   the mod's name and version
  hooks/hooks.json             points to the one hooks module
  hooks/register.tsx           the hooks: one per row type it draws
  hooks/feed.ts                plain functions: labels, folding rules, error words
  types/index.d.ts             every value the mod keeps between draws
  tests/                       claude plugin test runs these

Claude Code row	What chat-clean does with it
`UserMessage`	Draws the `you` column and the time
`AssistantMessage`	Draws the `claude` column; turns an API error into one line
`ToolUse`, `ToolGroup`, `ToolResult`	Folds a turn's calls into one line
`Spinner`	Draws the working line under the last row
`AbovePrompt`	Draws the helper line and the background line above the input
`CommandOutput`	Draws a slash command's answer as one line

Check a change with claude plugin validate . and claude plugin test ..

What it cannot hide

Some rows belong to Claude Code itself, and no mod can reach them:

hook rows, for example "Ran 2 stop hooks";
the reload line that appears when a mod reloads;
the attachment lines under a message, for example "Loaded CLAUDE.md";
the "N background agents launched" block. chat-clean shows helpers above the input instead.

Rows drawn while the mod reloads keep Claude Code's look, because they are already on screen.

In the desktop app

The desktop app keeps its own message bubbles. The name column is for the terminal.
The desktop app runs no status line, so the band above the input shows your 5-hour and weekly usage, and one pill per running helper, job and test.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md first.

Fork the repo and clone it into a test project's .claude/skills/chat-clean/.
Make your change, then run claude plugin validate . and claude plugin test ..
Open a pull request with a before and after screenshot of the row you changed.

Made by Nexus

Nexus makes Self Operating Procedures: what your best people know, turned into procedures that run themselves. We built chat-clean for our own work in Claude Code and share it as is.

Licence

MIT. See LICENSE.

claude-chat-clean

Install with your AI

// compatibility