Claude/Desktop/Code/Q/What does the Side chat feature do?
What does the "Side chat" feature do in Claude/Desktop/Code?
- Short answer: A side chat is a branched, throwaway conversation you open from inside a Code session — it can read everything in the main thread up to that point, but nothing said inside it feeds back into the main conversation. It exists so you can ask a clarifying question, check an assumption, or explore an idea without steering the session off course.
- How to open one: Cmd+; (macOS) or Ctrl+; (Windows), or type
/btw in the prompt box. Available in local, SSH, and WSL sessions. When you're done, close it and the main session continues where you left off. - What it can see: Full read access to the main thread's history up to the point it was opened — but no tools. One description frames it as the inverse of a sub-agent: a sub-agent gets an empty context with all tools available, while a side chat gets the full conversation history with no tools.
- Introduced: Shipped as part of the April 2026 Claude Code desktop redesign, alongside the multi-session sidebar, drag-and-drop pane layout, and cloud Routines.
- Sources: Desktop application docs — "Ask a side question without derailing the session", Claude Code Desktop Redesign guide.