Claude Code Pane Mods for Dashboards and Side Panels

Claude Code pane mods open a panel next to the conversation and keep it updated while Claude works. Typical uses are a live diff of uncommitted changes, a dashboard of test results, a log tail, or a chart of token use over the session. Unlike a status line, a pane has room for tables, lists and buttons.

How do Claude Code pane mods work?#

A mod opens a pane with $.ui.open(...) and draws it by handling ui.render for the Pane render site. Inside, it builds the view from elements such as Box, Text, Markdown, Code, Button, Input and Select, all taken from $.ui.resolve(e). When you press a button or type into an input, the mod receives ui.press, ui.input or ui.select. ui.close fires just before the pane closes, and $.ui.panes() lists what is open.

Most panes are opened from a slash command the mod adds with $.command.register, and they keep their data in $.state so the view redraws automatically when the data changes. Claude Code's own /diff command is a built-in mod built this way. The interface docs describe every element.

What should you check before installing one?#

A pane mod almost always shows Changes the UI and often Adds commands/tools. What matters is where the data comes from. A diff pane needs Runs commands for git. A log or metrics dashboard may need Reads files or Network. If a pane renders a Client element, it runs web content inside the pane, so read the source to see what it loads.

Also check surface support. Panes work in the terminal and the desktop Code tab, but they do not draw in claude -p, the VS Code extension chat panel, or the Agent SDK, where mods run hooks only.

When is a pane the wrong choice?#

If you only need one number, a status line or a band above the prompt costs less screen space. If you need a notice when something finishes, a toast is better. Panes earn their space when you would otherwise keep a second terminal open next to Claude Code, for example to run git diff again and again or to watch a test runner.