The Sidebar

The cc-deck sidebar is a narrow panel on the left side of your terminal that tracks all Claude Code sessions in real time. It shows what each session is doing, highlights sessions that need your attention, and provides keyboard-driven navigation to switch between them.

What You See

The sidebar displays a list of all active Claude Code sessions across all Zellij tabs. Each entry shows:

  • The session name (derived from the working directory or git repository name)

  • A status indicator showing current activity

  • Visual highlighting for sessions that need attention

The currently viewed session is highlighted with a teal background. When you enter navigation mode, the selected session shows an amber cursor.

Session States

Each session displays one of these states:

Icon State Meaning

○

Init

Session detected but Claude Code has not started producing output yet. Same indicator as Idle.

●

Working

Claude Code is actively generating output or calling tools.

⚠

Waiting (Permission)

Claude Code needs your permission to proceed. This is the highest-priority state for smart attend. Text appears bold and highlighted.

⚠

Waiting (Notification)

Claude Code paused with an informational notification. Lower priority than permission requests in smart attend.

○

Idle

Claude Code is running but waiting for user input.

✓

Done

Claude Code finished its task.

✓

Agent Done

A sub-agent completed its task. Same indicator as Done.

⏸

Paused

You have paused this session. The name appears dimmed and the session is excluded from smart attend.

State changes are detected automatically via Claude Code hooks. You do not need to do anything to keep the sidebar updated.

The Header

The sidebar header shows the cc-deck logo and a session count. Clicking the header toggles navigation mode.

The Footer

A [+] button at the bottom of the session list creates a new tab when clicked.

How Sessions Are Tracked

When you start Claude Code in any Zellij tab, the sidebar picks it up automatically within a few seconds. The sidebar hooks into Claude Code’s event system and receives updates for:

  • Session start and stop

  • Status changes (idle, working, permission needed, done)

  • Tool use events

  • Permission requests

Session tracking works across all tabs in the Zellij session. Opening a new tab and starting Claude Code there immediately appears in the sidebar.

What the Sidebar Does Not Track

The sidebar lists the agents running in a pane of the current Zellij session. It does not list anything else.

An agent started in a plain terminal outside Zellij does not appear, and neither does an agent running in a different Zellij session. Each Zellij session keeps its own sidebar. Pane numbering also restarts in every Zellij run, so a pane recorded in one session does not identify anything in another.

A session joins the list once Zellij confirms that its pane exists, which normally takes no perceptible time. If that confirmation never arrives, the session is dropped instead of being left in place. Keep in mind that this check is about whether the pane exists at all. Sessions whose pane is closed later are removed by the ordinary session lifecycle described above.

Next Steps