Elective: Claude Code in your editor
The terminal is not the only home. Two editor integrations put Claude Code next to your code — and the review loop gets tighter when the diff is a pane away.
01The idea
The VS Code extension ships its own chat panel and brings its own copy of Claude Code; in manual mode it shows each proposed edit side by side with the original and asks before applying. The JetBrains plugin runs the claude command in the IDE’s terminal and opens the edits it proposes in the IDE’s diff viewer. Either way it is the same Claude Code — the same account, the same permission modes, the same CLAUDE.md. Choose by editor, not by feature list.
One workflow habit earns its keep immediately: reference the lines you are looking at. Select code, press the reference shortcut — Option+K / Alt+K in VS Code, Cmd+Option+K / Ctrl+Alt+K in JetBrains — and the prompt carries a pointer like @src/config.js#7-17. No more pasting snippets, no more hoping Claude finds the right function. Ask about exactly what you selected.
02The walkthrough — VS Code
- 01Extensions view (Cmd+Shift+X on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+X elsewhere), search "Claude Code", install. The extension does not work in Restricted Mode — trust your own repo’s folder when asked.
- 02After installation, open a file, click the Spark icon at the top right (or select "✻ Claude Code" in the status bar), and sign in if required.
- 03Select a function body and press Option+K / Alt+K. The prompt now references your selection. Ask about it: "What happens if the config holds an array instead of an object?"
- 04Switch the mode at the bottom of the prompt box to Manual, then ask for a small edit — a comment above the function. The edit appears side by side with the original, and Claude asks permission in the chat panel. Choose No there. Note: the "Reject this change" buttons inside the diff view only revert one change in the proposal; the permission prompt is where the review finishes.
On JetBrains: install the Claude Code plugin from the Marketplace and restart the IDE. The Claude Code button, or Cmd+Esc / Ctrl+Esc, starts it in the IDE’s terminal; started from a plain terminal instead, run /ide in the session to connect it to the IDE. If the IDE cannot find the claude command, set its full path under Settings, Tools, Claude Code. Same reference-shortcut flow; proposed edits open in the IDE’s diff viewer, and permissions are asked in the terminal.
03Your turn
Install the integration for the editor you use, reference-select a whole function, ask what it does, then in Manual mode request a small edit and decline it at the permission prompt. git diff should print nothing afterwards — the cleanest possible end state: you asked, it proposed, you reviewed, you declined.