How to see what Claude Code makes without leaving the terminal

Updated 8 October 2026 · for the Claude Code command line (version 2.1.294) on macOS

When Claude Code reads or makes an image, the terminal shows a line such as Read image (4KB) and not the image. Here is what each way around that does, and what it leaves out.

The options side by side

Claims about other products are what their own pages say. We read them on 8 October 2026 and installed none of them.

Shows them directlyShows them with a catchNot shown, or not stated on its page

Why doesn't Claude Code show the image?

When Claude reads an image file, the image goes to the model and the terminal gets a one-line summary. People have reported it on GitHub since August 2025. One report, on version 2.1.80, describes Claude saying "here's the output" after a read while the person saw only the summary line. We found nothing in Anthropic's documentation, or in the release notes from 2.1.200 on, that describes inline images in the terminal.

Every workaround in those threads is some form of opening the file yourself. #29254 was closed as completed on 7 April 2026 with no comment saying what shipped, and a commenter a week later asked where the feature was. If Claude says "as you can see", ask it for the file's path.

Open by hand

open <path> opens the file in its default app, as if you had double-clicked it, and open -R <path> shows it in Finder. It works in every terminal. The hard part is the path: files Claude writes for itself sit in a scratchpad folder under /private/tmp, and the guide to where Claude Code saves images shows how to list the newest ones. A hook that runs open after each tool call is possible in principle, but we haven't tested one, so we don't give a recipe.

Claude Code Desktop

Anthropic's desktop app has a Code tab. According to its documentation, the Browser pane opens static HTML, PDFs, images and videos from your project when you click the path in the chat. It runs on macOS, Windows and (in beta) Linux, and /desktop moves a terminal session into it on macOS. One person on GitHub says it renders images inline where the command line shows nothing (in #79706).

This is Anthropic's own answer and it costs nothing beyond the plan. The trade is a second window with its own chat. The documentation also lists what the Code tab lacks, such as agent teams and commands like /permissions. If you are happy working there, you may not need anything else on this page.

Artifacts

An Artifact is a page Claude publishes to claude.ai, and your browser opens on it. It shows what Claude chooses to build, with a link you can share, and it isn't a viewer for images already on your disk. See how to find an Artifact again.

VS Code extension

Its documentation lists inline diffs, plan review and @-mentions, and says nothing about showing images Claude produced. Reports disagree: #79436 says the chat shows an [Image] placeholder, while #54546 says the extensions render Markdown images. The author of #79436 suggests asking Claude to run code <path>, which opens the file in an editor tab.

Terminals with graphics, and cmux

Kitty, iTerm2, Ghostty and WezTerm can display images, but issue #79706 says Claude Code shows [Image] in them anyway, and that the Bash tool strips the escape sequences a graphics tool needs. A commenter shares a script, ccimg, that reportedly works in Kitty and Ghostty on Linux. You can run imgcat (iTerm2) or kitten icat (Kitty) yourself in a second pane. We haven't tried either on a Mac for this guide.

cmux is a free, open source macOS terminal built on Ghostty, with a browser pane that agents can drive. Its page doesn't describe previewing files Claude made.

Notch apps

Vibe Island is the paid one. According to its site it monitors 30 agents including Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI, lets you approve permissions and answer questions from the notch, renders plans in Markdown, and jumps to the right terminal tab, split panes and tmux included. It costs $19.99 for one Mac with a year of updates, has a free trial, and also runs on Macs without a notch as a floating bar. Its site and changelog (latest entry 26 September 2026) don't list image or file previews. If you run several agents and want approvals without switching windows, it does things Detego doesn't.

Three free, open source apps describe similar work: Vibe Notch (previously Claude Island, and a different project from Vibe Island; Apache-2.0, macOS 15.6 or later) for sessions and approvals, Notchi (GPL-3.0, macOS 15 or later, notch MacBooks) for an animated mascot and cost tracking, and Claude Statistics (MIT, macOS 14 or later) for a usage dashboard with approval cards. Others exist, and the field changes quickly.

How current is this guide?

The Claude Code parts were checked against version 2.1.294 on macOS on 8 October 2026. Anthropic can change them in any release, so run claude --version, compare it with 2.1.294, and check code.claude.com/docs.

The other tools were checked the same day from their own websites, repositories and GitHub issues, not by running them. Prices, versions and features there change faster, and what a vendor says about its own product is its claim, not ours. If something is wrong or out of date, write to [email protected] and we'll fix this page.

Where Detego fits

We make Detego, so weigh this section accordingly. It watches the places Claude Code writes to (the scratchpad, the session transcripts, Claude in Chrome's screenshots and any folder you add) and shows each image, screenshot, page and PDF as a card in a shelf under the notch. It works with any terminal because it reads files, not the terminal, and it doesn't take focus from yours.

It does less than most of the tools above. It doesn't approve permissions, answer questions, review plans, jump between terminals or track usage, and it only works with Claude Code (2.1.236 or later). It needs macOS 14 or later and costs $15 per Mac as a one-time purchase at the time of writing, with a 14-day free trial and no account. Download the free trial. Detego isn't affiliated with Anthropic.