3.9 KiB
Claude for Nova
Launch and resume Claude Code sessions for your project from Nova's sidebar.
Chat happens in a terminal, where Claude Code's own interface handles questions, plans and long output properly. Nova's job is everything around it: which sessions exist, how to get back into one, and which account you're on.
Requirements
- Nova 10 or later (built against Nova 14)
- Claude Code installed (
~/.local/bin/claude, Homebrew, or a path you set in settings)
Getting started
- Open the Claude sidebar (the starburst in the sidebar rail).
- If it says Not signed in, click it and choose how to sign in.
- Press ⌘⇧L — the launch command is copied to your clipboard.
- Open a terminal in Nova and paste it.
That's a normal claude session, in your project directory, with whatever model
and permission mode the sidebar shows.
The sidebar
Claude
Account [email protected] · Pro
Model Opus
Permissions Ask each time
Sessions
▾ fix the parser bug 2h ago
Copy Resume Command
Copy Resume + Remote Control
Reveal Session File
▸ add a --version flag yesterday
Sessions lists this project's conversations, newest first, labelled with
their opening prompt. Sessions you started in a terminal appear here too — it is
Claude Code's own store (~/.claude/projects/), not a separate list.
Double-click a session to copy its resume command, or expand it for more:
| Action | What it copies |
|---|---|
| Copy Resume Command | cd <project> && claude --resume <id> |
| Copy Resume + Remote Control | The same, plus --remote-control |
| Reveal Session File | (opens the transcript in Finder) |
The list refreshes when the section becomes visible, or from the header button.
Why the clipboard?
Nova provides no terminal API to extensions — an extension cannot open a
terminal tab or type into one. So the extension prepares the exact command and
hands it to you; you paste it wherever you want it, including Nova's own
terminal. One paste, and the session is completely ordinary: resumable from any
terminal, and drivable with --remote-control.
Commands
| Command | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New Session… | ⌘⇧L |
| Resume Session… | |
| Refresh Sessions | |
| Copy File Reference for Claude (Editor menu) | |
| Set Model… / Set Permission Mode… | |
| Sign In… / Sign Out / Show Account Status | |
| Set API Key… / Clear Stored API Key |
Copy File Reference for Claude puts @path/to/file on the clipboard for
pasting into a session — Claude Code resolves @ paths against the project.
Signing in
Authentication is handled by Claude Code itself; the extension never sees your
credentials. Sign In offers your Claude subscription, an Anthropic Console
account, or opening a terminal to run claude auth login yourself — use that
last one for SSO.
You can also store an API key with Set API Key…. It goes in the macOS
keychain and is passed to Claude Code as ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.
Settings
Model, effort, permission mode and the claude executable path are set in
Extension Settings; Model and Permission Mode can be overridden per project.
They are applied to the commands the extension builds, so a launched session
matches what the sidebar shows. Additional CLI arguments are appended
verbatim.
What's next
The IDE bridge: a Node sidecar that lets the terminal session see Nova — the current selection, open files, and diffs reviewed in the editor rather than as terminal text.
Development
nova extension validate . # check the bundle (makes network calls)
nova extension activate . # load it into Nova for development
See CLAUDE.md for architecture and constraints, and
docs/features/ for per-feature detail.