Claude Code: VS Code Remote Session History and Session Management
Claude CodeClaude Code v2.1.63 fixes a gap in the VS Code extension where sessions started from remote connections did not appear in the conversation history panel. The sessions list in the VS Code UI also gains rename and remove actions, making basic session housekeeping possible directly from the editor without dropping to the CLI. A related fix ensures that /clear correctly resets cached skills, preventing stale skill content from carrying over into new conversations.
Sources & Mentions
5 external resources covering this update
Release v2.1.63 · anthropics/claude-code
GitHub
Claude Code by Anthropic - Release Notes - February 2026 Latest Updates
Releasebot
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Dev.to
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Dev.to
Remote Session History Now Visible in VS Code
Prior to v2.1.63, Claude Code sessions initiated through VS Code's remote connection features — Remote SSH, Dev Containers, WSL, and GitHub Codespaces — did not appear in the conversation history panel of the VS Code extension. The sessions existed and were fully functional during use, but once closed, they vanished from the history list. This made it impossible to resume or review remote sessions from the VS Code UI, forcing developers to use the CLI's claude --resume command to find and continue them.
The root cause was a path resolution issue: the extension stored session metadata using the remote file system path, but the history panel queried using the local workspace path. v2.1.63 normalizes session path storage so that remote sessions are indexed by their logical project identity rather than their filesystem path, making them discoverable regardless of how the workspace is connected.
Rename and Remove Actions for Sessions
The conversation history panel in VS Code now includes rename and remove actions for each session entry. Previously, the history panel was read-only — developers could see past sessions and resume them, but had no way to organize or clean up the list without using the CLI. The rename action lets developers give meaningful names to sessions (for example, "auth-refactor-round-2" instead of a timestamp-based default), making it easier to find specific conversations later. The remove action deletes a session from the history list and optionally deletes the underlying session data.
Both actions are accessible from a context menu on each session entry and from inline icon buttons that appear on hover. The rename action validates that the new name does not conflict with existing session names and truncates names longer than 100 characters.
/clear Now Resets Cached Skills
A related bug fix in v2.1.63 ensures that the /clear command properly resets cached skill content. Skills — reusable prompt snippets loaded from .claude/skills/ or from MCP servers — were being cached in memory for performance. When a developer ran /clear to start a fresh conversation, the cached skill content persisted, which could cause stale or outdated skill instructions to leak into the new conversation. This was particularly confusing when a developer updated a skill file and expected /clear to pick up the changes.
With the fix, /clear now invalidates the skill cache along with the conversation history, ensuring that the next conversation loads fresh skill content from disk or from the MCP server. This makes /clear behave as a true "clean slate" reset, which aligns with developer expectations.