claude-and-shell

Claude + Shell

Spawn one Konsole at a path with two side-by-side panes:

• Left: fresh claude session at the path.
• Right: raw login shell at the same path. No Claude. The user types here.

Useful when the user wants to watch Claude work and run their own commands (git, tests, scratch experiments) without taking over a Claude pane or opening a separate window.

When to use

• "Open claude with a terminal next to it"
• "I want a shell beside this claude session"
• "Paired konsole at "

Distinct from neighbors:

• claude-grid — multiple Claude sessions tiled together.
• sideclaude — fork a tangent into a side Claude pane with a plan brief.
• terminal-here — single raw Konsole, no Claude.

Inputs

• path — target directory. Default $PWD. Resolve ~ and relative paths to absolute.

Steps

1. Spawn the window with the Claude pane

TARGET="$1"  # absolute path

before_svcs=$(qdbus6 2>/dev/null | grep -E '^ org\.kde\.konsole-' | sort)
setsid konsole --separate --workdir "$TARGET" -e claude >/dev/null 2>&1 &

Poll for the new window's D-Bus service:

for i in $(seq 1 30); do
  sleep 0.1
  after_svcs=$(qdbus6 2>/dev/null | grep -E '^ org\.kde\.konsole-' | sort)
  NEW_SVC=$(comm -13 <(echo "$before_svcs") <(echo "$after_svcs") | tr -d ' ' | head -1)
  [ -n "$NEW_SVC" ] && break
done
[ -z "$NEW_SVC" ] && { echo "Could not find new Konsole D-Bus service — abort." >&2; exit 1; }

WIN="/Windows/1"

2. Add the raw-shell pane

createSplit(viewId, true) = Split Left/Right. The new session starts the user's default shell at the parent pane's cwd — no command needed.

A=$(qdbus6 "$NEW_SVC" "$WIN" currentSession)   # the claude pane
qdbus6 "$NEW_SVC" "$WIN" createSplit "$A" true

That's it. Do not runCommand anything on the new pane — leaving it untouched is the whole point.

3. Report back

• Path the window was launched in.
• D-Bus service of the new window (handy for follow-ups like claude-grid-style additions later).
• One-line note: left = Claude, right = shell.

Notes

• qdbus6 on Plasma 6; fall back to qdbus on older systems.
• New panes inherit cwd from the parent pane, so the right shell lands in $TARGET automatically.
• If the user later wants to swap which side is which, the layout is symmetric — they can drag panes in the Konsole UI, or we can re-run with the order reversed (spawn raw first, then split with runCommand "claude" on the new pane).
• For "claude on top, shell below" instead of left/right, change the boolean to false (Split Top/Bottom). Mention this if the user expresses a preference.