Stream Claude's Thinking to a Second Terminal

When Claude is working on a long task, you see the final output but not the intermediate steps. Streaming the hidden output to a second terminal shows you exactly what Claude is doing in real-time.

Using claude-esp

claude-esp streams Claude Code’s internal output to a separate TUI:

go install github.com/mherod/claude-esp@latest

In one terminal, run claude-esp:

claude-esp

In another terminal, use Claude Code normally. The ESP terminal shows:

• Tool calls as they happen (Read, Write, Bash, etc.)
• File searches and grep results
• Internal reasoning and plan steps
• Error messages Claude encounters

Why This Helps

• Debugging slow sessions: see if Claude is stuck in a loop
• Learning: understand how Claude navigates your codebase
• Trust but verify: watch what commands Claude runs before they complete
• Team demos: show others what Claude is doing behind the scenes

Alternative: Watch the Log File

Claude Code writes logs you can tail:

tail -f ~/.claude/logs/*.log

This is less structured than claude-esp but works without installing anything.

Tip

Pair this with desktop notifications. Stream the output in a second monitor, and get pinged when Claude stops.