Claude Session Monitor
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Privacy & FAQ

Local-first (your session content stays on your machine), the three settings, the shared multi-window backend, and supported languages.

5 min read Updated Jul 8, 2026

Claude Session Monitor (v1.0.0) is built around one rule: your data stays on your machine, and there are exactly three settings to worry about. This FAQ answers the common questions about privacy, those settings, and multi-window behavior.

Does my session content get uploaded anywhere?

No. The extension bundles a local service bound to 127.0.0.1 that does nothing but read the session files Claude Code writes under ~/.claude/projects/. Transcripts, prompts, code, tool-call records, file paths, and repo/branch names all stay between that local service and your editor — none is sent to the author or any third party, and viewing needs no network connection.

Local-first

127.0.0.1 is the loopback interface — it only accepts connections from processes on your own machine; nothing outside your computer can reach it.

What settings does the extension expose?

Just three, and nothing else:

csm.scanDirectory

Defaults to an empty string, meaning "use ~/.claude/projects". Point it at another path if your sessions live elsewhere. Changing it requires a window reload — the extension doesn't pick up a new scan directory on the fly.

csm.autoRefresh

Enabled by default. With it on, the extension watches ~/.claude/projects for changes and refreshes the sidebar automatically whenever a session is created or updated.

csm.port

Defaults to 52847 and accepts any value between 1024 and 65535. This is the loopback port the local backend listens on; you shouldn't need to touch it unless something else already uses that port.

How is the backend shared across multiple VS Code windows?

There's one backend process, not one per window. It listens on the csm.port loopback port, spawned on demand by whichever window needs it first; later windows detect it and reuse it instead of starting their own. Close all windows using it and the backend exits automatically after a short delay — nothing to clean up.

Changing the port

Because the port is fixed and shared, if you need to change csm.port, close all VS Code windows first — otherwise windows can end up pointed at different ports and an inconsistent backend.

Which UI languages are supported?

English, 简体中文, Español, 日本語, and 한국어. The extension follows VS Code's own display language automatically — there's no separate language setting.

How do I customize the scan directory?

  1. Open VS Code settings and search for csm.scanDirectory.
  2. Enter the path where your session files actually live.
  3. Reload the window (Developer: Reload Window) so the extension rescans.

Until you reload, the extension keeps using its previous scan results — saving the setting alone doesn't trigger an immediate rescan.