Lantern for Claude Code

A macOS desktop app for the claude CLI you already have. It shows what Claude is doing while it works (tool calls, file edits as diffs, commands still running in the background), and it can walk through a task one reviewable step at a time.

Why

The terminal is a fine place to talk to Claude Code, but a hard place to follow a long turn: edits scroll past, background commands disappear, and a twelve-step plan arrives as one wall of text. Lantern keeps the same Claude Code underneath and gives each piece room to be read.

Features

• Readable turns. Every tool call is a card. Edits and new files show as diffs, and the Changes list opens any touched file in a full side-by-side diff.
• Ask and Auto. In Ask mode edits apply and anything else asks you with Allow/Deny. In Auto mode Claude Code's own classifier approves most actions.
• Step by step. Build, Teach or Review a change one page at a time. Each step is a page with Previous and Next; you approve it, ask about it, or ask for a change, and only that step is rewritten.
• Review mode. Point it at a pull request or branch. Each changed file gets its own page, findings become cards you Agree with or Reject, and your verdicts go back to Claude together.
• Tests tab. Test runs from pytest, jest, vitest, cargo and xcodebuild are parsed into passes and failures with file:line links.
• Search. ⌘P finds files, ⌘⇧F searches text (regex, case, whole word), ⌘F searches inside an open file or diff.
• History and sessions. Pick up any earlier Claude Code session for a folder, including ones started in the terminal. Several chats can run side by side, with a notice when one finishes or needs you.

Requirements

• macOS.
• Claude Code installed and logged in. Lantern runs your claude CLI and never handles authentication itself.

Install

Download the latest .dmg from Releases, open it and drag Lantern to Applications. The app is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens like any other Mac app.

Build from source

Requires Node 20.19 or newer (see .nvmrc) and a stable Rust toolchain.

npm install
npm run tauri dev

To build the app bundle:

npm run tauri build -- --bundles app

Tests: npm test and cargo test --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml. Manual checks before a release are in docs/SMOKE_TEST.md. See CONTRIBUTING.md to send a change.

License

MIT. Lantern is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic.