Anthropic’s Claude desktop app has long been criticized by power users for its sparse interface and limited sidebar organization, particularly within the Code tab. Addressing these UX gaps without waiting for official updates, developer Mohannad789 has released "claude-desktop-skin," an unofficial customization layer that significantly densifies the layout. The project, hosted on GitHub and gaining traction on Hacker News, leverages the app’s built-in developer console to inject plain CSS and JavaScript, transforming the visual hierarchy without modifying the application files on disk.

Two-Column Sidebar and Visual Hierarchy

The core feature of the skin is a reimagined sidebar that supports a two-column layout, allowing projects to flow from the left column to the right like a newspaper. This structure is designed to maximize vertical screen real estate, enabling users to view far more sessions simultaneously. Each project can be assigned one of 20 distinct colors and tagged with categories such as "Client" or "Personal," creating an immediate visual distinction between contexts. The skin also introduces collapsible project groups, where collapsed items display the latest session name in small text, further reducing clutter while maintaining accessibility.

Density Controls and Chat Optimization

Beyond the sidebar, the skin optimizes the chat area by halving the empty space on either side of messages and expanding the message input box to support up to eight lines before scrolling. Users can manually adjust sidebar text size between 7 and 14 points using new A+/A- controls in the bottom bar, and the sidebar width can be dragged between 170 and 600 pixels, breaking the app’s default 242-pixel constraint. Additionally, the skin hides less frequently used UI elements like the "Artifacts" and "Customize" buttons, moving them into a menu to streamline the top bar.

Installation and Maintenance

Installation requires enabling Developer Mode in Claude via the Help menu and pasting the provided apply.js script into the console. For macOS users, the repository includes a shell script that can be hooked into automation tools like BetterTouchTool or Raycast to automatically reapply the skin every time the app launches. This is crucial because the skin does not persist across restarts by default, as it relies on runtime injection rather than file modification. Windows users must manually reapply the script after each launch or use tools like AutoHotkey for automation.

Key Takeaways

  • The skin is unofficial and not endorsed by Anthropic, relying on CSS/JS injection via the developer console.
  • It introduces a two-column sidebar with project coloring, tagging, and collapsible groups to increase session visibility.
  • Chat density is improved by reducing margins, expanding input fields, and hiding redundant UI buttons.
  • Persistence requires manual reapplication or automation via shell scripts on macOS; the skin does not modify app files.

The Bottom Line

While Anthropic has been slow to address density complaints in the Claude desktop app, this community-driven solution proves that significant UX improvements are possible through simple runtime injection, offering a viable workaround for power users who demand more control over their workspace.