claude-depester

Remove silly thinking words from Claude Code.

Instead of seeing "Flibbertigibbeting", "Discombobulating", "Clauding", etc., you'll see a clean "Thinking".

Last updated: 2026-01-18 | Tested with: Claude Code 2.1.4 - 2.1.12 | Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows

v1.3.3: Added --debug and --log flags for troubleshooting auto-patch issues (#3)

The Problem

Claude Code displays random silly words while thinking:

Flibbertigibbeting...
Discombobulating...
Smooshing...
Wibbling...
Clauding...

And after thinking completes, it shows completion messages like:

Baked for 42s
Brewed for 15s
Churned for 30s

This tool replaces them with simple "Thinking" and "Thought for Xs".

Quick Start

# Preview changes first (recommended)
npx claude-depester --dry-run

# Patch Claude Code
npx claude-depester

# Auto-patch after updates (recommended)
npx claude-depester --install-hook

That's it! Restart Claude Code for changes to take effect.

Features

• Patches spinner words ("Flibbertigibbeting..." -> "Thinking...")
• Patches completion verbs ("Baked for 42s" -> "Thought for 42s")
• Works with native binaries (Bun-compiled) and npm installations
• Patches VS Code/VSCodium extension webview (the UI that shows spinner text)
• Auto-detects your Claude Code installation
• Creates backup before patching (can restore anytime)
• Optional SessionStart hook for auto-patching after updates
• Content-based detection survives version updates
• Cross-platform: Linux, macOS, Windows (WSL/Git Bash)

Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | npx claude-depester | Patch Claude Code | | npx claude-depester --all | Patch ALL installations (CLI + VS Code) | | npx claude-depester --list | List all found installations | | npx claude-depester --dry-run | Preview changes (no modifications) | | npx claude-depester --check | Check patch status | | npx claude-depester --restore | Restore original from backup | | npx claude-depester --verbose | Show detailed info | | npx claude-depester --debug | Show detailed debug info (for troubleshooting) | | npx claude-depester --log | Write results to ~/.claude/depester.log | | npx claude-depester --install-hook | Auto-patch after updates | | npx claude-depester --remove-hook | Remove auto-patch hook | | npx claude-depester --hook-status | Check hook status | | npx claude-depester --help | Show help |

Supported Installation Methods

Linux

| Method | Path | Status | |--------|------|--------| | Native binary | ~/.local/share/claude/versions/X.Y.Z | Fully supported | | VS Code extension | ~/.vscode/extensions/anthropic.claude-code-*/ | Fully supported | | VS Code webview | ~/.vscode/extensions/.../webview/index.js | Fully supported | | VSCodium extension | ~/.vscode-oss/extensions/anthropic.claude-code-*/ | Fully supported | | Local npm | ~/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/ | Fully supported | | Global npm | npm root -g/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/ | Fully supported |

macOS

| Method | Path | Status | |--------|------|--------| | Native binary | ~/.local/share/claude/versions/X.Y.Z | Fully supported | | Native binary | ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/versions/X.Y.Z | Fully supported | | VS Code extension | ~/.vscode/extensions/anthropic.claude-code-*/ | Fully supported | | VS Code webview | ~/.vscode/extensions/.../webview/index.js | Fully supported | | Homebrew | /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/ | Fully supported |

Windows (WSL/Git Bash)

| Method | Path | Status | |--------|------|--------| | Native binary | %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin\claude.exe | Fully supported | | Native binary | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude\versions\X.Y.Z | Fully supported | | VS Code extension | %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions\anthropic.claude-code-*\ | Fully supported | | VS Code webview | ...\extensions\...\webview\index.js | Fully supported |

The tool auto-detects your installation. Use --list to see all found installations, and --all to patch them all at once.

Important for VS Code users: The extension has TWO places with spinner words - the native binary AND the webview. Use --all to patch both!

After Claude Code Updates

With the hook installed (--install-hook), patching happens automatically on startup.

Otherwise, just run npx claude-depester again after updating.

Restore Original

npx claude-depester --restore

This restores from the backup created during patching.

How the Hook Works

The --install-hook command adds a SessionStart hook to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "SessionStart": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "npx claude-depester --all --silent --log"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Every time Claude Code starts, it checks and re-applies the patch if needed. The --log flag writes results to ~/.claude/depester.log (keeps last 50 entries) for troubleshooting.

Note: If you installed the hook with an older version, reinstall it to get logging:

npx claude-depester --remove-hook && npx claude-depester --install-hook

Troubleshooting

Still seeing silly words after patching?

You must fully restart Claude Code / VS Code / VSCodium after patching. The patch modifies the binary on disk, but running processes still use the old code in memory.

For VS Code / VSCodium:

1. Close the editor completely (check it's not running in background)
2. Kill any remaining processes: pkill -f codium or pkill -f "Code"
3. Reopen the editor

To verify processes are stopped:

ps aux | grep -E "(vscode|codium|claude)" | grep -v grep

"Could not find Claude Code installation"

Make sure Claude Code is installed:

• Check with claude --version
• Run with --verbose to see searched paths
• Use --list to see all detected installations

VS Code extension still showing silly words

The VS Code extension has TWO separate components with spinner words:

1. Native binary (resources/native-binary/claude) - the backend
2. Webview (webview/index.js) - the frontend UI that renders the spinner

You must patch BOTH for the fix to work. Use:

npx claude-depester --list    # Should show both binary AND webview
npx claude-depester --all     # Patch ALL components

Then fully restart VS Code (not just reload window).

Patch not working after update

The detection uses content-based matching, so it should survive version updates. If the patch fails:

1. Run npx claude-depester --debug to see detailed diagnostics
2. Open an issue with your Claude Code version (claude --version)
3. Include the output of npx claude-depester --debug

Want to undo everything

npx claude-depester --restore --all  # Restore all installations
npx claude-depester --remove-hook    # Remove auto-patch hook

Technical Details

How it works

1. Detection: Finds the silly words arrays by unique content markers (e.g., "Flibbertigibbeting", "Discombobulating") rather than variable names (which change every version due to minification)

2. Extraction: For native binaries (Bun-compiled), uses node-lief to properly extract the embedded JavaScript - the same approach used by tweakcc

3. Patching: Replaces two arrays:

   • Spinner words: ["Accomplishing",...,"Zigzagging"] -> ["Thinking"]
   • Completion verbs: ["Baked",...,"Worked"] -> ["Thought"]

4. Repacking: Rebuilds the binary with the modified JavaScript

File locations

• Backup: <original-file>.depester.backup
• Hook config: ~/.claude/settings.json
• Debug log: ~/.claude/depester.log (when using --log)

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• Claude Code installed

Platform Support

| Platform | Binary Patching | Webview Patching | Status | |----------|-----------------|------------------|--------| | Linux x64 | ELF | Yes | Tested | | Linux ARM64 | ELF | Yes | Should work | | macOS Intel | MachO | Yes | Should work | | macOS Apple Silicon | MachO | Yes | Should work | | Windows x64 | PE | Yes | Should work | | Windows ARM64 | PE | Yes | Should work |

The tool uses node-lief which has prebuilt binaries for all these platforms.

Contributing

If Claude Code updates and the patch stops working:

1. Check if the array still contains marker words like "Flibbertigibbeting"
2. Update lib/patcher.js if the pattern changed
3. Submit a PR

Issues and PRs welcome!

Related Projects

• tweakcc - Full Claude Code customization (themes, prompts, and more)
• claude-code-thinking-patch - Thinking visibility patch

Acknowledgments

This project builds upon work by:

• tweakcc - For the proper Bun binary extraction/repacking approach
• vemv's gist - Original simple patch idea
• heromantf's bun extractor - Bun binary structure documentation

License

MIT - see LICENSE

Appendix: Full List of Silly Words

Spinner Words (184 words)

These are displayed while Claude is thinking. This tool replaces all of them with "Thinking":

Accomplishing, Actioning, Actualizing, Architecting, Baking, Beaming, Beboppin', Befuddling, Billowing, Blanching, Bloviating, Boogieing, Boondoggling, Booping, Bootstrapping, Brewing, Burrowing, Calculating, Canoodling, Caramelizing, Cascading, Catapulting, Cerebrating, Channeling, Channelling, Choreographing, Churning, Clauding, Coalescing, Cogitating, Combobulating, Composing, Computing, Concocting, Considering, Contemplating, Cooking, Crafting, Creating, Crunching, Crystallizing, Cultivating, Deciphering, Deliberating, Determining, Dilly-dallying, Discombobulating, Doing, Doodling, Drizzling, Ebbing, Effecting, Elucidating, Embellishing, Enchanting, Envisioning, Evaporating, Fermenting, Fiddle-faddling, Finagling, Flambeing, Flibbertigibbeting, Flowing, Flummoxing, Fluttering, Forging, Forming, Frolicking, Frosting, Gallivanting, Galloping, Garnishing, Generating, Germinating, Gitifying, Grooving, Gusting, Harmonizing, Hashing, Hatching, Herding, Honking, Hullaballooing, Hyperspacing, Ideating, Imagining, Improvising, Incubating, Inferring, Infusing, Ionizing, Jitterbugging, Julienning, Kneading, Leavening, Levitating, Lollygagging, Manifesting, Marinating, Meandering, Metamorphosing, Misting, Moonwalking, Moseying, Mulling, Mustering, Musing, Nebulizing, Nesting, Noodling, Nucleating, Orbiting, Orchestrating, Osmosing, Perambulating, Percolating, Perusing, Philosophising, Photosynthesizing, Pollinating, Pondering, Pontificating, Pouncing, Precipitating, Prestidigitating, Processing, Proofing, Propagating, Puttering, Puzzling, Quantumizing, Razzle-dazzling, Razzmatazzing, Recombobulating, Reticulating, Roosting, Ruminating, Sauteing, Scampering, Schlepping, Scurrying, Seasoning, Shenaniganing, Shimmying, Simmering, Skedaddling, Sketching, Slithering, Smooshing, Sock-hopping, Spelunking, Spinning, Sprouting, Stewing, Sublimating, Swirling, Swooping, Symbioting, Synthesizing, Tempering, Thinking, Thundering, Tinkering, Tomfoolering, Topsy-turvying, Transfiguring...

Completion Verbs (8 words)

These are displayed after thinking completes (e.g., "Baked for 42s"). This tool replaces all of them with "Thought":

Baked, Brewed, Churned, Cogitated, Cooked, Crunched, Sauteed, Worked

Keywords: claude code thinking words, claude code spinner, claude code flibbertigibbeting, claude code discombobulating, claude code clauding, claude code smooshing, claude code wibbling, anthropic claude code patch, remove silly words claude, claude code customization, claude code baked for, claude code completion verbs