minqiyang/open-in-rex

open-in-rex is a Claude Code skill and a small command-line tool called cresume. It lets you take a conversation from the Claude desktop app's Code tab and continue it in the Rex terminal with the Claude Code CLI.
## Why
The Claude desktop app has a Code tab where you run Claude Code sessions, listed in the sidebar by title. Sometimes you want to continue one of those conversations in a real terminal using claude --resume .
To do that, you need two things the desktop app does not show: the session's folder and the CLI session ID. There is no button to copy the session ID or show the folder, and sessions started without a folder live in hidden temporary directories (there can be dozens of them).
open-in-rex finds both the folder and the session ID from the session title, then continues the session in Rex.
## Requirements
macOS
Claude desktop app (Code tab) and the Claude Code CLI (claude on PATH)
Rex (the app is named "Rex Beta") with the rex CLI
Python 3 and jq
## Install
sh
git clone https://github.com/minqiyang/open-in-rex ~/.claude/skills/open-in-rex
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
ln -s ~/.claude/skills/open-in-rex/scripts/cresume.py ~/.local/bin/cresume
Make sure ~/.local/bin is on your PATH. Claude Code loads skills from ~/.claude/skills/, so the skill will be ready in new sessions.
## Usage
### From a Claude session
Inside a Claude desktop session, type /open-in-rex, or ask in plain words (for example, "open this session in Rex" or "在 CLI 里打开这个会话"). Claude will open a new Rex tab that continues the current session.
You can also ask Claude to open a different session by giving its sidebar title, or ask it to just copy the resume command to the clipboard.
### From the terminal (cresume)
scripts/cresume.py is a single Python 3 file using only the standard library. You can run it directly in any terminal:
sh
cresume "Context bloat" # continue the session whose title contains "Context bloat"
cresume "Context bloat" --print # only print the command: cd ' ' && claude --resume
cresume "Context bloat" --print | pbcopy # copy that command
cresume 90ae6653-1c14-4e7d-8ca6-779d10984a7c # continue a session by its Claude Code session ID
cresume "HW3" --fork-session # extra options go to claude; this one starts a copy of the session
cresume # inside a Claude session: use the current session ($CLAUDECODESESSIONID)
## How it works
### cresume
Title search: Reads the Claude desktop app's session files in ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code-sessions/. Each file holds the sidebar title, the CLI session ID, and the folder. Matching is case-insensitive and accepts partial titles, though an exact title match wins over a partial one. Lookups take about 0.1 seconds.
Multiple matches: If more than one session matches the title, cresume prints a list showing the last activity time, session ID, title, and (archived) if archived, then stops. You can then run it again with the specific session ID.
Session ID lookup: When given a session ID, it also works for plain CLI sessions that the desktop app does not know about, reading the folder from the transcript in ~/.claude/projects/.