Monitor Claude Code subagents
A Claude Code session that spawns subagents looks the same from outside as one that has stalled. Here is how to see what is running on macOS.
By Piotr Jura, creator of AgentNotch. Tested on macOS with AgentNotch v1.3.1.
Claude Code fans work out to subagents when a task is big enough: one exploring the codebase, one drafting tests, another checking the result. It's the fastest thing about the tool and the hardest to watch, because subagents mostly work in silence.
From outside, a session running four subagents and a session that has quietly stopped look the same. The terminal is still. So you scroll back through the transcript to find out which one you have, and by then you have spent the attention you were trying to save. The other half is cost: fanning out chews through the session's context faster than a single thread, and you'd rather see that coming than hit it.
Where AgentNotch fits
AgentNotch puts a live subagent count on each session in the menu bar, next to its status and context gauge. Four running subagents reads as busy; zero and no movement reads as done or waiting, and it says which. Across several sessions you get all of that in one glance, and clicking a session drops you into it. It runs on your Mac and never reads your code or keys.
Side by side
| The question | What answers it | |
|---|---|---|
| Is this session busy or stuck? | A live subagent count separates heavy work from a session that has stopped. | AgentNotch, from the menu bar. |
| How much context is left? | Subagents burn through a session's budget faster than a single thread. | The per-session context gauge. |
Questions
- How do I see Claude Code subagents running?
- The session transcript shows subagents as they start and finish, but you have to be reading it. AgentNotch shows a live subagent count on each session in the menu bar, so you can tell a session doing heavy parallel work apart from one that has stopped.
- Why does a session with subagents look stalled?
- Subagents do their work without printing much to the main session, so the terminal can go quiet for minutes while several are still running. Without a count, silence and stalling look identical.
- Do subagents use more context?
- A session that fans work out to several subagents moves through its budget faster than a single-threaded one, which is why watching context per session matters more once subagents are in play.
- Can I see subagents across several sessions at once?
- Yes. AgentNotch lists every Claude Code session in the menu bar with its status, context, and live subagent count, so you read all of them in one glance instead of switching windows.
Keep reading
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Try AgentNotchfree for 14 days, no card. Watch Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex from your Mac's menu bar.
Updated 2026-07-18