👏 Applaud

A chat-native Claude Code client with hot-swappable themes.

Give your code a round of Applaud.

Applaud transforms the Claude Code CLI experience from a traditional terminal into a modern chat interface—while keeping all the power of the terminal when you need it.

Why Applaud?

Claude Code is conversational AI, but it runs in a 1980s-style terminal. Applaud gives you:

• Chat bubbles for Claude's responses
• Collapsible tool cards for file reads, edits, and commands
• Beautiful code diffs with syntax highlighting
• Hot-swappable themes — change your vibe instantly
• Full terminal passthrough when you need it

Features

• 🎨 5 built-in themes: Dark, Light, Cyberpunk, Forest, Sunset
• 🔄 Hot-reload themes — no restart needed
• 📖 Smart parsing — understands Claude Code's output structure
• 📦 Collapsible tool calls — keep your chat clean
• ⌨️ Full PTY support — real terminal when you need it
• 🪶 Lightweight — Tauri (10MB) instead of Electron (150MB)

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Rust
• Claude Code CLI installed and authenticated

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/rhea-impact/applaud.git
cd applaud
npm install
npm run tauri:dev

Build for production

npm run tauri:build

The built app will be in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Themes

Switch themes instantly with the 🎨 button in the header.

Custom themes

Create your own theme by adding a JSON file to src/themes/:

{
  "name": "My Theme",
  "colors": {
    "bg-primary": "#0d0d0d",
    "accent": "#ff00ff",
    ...
  },
  "fonts": {
    "chat": "Inter, sans-serif",
    "code": "JetBrains Mono, monospace"
  }
}

Architecture

applaud/
├── src-tauri/          # Rust backend (PTY, system integration)
├── src/
│   ├── lib/
│   │   ├── parser.ts   # Claude output parser
│   │   └── themes.ts   # Theme engine
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── ChatView.svelte
│   │   ├── ChatBubble.svelte
│   │   ├── ToolCard.svelte
│   │   └── ThemePicker.svelte
│   └── themes/
└── static/

Roadmap

• Full PTY integration with Claude Code
• Syntax highlighting in code blocks
• Search through conversation history
• Export conversations to markdown
• Custom theme editor in-app
• Plugin system for custom renderers

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines first.

License

MIT © Rhea Impact

Applaud is a Rhea Impact project — building free tools for developers.