# How to see what each Claude Code subagent does while it runs

> In HB Code, Agents in the top bar lists each subagent of a Claude Code session with its status. Click one to read its commands, files, and edits.

HB Code lists the subagents of a session under Agents in the top bar. Each subagent opens a timeline of its own beside the chat, with the commands it ran, the files it read, and its edits.

HB Code is a desktop app for Mac and Windows. It runs Claude Code and Codex on your own computer with your own Claude and ChatGPT plans.

## Steps

1. Open a Claude session on the desktop. The Agents control in the top bar shows the count of agents in the session. It pulses while an agent runs or waits for you.
2. Click the control. The list Agents in current session has a row for each subagent with its name and its status. A status is Starting, Running, Completed, Failed, Interrupted, or Stopped.
3. Look for the marker Needs approval or Needs input. It shows on the row of a subagent that waits for you.
4. Click a row. The Subagent timeline opens beside the chat. Its header shows the task, status, model, effort, usage, and duration of the subagent.
5. Click a command, a file, or an edit in that timeline. It opens in the same viewer as in the main thread.
6. In the iPhone or Android app, open Sub-agents in the session. Select a row to read the thread of that subagent.

## Notes

- The main thread has no row for a subagent. The subagents of a Claude session show only in the Agents list.
- You can't write to a Claude Code subagent. Only its parent agent does.
- A Codex subagent shows in the same list. You can write to it when Codex reports that it takes direct input.
- After a run, the status comes from the files that Claude saved. A subagent with no saved outcome shows Running while its last transcript message is less than 10 minutes old, and Interrupted after that.

## Details in the handbook

- [Subagents as child threads](https://www.hbcode.ai/docs/claude-agent-sdk.md#subagents): The Claude Agent SDK integration
- [Child threads, watched threads, rollback](https://www.hbcode.ai/docs/codex-turns.md#threads): Codex turns: steering, approvals, goals, and recovery
- [What each agent can do](https://www.hbcode.ai/docs/agents.md#capabilities): How Codex and Claude share one chat layer
- [Live delivery: one function sends to three sinks](https://www.hbcode.ai/docs/timeline.md#live-delivery): Timeline: history pages, live overlay, settlement

## Guides

- [How to check usage limits and use more than one account](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-usage-limits.md)
- [How to check what Claude Code or Codex did](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-ui.md)
- [How to run several Claude Code and Codex sessions](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-sessions.md)
- [How to use Claude Code or Codex on your phone](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-mobile.md)
- [How to try Claude Code and Codex on the same task](https://www.hbcode.ai/claude-code-vs-codex.md)
- [How to run Codex in a desktop app on Mac and Windows](https://www.hbcode.ai/codex-desktop-app.md)
- [Download HB Code](https://www.hbcode.ai/downloads)