[BUG] There is no way to set the autoCompactEnabled flag when using the VS Code extension

[designbyian]

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

I consider this a bug because the flag exists but isn't accessible, the functionality is there it's just not enabled.

This causes major issues with using Claude Code. With auto compaction enabled when working on any significant task in the current version of the extension it invariably hits the auto compact threshold, at which point the model will start making mistakes the majority of the time. It seems out of scope here to explain all the reasons why that is but it's very consistent. Any number of settings that are available in the CLI would help (changing the threshold for instance) but none are available to the extension.

I have tried setting the flag in settings.json but that doesn't seem to work. Setting the flag in Claude CLI also doesn't work as that seems to be a separate instance.

If there's a workaround I'm not finding I'd be thrilled to hear about it!

What Should Happen?

It should be possible to disable auto-compact in the extension settings or json config.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Try to disable auto-compact when using the VS Code extension

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

2.0.57

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

No response