Later

Capture what matters without losing your focus.

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Later lets you defer actions mid-conversation without interrupting your current task. Spot a bug to fix, an idea to explore, or a refactor to do? Push it to the queue and come back to it when you're ready — with full context preserved.

Example: deferring a task while working on a feature

You're deep in a refactor when you notice something unrelated.

Claude Code:

/later:add Fix the error handling in the auth middleware — it swallows 500s silently

Claude Desktop:

"Save this for later: fix the error handling in the auth middleware — it swallows 500s silently"

Added to later-queue (id: 3f8a1c22) Action: Fix the error handling in the auth middleware — it swallows 500s silently

Later finishes your refactor. When you're ready:

Claude Code:

/later:next

Claude Desktop:

"Process the next item in my later queue"

Fix the error handling in the auth middleware — it swallows 500s silently Context: Noticed while refactoring the user service

Claude picks it up and starts working on it immediately.

💡 Why?

Context-switching is expensive. When you notice something worth doing mid-task, you either stop what you're doing (losing focus) or forget about it entirely. Later gives you a third option: capture it instantly, stay focused, and process it when the time is right.

Useful for:

• Bug triage -- note issues as you find them without stopping to fix them
• Refactor backlog -- queue improvements to revisit after the current task
• Ideas and follow-ups -- capture anything that comes up mid-conversation
• Cross-session continuity -- the queue persists between Claude Code sessions

📦 Installation

Later is available as a Claude Code plugin and as a Claude Desktop extension.

Claude Code

claude plugin marketplace add fantoine/claude-plugins
claude plugin install later --scope user

The --scope flag controls where the plugin is available:

Scope	Effect
user	Available in all your projects (recommended)
project	Only in the current project
local	Only in the current project, not committed to git

We recommend user scope so Later is available everywhere.

Claude Desktop

Download the latest .mcpb file from the Releases page, then double-click it to install.

🚀 Getting started

Add an action

Claude Code:

/later:add <action>

Claude Desktop:

"Save this for later: investigate why the pagination breaks on the reports page"

Claude captures the action and any relevant context from the current conversation automatically.

Process the next action

Claude Code:

/later:next

Claude Desktop:

"What's next in my later queue?"

Retrieves and removes the first item from the queue, then executes it immediately.

Pick a specific action

Claude Code:

/later:pick <id or natural language reference>

Accepts an ID, a position, or a description:

/later:pick 3f8a1c22
/later:pick the second one
/later:pick the last added

Claude Desktop:

"Pick the second item from my later queue and work on it"

"Work on the one about the pagination bug"

View the queue

Claude Code:

/later:list

Claude Desktop:

"Show me everything in my later queue"

Shows all pending actions with their date and context.

🗂️ Storage

By default, Later stores the queue in a single JSON file. The location depends on the context:

Context	Storage path
Claude Code (inside a project with .claude/)	.claude/later-queue.local.json in the project root
Claude Code (outside a project) or Claude Desktop	~/.claude/later-queue.json

The queue persists across sessions and is scoped per-project when used inside a Claude Code project.

Configuring persistence

You can switch to a markdown-folder backend, where each deferred action is a standalone .md file you can edit by hand.

Via environment variable

export LATER_STORAGE=markdown

Via config file

Create .claude/later.config.json in your project (or in ~/.claude/ for a global default):

{
  "backend": "markdown",
  "options": {
    "dir": ".claude/later"
  }
}

Precedence: LATER_STORAGE env var → project .claude/later.config.json → global ~/.claude/later.config.json → json default.

Markdown file format

Each item is one file named <createdAt>-<seq>-<shortId>.md:

---
id: 3f8a1b2c-...
project: my-app
cwd: /path/to/proj
createdAt: 2026-04-20T10:12:00Z
---

Fix the auth bug

## Context
noticed during PR review

The body holds the action. An optional ## Context section carries extra context. Any other sections (e.g. ## Notes) are preserved on disk but ignored by the queue — use them for free-form annotations.

⚡ Commands reference

Claude Code:

Command	Description
/later:add <action>	Add an action to the queue
/later:next	Retrieve and execute the next action
/later:pick <ref>	Pick a specific action by ID or natural language
/later:list	Show all pending actions

Claude Desktop exposes the same capabilities via MCP tools. Just ask in natural language:

Tool	Example prompt
later_push	"Save this for later: investigate the memory leak in the worker"
later_pop	"What's next in my later queue?"
later_pick	"Pick the second item from my later queue and work on it"
later_list	"Show me everything in my later queue"
later_remove	"Remove item 3f8a1c22 from my later queue"

License

Apache 2.0