anthropics / anthropics/claude-code

typing `-` (hyphen) while holding option (⌥) key ≈ escape key semantics, irreversibly throws away whatever you've typed without warning

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#81,240 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
reproduced
Dominant language
Python
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Description

**Bug Description**

`⌥` + `-` (option+hyphen, the human em-dash) has the same semantics as the escape key: it backs out of any active questionnaire, irreversibly destroying your responses to Claude's clarifying questions.

The amount of times I've irreversibly lost **paragraphs** of context to this behavior is deeply troubling. I suspect the number of people using option-hyphen as the escape key are zero. : )

**Environment Info**
- Platform: darwin
- Terminal: Apple_Terminal
- Version: 2.1.220
- Feedback ID: 583b4765-f9eb-483a-a06f-7e7a54ab462f

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

Start by locating the terminal questionnaire input handling and the key mapping for Option-hyphen and Escape. Reproduce the behavior on macOS using Apple Terminal, then verify that typing Option-hyphen no longer discards active questionnaire responses while Escape retains its existing behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
macos, python
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
58/100

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