anthropics / anthropics/claude-code

[Bug] Inactive terminal window scrolling disabled

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area:tui bug platform:macos
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Forks
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PR merge metrics
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Description

Bug Description
using `/bug/ prevents users from being able to scroll the terminal window. expected experience, from Apple Design Guiudelines:

The window state itself is called an "inactive window" in Apple's Human Interface Guidelines terminology (as opposed to the "active" or "key" window, which is the one currently receiving keyboard input). All windows other than the frontmost, currently-interacting one are considered inactive; only the active window interacts with the user directly. Visually, when a window becomes inactive, the close/zoom/size controls and title bar details lose their active styling.

The scroll behavior you're describing (pointer-over-window scrolling that works without activating it) doesn't have an official Apple-coined name. It's just commonly referred to descriptively as "scrolling an inactive window" or "scroll inactive windows." The key mechanic is that the pointer must be in the window you want to scroll, not necessarily the active window, which lets you scroll inactive windows without bringing them frontmost. This has been true since early Mac OS X releases. Inactive windows in Leopard were scrollable by simply moving the cursor over the window without clicking to make it active and scrolling with the mouse wheel or scroll gesture, though arrow keys don't work this way since those require actual keyboard focus.

**Environment Info**
- Platform: darwin
- Terminal: Apple_Terminal
- Version: 2.1.267
- Feedback ID: 5813b942-aa88-43aa-8e73-167a455a8f13

**Errors**
```json
[{"error":"TelemetrySafeError: VirtualMessageList: itemKeys/messages length desync (keys=806 messages=804 range=[764,806))\n    at _3t (/$bunfs/root/chunk-8rmb0md8.js:36:28818)\n    at bSe (/$bunfs/root/chunk-8rmb0md8.js:36:21623)\n    at Br (/$bunfs/root/chunk-7fht4eya.js:18:20036)\n    at Hu (/$bunfs/root/chunk-7fht4eya.js:18:38202)\n    at Xh (/$bunfs/root/chunk-7fht4eya.js:18:84283)\n    at Db (/$bunfs/root/chunk-7fht4eya.js:18:83283)\n    at ec (/$bunfs/root/chunk-7fht4eya.js:18:83112)\n    at Yh (/$bunfs/root/chunk-7fht4eya.js:18:79637)\n    at je (/$bunfs/root/chunk-7fht4eya.js:18:6261)\n    at Ue (/$bunfs/root/chunk-7fht4eya.js:18:4792)","timestamp":"2026-09-17T18:07:41.369Z"}]

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce the inactive-window scrolling behavior on darwin with Apple_Terminal, using the reported /bug/ interaction and the VirtualMessageList length-desync error as context. Then locate the terminal scrolling entry point and determine whether the error occurs during reproduction. Done means inactive terminal windows scroll when the pointer is over them without activating the window, without introducing the reported desync.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
macos
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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