[BUG] On launch cursor is at bottom of screen. Claude Code does not respond to text typed.

Environment

• Platform (select one):
  • [x] Anthropic API
  • [ ] AWS Bedrock
  • [ ] Google Vertex AI
  • [ ] Other:
• Claude CLI version: 0.2.114 (Claude Code)
• Operating System: macOS 15.5 (24F74)/Apple M1 Max
• Terminal: Same results in iTerm2 or Terminal

Bug Description

On launch the cursor is at the bottom of the screen, instead of at the Claude Code prompt.

• Characters typed appear at the bottom of the screen instead of at the prompt
• Menu ('/') does not bring up the menu
• Pressing enter moves the text next to the '>' and moves the cursor down one line (as those shift+enter was pressed) instead of sending the text to Claude
• Additional typed text appears at the bottom of the screen and is placed below the former text
• Must use ctrl+c to exit

Steps to Reproduce

Launch claude

Expected Behavior

Claude to be interactive

Actual Behavior

See above

Additional Context

• Happens in bash or zsh; minimizing the enviornment (bypassing .zshrc and .bashrc) did not resolve
• launching enough times will sometimes get an active session. Roughly 24/25 sessions fail
• removing and reinstalling claude did not resolve
• node -v : v23.11.0 (installed via brew)
  • Removed node, cleaned up folders, etc, installed via node.js website (curl, etc.). Now node v22.15.1
  • reinstalled claude; same results

Please let me know if I can provide additional information.

Maybe a new behavior. I've been desperate to get this working :). I will need to test this further, but 2/2 times this worked:

• launch claude
• IMMEDIATELY gamer-style start mashing a key (I used d)
• I have access to the prompt as I should.

I'm seeing a 3 to 4second launch delay as well during which of course key input does not work. For me when I enter claude it just sits there on the terminal trying to load claude, takes about 3 to 4 seconds every single time now.

wow this is a little strange. can you run Activity Monitor and grab a snapshot? It seems like claude code is stuck on something.

I tried moving settings, claude.md, etc. out thinking it was taking a while to parse those filee, but that didn't help. Next time I have to shutdown claude i'll take a look at activity monitor and see what its doing

A little more information. I started a new project today. I did not encounter the problem again until after I ran /init. Now I have the same problem in this project. Again, mashing 'd' (just the letter I choose -- I suspect other letters would work as well) gets me to the command prompt (soft cursor).

I just encountered this as well running 1.0.61 (Claude Code) after weeks of using it without any problems. The button mashing does work occasionally, but only maybe 10% of the time. It becomes a game of luck if I am able to program with Claude today. This is not a great value proposition for something I pay a monthly fee for. Please tell me there has been some kind of fix since May.

I figured out the cause for me.

I added a dynamic path to my .zshrc file today and that seems to break Claude Code. When I comment it out Claude Code works again.

Here is the offending piece of code:

export PATH="/Users/alex/.composer/vendor/bin:$PATH"
# Dynamically add bash script directories to PATH
BASH_SCRIPT_ROOT="/Users/pathto/bash"
if [[ -d "$BASH_SCRIPT_ROOT" ]]; then
    # Find all directories containing executable files and add them to PATH
    while IFS= read -r -d '' dir; do
        export PATH="$dir:$PATH"
    done < <(find "$BASH_SCRIPT_ROOT" -type f -perm +111 -exec dirname {} \; | sort -u | tr '\n' '\0')
fi

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