[BUG] Restarting claude with --resume clears out context and allows sessions to continue longer

[ejc3]

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 can consistently extend claude's context window by existing out of claude and using --resume. This happens on the latest production claude version.

Here's what a session looks like before the ctl-c, claude --resume:

Here's after:

What Should Happen?

Claude seems no dumber after the ctl-c loop, so claude should drop whatever context that is lost by doing ctl-c instead of jumping to /compact.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Use claude a lot
2. See a few percent left of context
3. Run /context
4. ctl -c
5. claude --resume
6. Run /context

The second time of running /context, the context will be way lower.

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

2.0.25

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

No response

[ejc3]

Another example. After a restart, you can see 1% context but really 30% is available.

[ejc3]

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c2a8e2ce-c896-4fc7-8508-e046f8b02e0a please fix this. it seems so easy given --continue just always clears out enough context to make much more progress!

[ejc3]

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/092818a9-7691-40b7-8923-211ae8cc01de so easy to reproduce!

[sid374]

@ejc3 has your "before" state gone through a round of compaction already?

[ejc3]

Yes, most likely it has gone through one round

[ejc3]

At least in one case the difference was due to the CLAUDE.md not being in the trajectory after the restart loop:

⏺ Based on the diff output, here's a summary of the key differences between the two files:

  Summary: Differences Between the Two Requests

  | Aspect        | 04-36-02 (newer) | 04-34-03 (older)                           |
  |---------------|------------------|--------------------------------------------|
  | Input Tokens  | 122,063          | 140,283                                    |
  | Output Tokens | 6                | 5                                          |
  | File size     | 1004 lines       | 973 lines (larger due to embedded content) |

  Key Differences:

  1. Git Status: The older request (04-34-03) shows src/firecracker/vm.rs as modified, while the newer one doesn't
  2. Recent Commits:
    - Newer (04-36-02) includes commit 3cf50ad ("Remove duplicate vm_name/vm_id from Firecracker log output")
    - Older (04-34-03) includes commit ad08893 ("Replace RwLock with DashMap in PassthroughFs") which is missing from the newer
  3. System Context: The older request (04-34-03) includes embedded CLAUDE.md content from the fcvm project (a Firecracker VM manager), showing that a Read tool was called to read
  /Users/ejcampbell/src/fcvm/.claude/CLAUDE.md. This adds ~200+ lines of escaped documentation about the fcvm project.
  4. Token Count: The older request has ~18,000 more input tokens, likely due to the embedded CLAUDE.md content

  In short: The newer request is a simpler/cleaner API call with fewer tokens, while the older one includes extensive project documentation that was read during the conversation.

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> 
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  ? for shortcuts

[ejc3]

Additional analysis: https://ejc3.github.io/claude-restart-trajectory-analysis/

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