[BUG] --resume does not work with a large database

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?

Title: --resume flag shows no
conversations when history contains ~2000+
entries

Description:

The --resume flag no longer displays the
interactive conversation picker when the
global history file
(~/.claude/history.jsonl) contains a large
number of entries (~2051 in my case).

Expected behavior:
When running claude --resume, an
interactive picker should appear showing
conversation history with summaries,
elapsed time, message counts, and git
branch information for the current
repository.

Actual behavior:
Running claude --resume shows nothing - no
picker appears, no error message is
displayed. The command appears to silently
fail or hang.

Environment:

• Claude Code version: 2.0.30
• OS: macOS (Darwin 24.6.0, arm64)
• Number of repositories: 20
• Total history entries: 2051 lines in

~/.claude/history.jsonl

• Current repo entries: 18 conversations

Additional context:

• The --resume picker worked correctly

when I had fewer total conversations

• claude --continue still works as a

workaround to resume the most recent
conversation

• The history file appears to be properly

formatted (valid JSONL)

• Individual conversation files exist in

~/.claude/projects/[repo-path]/

Steps to reproduce:

1. Use Claude Code across multiple

repositories over time

1. Accumulate 2000+ conversation entries

in /.claude/history.jsonl

1. Run claude --resume
2. Observe that no picker appears

Suggested fix:
Consider implementing pagination, lazy
loading, or performance optimizations for
the --resume picker to handle large
history files gracefully.

What Should Happen?

Title: --resume flag shows no
conversations when history contains ~2000+
entries

Description:

The --resume flag no longer displays the
interactive conversation picker when the
global history file
(~/.claude/history.jsonl) contains a large
number of entries (~2051 in my case).

Expected behavior:
When running claude --resume, an
interactive picker should appear showing
conversation history with summaries,
elapsed time, message counts, and git
branch information for the current
repository.

Actual behavior:
Running claude --resume shows nothing - no
picker appears, no error message is
displayed. The command appears to silently
fail or hang.

Environment:

• Claude Code version: 2.0.30
• OS: macOS (Darwin 24.6.0, arm64)
• Number of repositories: 20
• Total history entries: 2051 lines in

~/.claude/history.jsonl

• Current repo entries: 18 conversations

Additional context:

• The --resume picker worked correctly

when I had fewer total conversations

• claude --continue still works as a

workaround to resume the most recent
conversation

• The history file appears to be properly

formatted (valid JSONL)

• Individual conversation files exist in

~/.claude/projects/[repo-path]/

Steps to reproduce:

1. Use Claude Code across multiple

repositories over time

1. Accumulate 2000+ conversation entries

in /.claude/history.jsonl

1. Run claude --resume
2. Observe that no picker appears

Suggested fix:
Consider implementing pagination, lazy
loading, or performance optimizations for
the --resume picker to handle large
history files gracefully.

Error Messages/Logs

It shows nothing that is the problem

Steps to Reproduce

1. Do a lot with a lot of repositories. 2000+ converstations.
2. Eventually --resume stops working and --continue behaves in an odd way. sometimes working and sometimes not.

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

2.0

Claude Code Version

2.0.30 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

It shows nothing, that is the problem.