[BUG] Background Tasks Fail to Detect Valid Git Repository

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?

Summary

Background tasks fail with "Background tasks require a git repository" error despite being in a valid git repository that is correctly detected by the main Claude Code session.

Environment

• OS: macOS 15.6.1 (Build 24G90)
• Platform: darwin
• Kernel: Darwin 24.6.0
• Git Version: 2.39.5 (Apple Git-154)
• Git Location: /usr/bin/git

Repository Information

• Working Directory: /Users/Jonny/Documents/obsidian/trading
• Git Repository Status: Valid and functional
• Main Session Detection: ✅ Correctly detected (Is directory a git repo: Yes)
• Background Task Detection: ❌ Fails with error

Expected Behavior

Background tasks should successfully detect the git repository, just as the main Claude Code session does.

Actual Behavior

Background tasks fail with a git repository detection error despite:

• Being in a valid git repository
• All git commands working correctly
• Main session detecting the repository properly
• No permission, symlink, or configuration issues

Additional Context

The repository has:

• Recent commits (verified with git log)
• Clean working tree
• Proper .git directory structure
• All standard git operations working

Analysis

This appears to be a bug in the background task system's git detection logic. The background task spawning process uses different repository detection code than the main session, and this detection is failing even though:

1. The repository is completely valid
2. All git commands execute successfully
3. The main Claude Code session correctly identifies it as a git repository
4. No environmental or permission issues exist

Suggested Investigation

The background task system should use the same git repository detection logic as the main session, or inherit the repository status from the parent session rather than re-detecting independently.

Workaround

Currently, tasks must be run sequentially using the Task tool instead of background tasks, which significantly impacts performance when processing multiple independent items.

What Should Happen?

Background tasks should successfully detect the git repository, just as the main Claude Code session does.

Error Messages/Logs

Cannot launch remote Claude Code session.

Background tasks require a git repository. Initialize git or run from a git repository.

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce

1. Navigate to a valid git repository
2. Verify git repository status:

``bash
git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree # Returns: true
git rev-parse --show-toplevel # Returns: /Users/Jonny/Documents/obsidian/trading
``

1. Start Claude Code session (main session correctly detects git repo)
2. Attempt to run background tasks using the background task syntax
3. Observe error about missing git repository

Validation Performed

✅ Git Repository Validation

$ git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree
true

$ git rev-parse --show-toplevel
/Users/Jonny/Documents/obsidian/trading

$ git rev-parse --git-dir
.git

$ git status
On branch main
nothing to commit, working tree clean

✅ Permissions Check

$ stat -f "%Sp %Su:%Sg" .git
drwxr-xr-x Jonny:staff

$ ls -la .git/
drwxr-xr-x@  13 Jonny  staff    416 Nov 30 19:49 .
drwxr-xr-x@  22 Jonny  staff    704 Nov 30 19:42 ..
-rw-r--r--@   1 Jonny  staff     11 Nov 30 19:47 COMMIT_EDITMSG
-rw-r--r--@   1 Jonny  staff    137 Nov 25 17:38 config
[... all files owned by user with proper permissions]

All .git subdirectories have proper permissions (755/drwxr-xr-x).

✅ Path Check (No Symlinks)

$ pwd
/Users/Jonny/Documents/obsidian/trading

$ pwd -P
/Users/Jonny/Documents/obsidian/trading

$ readlink -n "$(pwd)"
Not a symlink

No symlinks in the path - physical and logical paths are identical.

✅ Git Config Check

$ git config --list --local
core.repositoryformatversion=0
core.filemode=true
core.bare=false
core.logallrefupdates=true
core.ignorecase=true
core.precomposeunicode=true

Standard, valid git configuration with no unusual settings.

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.0.58 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_