Feature Request: Add defaultRunInBackground setting for Bash commands
Resolved 💬 4 comments Opened Dec 27, 2025 by jujo1 Closed Feb 21, 2026
Feature Request
Add a global setting to run Bash commands in background by default.
Proposed Setting
{
"bash": {
"defaultRunInBackground": true
}
}
Or as an environment variable:
{
"env": {
"CLAUDE_BASH_DEFAULT_BACKGROUND": "1"
}
}
Use Case
Power users running long-running commands (builds, tests, servers) want them to automatically run in background without:
- Manually pressing
Ctrl+Beach time - Asking Claude to "run in background" every session
- Waiting for commands to complete before continuing
Current Behavior
run_in_background is only available as a per-invocation parameter on the Bash tool, with no way to set a default.
Expected Behavior
When defaultRunInBackground: true is set:
- All Bash commands run in background by default
- User can monitor with
/tasks - Claude can retrieve output with
TaskOutput
This would improve workflow for users who prefer async command execution.
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