[BUG] Notification hook receives phantom `permission_prompt` events with no visible permission dialog

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?

The Notification hook with permission_prompt matcher fires even when no permission dialog is displayed to the user. This creates phantom notification events that cannot be correlated to any visible UI.

Observed behavior:

• PreToolUse:AskUserQuestion fires at time T
• Notification:permission_prompt fires at T+6 seconds
• No permission dialog appears - only the AskUserQuestion UI is visible
• User receives two notifications when only one is meaningful

This occurs consistently (~6 second gap) when working from the user's home directory (/Users/user), but does NOT reproduce when working from project directories.

What Should Happen?

Notification:permission_prompt should only fire when Claude Code actually displays a permission prompt to the user. If no permission dialog is shown, no permission_prompt notification event should be generated.

Error Messages/Logs

Debug logging captured both events with timestamps:


15:10:04.887 | event=question        | project=user | cwd=/Users/user
15:10:11.310 | event=permission      | project=user | cwd=/Users/user


- `question` = PreToolUse:AskUserQuestion hook (legitimate - dialog shown)
- `permission` = Notification:permission_prompt hook (PHANTOM - no dialog shown)
- **6.4 second gap** between events

Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure a Notification hook with permission_prompt matcher in ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "Notification": [
      {
        "matcher": "permission_prompt",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python3 /path/to/notify.py --event permission"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

1. Also configure a PreToolUse hook for AskUserQuestion:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "AskUserQuestion",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python3 /path/to/notify.py --event question"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

1. Set permission mode to "accept edits" (not "don't ask" - the bug doesn't reproduce when AskUserQuestion is blocked)

1. Start Claude Code from the home directory: cd ~ && claude

1. Ask Claude to do something that triggers an AskUserQuestion (e.g., "use AskUserQuestion to test me on tequila")

1. Observe: Two notifications fire - first for the question, then ~6 seconds later for a phantom permission_prompt with no visible permission dialog

1. Compare: Run the same task from a project subdirectory - only one notification fires (the question)

Reproduction Matrix

| Condition | Phantom appears? |
|-----------|------------------|
| Home dir (~) + AskUserQuestion shows dialog | YES |
| Home dir + AskUserQuestion blocked (dontAsk mode) | NO |
| Project dir + AskUserQuestion shows dialog | NO |

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.0.76

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Hook Configuration Context

The notification hook is designed to alert users when:

• Stop - Task complete
• Notification:permission_prompt - Permission required
• PreToolUse:AskUserQuestion - Question asked
• PreToolUse:ExitPlanMode - Plan ready

The phantom permission_prompt events make the permission notification unreliable - users receive "Authorization required" notifications when no authorization is actually needed.

Root Cause Hypothesis

The ~6 second delay suggests this may be related to internal timeout or retry logic. Claude Code appears to generate a spurious Notification:permission_prompt event when AskUserQuestion is used from non-project directories.

Workaround

A marker-based suppression system could filter phantom permission_prompt events that follow AskUserQuestion within a short window (similar to the workaround for the Stop hook firing multiple times during git workflows - see issue #15250).

However, this workaround should not be necessary - permission_prompt events should only fire when a permission dialog is actually displayed.