[BUG] SSH passphrase prompts no longer appear when running SSH commands via Bash tool

Resolved 💬 4 comments Opened Jan 9, 2026 by promptgoblin Closed Feb 25, 2026

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?

Description:

After a recent Claude Code update, SSH commands that require a passphrase no longer prompt the user for input. Previously, when Claude Code executed an SSH command with a passphrase-protected key, the passphrase prompt would appear and the user could enter it interactively.

Environment:

  • OS: Linux Mint (Ubuntu 22.04 base), kernel 5.15.0-164-generic
  • Terminals tested: Native Linux terminal, Tabby
  • Claude Code version: 2.1.3 (Claude Code) --- worked in the previous version I was using. 1.something, but I can't remember specifically.

What Should Happen?

Expected behavior:
User is prompted for the SSH key passphrase, can enter it, and the connection succeeds. *Worked in previous claude code versions.

Error Messages/Logs

Actual behavior:
  No prompt appears. SSH fails with:
  ssh_askpass: exec(/usr/bin/ssh-askpass): No such file or directory
  Permission denied (publickey).

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Have an SSH key with a passphrase (e.g., ~/.ssh/id_ed25519)
  2. Ensure the key is NOT loaded in ssh-agent
  3. Ask Claude to run an SSH command using that key
  4. Example command: ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 user@server 'hostname'

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

1.?

Claude Code Version

2.1.3

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

_No response_

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