[BUG] --mcp-config freezes claude command with or without existing MCP config file

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?

I usually start claude code like this: ENABLE_LSP_TOOL=1 claude --dangerously-skip-permissions --mcp-config .claude/mcp_settings.json

However, after the 2nd latest update, I can no longer use the --mcp-config flag, since claude will just freeze and not start for me. Removing this starts claude just fine. My config is correct (I've not changed it at all) and it only contains the following:

{
  "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/mcp-settings.json",
  "servers": {
    "chrome-devtools": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic-ai/claude-mcp-server-chrome-devtools"]
    }
  }
}

What Should Happen?

the CLI should start

Error Messages/Logs

none, the process just hangs indefinitely

Steps to Reproduce

just run claude --mcp-config .claude/mcp_settings.json even without an existing json file, the CLI will hang

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

2.1.6 or 2.1.7 had this working

Claude Code Version

2.1.11 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Xterm

Additional Information

_No response_