CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH causes all commands to use Git Bash instead of parent shell

CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH causes all commands to use Git Bash instead of parent shell

Problem

When CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH is set, Claude Code uses Git Bash (MSYS2) for all shell commands, not just git-related ones. This prevents access to tools available in the parent shell environment.

Environment

• Windows with Cygwin installed
• Claude Code launched from a Cygwin mintty bash terminal
• CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH="C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" is set

Expected Behavior

• Normal commands should run under the parent shell (Cygwin bash in this case)
• Git commands could optionally use Git Bash if CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH is set (for its special git integration)

Actual Behavior

All commands run under Git Bash (MSYS2), which has a different/minimal environment:

# In Claude Code subprocess:
bash --version
GNU bash, version 5.2.37(1)-release (x86_64-pc-msys)

# In parent Cygwin terminal:
bash --version
GNU bash, version 5.2.21(1)-release (x86_64-pc-cygwin)

This means Cygwin-installed tools (like python3 at /usr/bin/python3) are not available to Claude Code, even though they're available in the shell where Claude Code was launched.

Suggested Solution

Either:

1. Only use CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH for git commands, use parent shell for everything else
2. Add a separate CLAUDE_CODE_SHELL_PATH variable to explicitly set the shell for non-git commands
3. Default to using the shell from PATH when no explicit override is set

Workaround

Currently none - unsetting CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH may break git functionality.