File Reference Autocomplete Broken in Claude Code Extension

I just started using Claude Code (CLI) and I noticed @ doesn't work in large repos, but it does in small ones. Not sure why it can't just use git-grep/fzf under the hood...

Has anyone found a good workaround for for this?

I have the same problem

I have the same issue.

Maybe this will help someone -- It turns out mentioning files in Claude Code doesn't work unless you have a git repository setup in the project directory. After setting one up via the git CLI, it started working for me :)

After the latest update it appears to be working now in large repos, but it's pretty slow and there's lag when entering characters.

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Still occurring.

Still occuring

Workaround: After turning off respect .gitignore file setting my python files started to turn up in search. Before .py files was not suggested when i typed @. It seems like there is an issue with this implementation.

"claudeCode.respectGitIgnore": false

This is my .gitignore:

# Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class

# C extensions
*.so

# Distribution / packaging
.Python
build/
develop-eggs/
dist/
downloads/
eggs/
.eggs/
lib/
lib64/
parts/
sdist/
var/
wheels/
share/python-wheels/
*.egg-info/
.installed.cfg
*.egg
MANIFEST

# PyInstaller
#  Usually these files are written by a python script from a template
#  before PyInstaller builds the exe, so as to inject date/other infos into it.
*.manifest
*.spec

# Installer logs
pip-log.txt
pip-delete-this-directory.txt

# Unit test / coverage reports
htmlcov/
.tox/
.nox/
.coverage
.coverage.*
.cache
nosetests.xml
coverage.xml
*.cover
*.py,cover
.hypothesis/
.pytest_cache/
cover/

# Translations
*.mo
*.pot

# Django stuff:
*.log
local_settings.py
db.sqlite3
db.sqlite3-journal

# Flask stuff:
instance/
.webassets-cache

# Scrapy stuff:
.scrapy

# Sphinx documentation
docs/_build/

# PyBuilder
.pybuilder/
target/

# Jupyter Notebook
.ipynb_checkpoints

# IPython
profile_default/
ipython_config.py

# pyenv
#   For a library or package, you might want to ignore these files since the code is
#   intended to run in multiple environments; otherwise, check them in:
# .python-version

# pipenv
#   According to pypa/pipenv#598, it is recommended to include Pipfile.lock in version control.
#   However, in case of collaboration, if having platform-specific dependencies or dependencies
#   having no cross-platform support, pipenv may install dependencies that don't work, or not
#   install all needed dependencies.
#Pipfile.lock

# poetry
#   Similar to Pipfile.lock, it is generally recommended to include poetry.lock in version control.
#   This is especially recommended for binary packages to ensure reproducibility, and is more
#   commonly ignored for libraries.
#   https://python-poetry.org/docs/basic-usage/#commit-your-poetrylock-file-to-version-control
#poetry.lock

# pdm
#   Similar to Pipfile.lock, it is generally recommended to include pdm.lock in version control.
#pdm.lock
#   pdm stores project-wide configurations in .pdm.toml, but it is recommended to not include it
#   in version control.
#   https://pdm.fming.dev/#use-with-ide
.pdm.toml

# PEP 582; used by e.g. github.com/David-OConnor/pyflow and github.com/pdm-project/pdm
__pypackages__/

# Celery stuff
celerybeat-schedule
celerybeat.pid

# SageMath parsed files
#*.sage.py

# Environments
.env
.venv
env/
venv/*
ENV/
env.bak/
venv.bak/

# Spyder project settings
.spyderproject
.spyproject

# Rope project settings
.ropeproject

# mkdocs documentation
/site

# mypy
.mypy_cache/
.dmypy.json
dmypy.json

# Pyre type checker
.pyre/

# pytype static type analyzer
.pytype/

# Cython debug symbols
cython_debug/

# PyCharm
#  JetBrains specific template is maintained in a separate JetBrains.gitignore that can
#  be found at https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/main/Global/JetBrains.gitignore
#  and can be added to the global gitignore or merged into this file.  For a more nuclear
#  option (not recommended) you can uncomment the following to ignore the entire idea folder.
.idea/

# Mac specific
.DS_Store

sandbox

# VSCode
.vscode/*

# Local History for Visual Studio Code
.history/

# Built Visual Studio Code Extensions
*.vsix

# Used by the custom azure pipeline
artifacts/
# Auto gen
tss/_version.py
experimental/


# For people using podman
.testcontainers.properties

# LLM context files
CLAUDE.local.md

# There is .gitignore within ignoreing * but claude code doesn't picks it up
.ruff_cache/

Inspired by @gabor-one 's workaround ("claudeCode.respectGitIgnore": false), I dug into which specific line in .gitignore was causing the issue.

Turns out it's *.py,cover — a line included by default in the Python template from gitignore.io. It seems the extension's gitignore parser misinterprets the comma and excludes all *.py files.

Commenting out just that one line fixes it without disabling the entire gitignore:

# *.py,cover

@gabor-one 's fix worked for me!
https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/2012#issuecomment-3758969956

The @file autocomplete behavior varies between the CLI and VS Code extension:
Workaround 1 — Use file paths directly instead of @ references:
Instead of @package.json, just mention the file path:

Look at package.json
Read src/auth/login.ts

Claude will use the Read tool to fetch the file. This works reliably in both CLI and extension.
Workaround 2 — Drag and drop files (VS Code):
In the VS Code extension, you can drag files from the Explorer sidebar into the Claude input. This creates a proper file reference.
Workaround 3 — Use paste for file contents:
Open the file in your editor, select all, copy, paste into Claude. The pasted content appears as a collapsible block.
Workaround 4 — Tab completion in CLI:
In the CLI, file path Tab completion may work:

Read [Tab]  # Shows available files

Workaround 5 — Check if the feature is enabled:
The @file feature may depend on your version and settings:

claude --version  # Ensure you're on the latest
claude --update   # Update if needed

In VS Code settings, check for Claude-related autocomplete settings:

{
  "claude-code.fileReferences.enabled": true
}

(The exact setting name may vary by version.)