[BUG] Parallel Explore agents hang at Creating/Harmonizing step - no timeout
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Jan 28, 2026 by talatiamops Closed Jan 31, 2026
Bug Description
When launching multiple parallel Explore agents, Claude Code hangs indefinitely at the "Creating..." or "Harmonizing..." step after agents complete their work. No timeout or stuck detection.
Environment
- Claude Code Version: 2.1.22
- OS: macOS Darwin 25.2.0
- Model: Opus 4.5
Reproduction Steps
- Start Claude Code session
- Ask Claude to launch 3 parallel Explore agents (e.g., investigating different parts of a codebase)
- Agents complete their tool calls (Glob, Grep, Read) successfully
- UI shows "Creating..." or "Harmonizing..." step with spinner
- Hangs indefinitely - no progress, 1.3k tokens shown, "thought for 3s"
Debug Log Evidence
06:52:39 - Agents doing tool calls (Glob, Grep, Bash)
06:52:41 - Last PostToolUse hook for Grep
06:52:41+ - Only "High write ratio" logs, no further tool activity
- No SubagentStop event logged
- Session stuck at "Creating/Harmonizing" step
- Required manual interrupt (esc) after 2+ minutes
Screenshot
The UI shows 3 Explore agents completed (showing tool uses and token counts), but the main session is stuck at "Creating..." for extended periods.
Additional Context
- Also observing built-in cloud MCP servers (claude.ai Slack, Atlassian, Microsoft 365, monday.com) failing authentication on every startup
- These servers cannot be disabled via user mcp.json config
- Unclear if these auth failures contribute to the hang
Related Issues
- #4580 - Claude Code freezes during multi-agent task JSON serialization (locked)
- #15945 - MCP Server causes 16+ hour hang
Expected Behavior
- Timeout/stuck detection should kick in
- Result synthesis step should complete or fail gracefully
- Option to disable built-in cloud MCP servers that require auth
Workaround
Running Explore agents sequentially instead of in parallel avoids the hang.
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