[BUG] Error: Error during compaction: Error: Conversation too long. Press esc twice to go up a few messages and try again.

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?

Every session in the CLI shows this error
[Error: Error during compaction: Error: Conversation too long. Press esc twice to go up a few messages and try again. ]

I am running v2.1.27 in the CLI.

What Should Happen?

/compact should not throw this error

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

start Claude in CLI
use till context is exhausted and you see /compact message
starting /compact gives this error

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

2.1.21

Claude Code Version

2.1.27

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

Additional Information

_No response_