Critical regression: v2.1.33+ premature compaction cascade makes Claude Code unusable on Windows

Summary

Since v2.1.33, Claude Code has become effectively unusable for long-running agent sessions. Multiple bugs interact to create a cascading failure loop that loses hours of work repeatedly. This affects every session, multiple times per day.

The Cascade

1. Premature compaction (#24458, #25604, #26163, #26291): Context limit triggers at 15-30% usage. Sessions that used to run for hours now compact after reading a few files and making minor edits. Root cause identified in #25604: synthetic "prompt too long" errors generated locally, never reaching the API.

1. Compaction deadlock (#26220, #26267, #26317, #26046): When context limit hits, auto-compact fails, /compact fails, rewind fails. Session is completely stuck. Only escape is Ctrl+C.

1. PowerShell escape (#21576): After Ctrl+C on Windows, Claude Code drops to a PowerShell prompt instead of staying in the CLI. Session is lost.

1. Stale resume (#26246): --resume loads context from hours ago instead of current state. All work since the last checkpoint is gone.

Net result: Start session → read docs → make 2 changes → premature compaction → deadlock → forced exit → stale resume → lose hours of work. Repeat 3-5 times per day.

Environment

• Platform: Windows 11 (MSYS/Git Bash)
• Version: v2.1.44 (latest channel)
• Model: Opus 4.6
• MCP servers: 4 (filesystem, github, sqlite, postgres)
• Regression start: v2.1.33 (confirmed by #24458 author — reverting to v2.1.32 resolves premature compaction)

Impact

• Cannot complete multi-step tasks that require reading files and making changes
• Agent sessions (sub-agents, parallel tasks) are especially affected — they consume context faster
• Hours of work lost daily to the cascade
• No workaround except downgrading to v2.1.32

Related Issues

| Bug | Issue(s) | Status |
|-----|----------|--------|
| Premature compaction | #24458, #25604, #25602, #26163, #26291 | Open, zero maintainer response |
| Compaction deadlock | #26220, #26267, #26317, #26046 | Open, zero maintainer response |
| PowerShell escape | #21576 | Open 19 days, zero maintainer response |
| Stale resume | #26246 | Open, zero maintainer response |

None of these 12+ issues have received any response from Anthropic staff. The earliest (#15742, multi-line permissions) has been open for 50 days with confirmations across macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Request

This is a paying Claude Max customer. These bugs in combination make the product unusable for its primary use case (software engineering with agent sessions). Please acknowledge and prioritize.