Session resume loads blank — 4.5 MB JSONL file intact, no error, no content

Bug: Session Resume Loads Blank

Version: Claude Code v2.1.55, Windows 11 Pro Build 26200, Bun v1.3.10

What Happens

1. Session b62b4fcc-e0df-444a-b5fa-8b1b8efeafc2 was a long-running bug manager session with 80+ sub-agent transcripts
2. JSONL file is 4.5 MB and intact on disk
3. Ctrl+E resume picker shows the session in the list
4. Selecting it loads a completely blank session — no error message, no content, no history
5. claude --resume b62b4fcc-e0df-444a-b5fa-8b1b8efeafc2 also loads blank

Expected Behavior

Session should either load with full history, or display a clear error explaining why it can't be loaded.

Context: 4th Layer of Windows Session Management Crisis

This is the 4th compounding failure in session management on Windows:

1. Bun crashes force constant resumes (#21576 — 25+ TUI escapes/segfaults in 29 days)
2. Session names don't persist in picker (#25090, #24729 — fixed in v2.1.53, regressed in v2.1.55)
3. Bash tool was broken, blocking all work (#28343 — fixed in v2.1.55)
4. Resume loads blank (THIS BUG — session data exists but loads as empty)

The workflow is: Bun crashes → must resume → can't find session by name → guess from list → session loads blank → all work lost. Every layer of the recovery path is broken.

Possibly Related

• #24729 (sessions-index.json not updated)
• #25090 (/rename not persisted)
• #20696 (compaction failures — "exceeded max compactions")
• #19888 (compaction loses entire conversation history)

Reproduction

1. Run a session with many sub-agent transcripts (80+) until JSONL exceeds ~4 MB
2. Exit session
3. Resume via Ctrl+E or claude --resume <id>
4. Session loads blank — no content displayed