Bug: Rate limit blocks entire conversation session on Claude Code Max plan

When reading multiple PDF files sequentially (not in parallel), the session hits a rate limit that completely freezes the conversation — including being unable to send simple messages like "hello". The only way out is to start a new conversation. Steps to reproduce:

1. Ask Claude to read 2-3 PDF files from a local directory sequentially
2. Rate limit triggers mid-task
3. Conversation becomes completely unresponsive — even basic text messages return "API Error: Rate limit reached"

Expected behavior: Rate limit should pause the current tool call, not freeze the entire conversation session.

Actual behavior: Session is frozen. No messages can be sent or received until the limit resets (several minutes). This has happened 10+ times in the same task across different sessions.

Plan: Max
Platform: Windows (MINGW64), Claude Code CLI