[FEATURE] Add key binding to show full bash output

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

When viewing background tasks in Claude Code's interactive task viewer (accessed via task management UI), the output is heavily truncated:

Showing 9 lines of 8.7KB

For large outputs (like dbt builds, test runs, or complex scripts), this makes it impossible to:

• Debug failures without seeing the full error context
• Review complete build logs
• Find specific warnings or messages in the output
• Understand what actually happened during task execution

Current workaround: Users must manually ask Claude to use the TaskOutput tool, which:

• Breaks the flow of reviewing tasks
• Requires context switching away from the task viewer
• Isn't discoverable to most users
• Adds friction to a common debugging workflow

Proposed Solution

Add a keybinding in the interactive task viewer to fetch and display full output. Suggested options:

Option 1: Right Arrow (→)

Current shortcuts:
  ← Go back
  K Kill task
  → View full output (NEW)

Rationale: Intuitive "go deeper" navigation pattern

Option 2: F key

Current shortcuts:
  ← Go back
  K Kill task
  F View full output (NEW)

Rationale: Mnemonic "F for Full"

Option 3: Enter/Return key

Current shortcuts:
  ← Go back
  K Kill task
  ↵ View full output (NEW)

Rationale: Standard "select/open" action

Expected Behavior

When user presses the keybinding:

1. Claude Code calls TaskOutput tool with the current task ID
2. Full output is displayed in one of these ways:

• Option A: Replace truncated view with full, scrollable output
• Option B: Open full output in a new pane/buffer
• Option C: Display in agent's context and let agent show it to user

1. User can scroll through complete output
2. User can press ← to go back to task list

Benefits

User Experience

• ✅ Faster debugging - one keypress instead of multiple steps
• ✅ Better discoverability - visible in help text alongside other shortcuts
• ✅ Natural workflow - stays within task viewer context
• ✅ Reduced friction - no need to manually request TaskOutput

Technical

• ✅ Leverages existing infrastructure - TaskOutput tool already exists
• ✅ No new tools required - just UI binding to existing functionality
• ✅ Consistent with CLI patterns - similar to "less" or "tail" commands

Common Use Cases This Improves

• Reviewing dbt build logs to find which model failed and why
• Checking test output for specific failure messages
• Debugging background jobs without asking Claude for help
• Reviewing long-running script output after completion

Implementation Suggestion

Minimal Change

// In task viewer component
case 'ArrowRight':  // or 'f' or 'Enter'
  await fetchFullOutput(currentTask.id);
  break;

async function fetchFullOutput(taskId: string) {
  const output = await taskOutputTool({
    task_id: taskId,
    block: true
  });
  displayFullOutput(output);
}

Display Options

1. In-place replacement: Show full output in current view with scrolling
2. Modal/overlay: Pop up with full output (ESC to close)
3. Split view: Show truncated on left, full on right
4. External pager: Open in less/more style pager

Related Features (Optional Enhancements)

These could be added later but aren't required:

• Search within output: Add / to search (like vim/less)
• Copy to clipboard: Add C to copy full output
• Save to file: Add S to save output to file
• Follow mode: Add F to tail -f style follow for running tasks
• Syntax highlighting: Detect output type and highlight accordingly

Screenshots/Examples

Current Behavior (Truncated)

Task: dbt build -s my_model
Status: Completed
Duration: 45s

Output:
Showing 9 lines of 8.7KB

Running with dbt=1.10.0
Found 156 models, 89 tests, 12 snapshots
...
[truncated]

Shortcuts:
  ← Go back
  K Kill task

Proposed Behavior (After pressing →)

Task: dbt build -s my_model
Status: Completed
Duration: 45s

Full Output (scrollable):
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Running with dbt=1.10.0
Found 156 models, 89 tests, 12 snapshots

Concurrency: 8 threads

14:23:45 | START model analytics.my_model
14:23:46 | OK created model analytics.my_model
14:23:47 | START test not_null_my_model_id
14:23:47 | PASS test not_null_my_model_id
...
[complete output, scrollable]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Shortcuts:
  ← Go back
  K Kill task
  ↑↓ Scroll

Priority

Medium-High - This is a quality-of-life improvement that significantly affects daily workflows for users running background tasks. While workarounds exist, they're cumbersome and not discoverable.

Target Users

• Data engineers running dbt builds/tests in background
• Developers running test suites
• DevOps engineers monitoring deployment scripts
• Anyone using Claude Code's background task feature

Alternative Solutions

If adding a keybinding is too complex initially, consider:

1. Auto-expand on selection: Automatically fetch full output when task is selected (if feasible performance-wise)
2. Configurable truncation: Add setting to control how many lines to show (still limited by memory)
3. Link to file: Save full output to temp file and show path + "press X to open"

However, the keybinding approach is preferred as it:

• Gives users control over when to fetch (performance)
• Matches existing UI patterns
• Is easily discoverable

References

• Existing TaskOutput tool documentation
• Interactive mode keyboard shortcuts
• Similar features in other CLIs (less, more, htop, tmux)

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Related Existing Issues

Most Relevant:

#9177 - [FEATURE] Add user-configurable keyboard shortcut actions

• URL: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/9177
• Status: OPEN (94 comments, active discussion)
• Scope: General request for customizable keyboard shortcuts in Claude Code
• This specific use case (viewing full task output) would fit under this umbrella

Other Related Issues:

• #28077 - Allow scrolling back to view full conversation history in CLI TUI
• #21188 - [FEATURE] View full conversation history in UI
• #30194 - Add keyboard shortcut to navigate between conversation turns
• #25014 - Background process output in VScode terminal does NOT show most recent output
• #20190 - Subagent output truncation issues

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Recommendation

I suggest creating a NEW, specific issue for this feature because:

✅ More focused scope - Specific to task viewer output, not general shortcuts
✅ Easier to implement - Can be done independently of general shortcut system
✅ Clear use case - Background task debugging is a common, specific workflow
✅ Can reference #9177 - Link as related but keep discussion separate

If you prefer to comment on #9177 instead:

• Mention you want a keyboard shortcut in the task viewer (Ctrl+T screen)
• Specifically to view full output via TaskOutput tool
• Link to this detailed writeup for the full context

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Feature Category

CLI commands and flags

Search Keywords for Discoverability

task viewer, background task output, truncated output, TaskOutput, keyboard shortcut, full output, scroll task history, /tasks, Ctrl+T