[DOCS] Sub-agents docs missing behavior guarantee that killing a background agent preserves partial results

Documentation Type

Missing documentation (feature not documented)

Documentation Location

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/sub-agents

Section/Topic

"Run subagents in foreground or background" section

Current Documentation

The sub-agents page describes background subagents:

"Background subagents run concurrently while you continue working. Before launching, Claude Code prompts for any tool permissions the subagent will need, ensuring it has the necessary approvals upfront. Once running, the subagent inherits these permissions and auto-denies anything not pre-approved. If a background subagent needs to ask clarifying questions, that tool call fails but the subagent continues."

The interactive-mode page documents the kill shortcut:

Ctrl+F — Kill all background agents. Press twice within 3 seconds to confirm

Neither page mentions what happens to in-progress work when a background agent is killed.

What's Wrong or Missing?

Users who kill a background agent mid-task have no documentation explaining what happens to the work completed so far. Before this change, killing a background agent discarded all partial progress. Version 2.1.76 changed this:

"Improved background agent behavior — killing a background agent now preserves its partial results in the conversation context"

This is a meaningful guarantee for users running long background tasks: they can interrupt an agent that is going down the wrong path and still recover the work it completed before the kill. Without documentation, users may avoid using Ctrl+F to interrupt a background agent for fear of losing all progress, or conversely may not realize that partial results are available after killing an agent.

Suggested Improvement

A. Update the background subagent description in sub-agents.md

In the "Run subagents in foreground or background" section, add to the background subagent bullet:

When you kill a background subagent (with Ctrl+F), its partial results are preserved in the conversation context. You can review what the agent completed before it was stopped.

B. Update the Ctrl+F entry in interactive-mode.md

Update the keyboard shortcuts table row:

Before:

Ctrl+F — Kill all background agents. Press twice within 3 seconds to confirm

After:

Ctrl+F — Kill all background agents. Press twice within 3 seconds to confirm. Partial results from killed agents are preserved in the conversation context.

Impact

Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand

Additional Context

Affected Pages:

| Page | Context |
|------|---------|
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/sub-agents | "Run subagents in foreground or background" — no mention of partial result preservation on kill |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/interactive-mode | Ctrl+F keyboard shortcut description — no mention of partial result preservation |

Total scope: 2 pages affected

Source: Changelog v2.1.76

Improved background agent behavior — killing a background agent now preserves its partial results in the conversation context