Auto-scroll to bottom on new content prevents reading earlier output

Problem

When Claude Code outputs long content (e.g. rendering a full article, showing search results), the terminal auto-scrolls to the bottom on every new chunk of content. This makes it impossible to read earlier parts of the output while new content is still being generated or while the agent is working.

Reproduction

1. Ask Claude to render a long piece of text (e.g. a full markdown article, 100+ lines)
2. While output is appearing, scroll up to read the beginning
3. The view snaps back to the bottom on the next update

Expected behavior

If the user has manually scrolled up, the view should stay where they scrolled to — not fight them by jumping back to the bottom. Auto-scroll should only apply when the user is already at the bottom (i.e. following the output).

This is a standard pattern in terminal emulators, chat apps, and log viewers: auto-scroll only when the user hasn't manually scrolled away.

Impact

Forces workarounds like copying to clipboard and reading in an external editor, which breaks the flow of reviewing content inline.

Environment

• macOS (Terminal / iTerm2)
• Claude Code (latest as of March 2026)