VS Code: Permission modal accidentally approved by typing keystrokes

Description

When Claude Code is working in the VS Code extension and requests a permission approval, the modal appears while the user is actively typing a prompt. Any keystroke being pressed at that moment — Enter, Space, 1, or 2 — can approve the action in the modal that just appeared. This happens because focus shifts to the modal at the exact moment the user is mid-keystroke.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Code in VS Code
2. Start a task that involves subagents (e.g., Agent tool spawning)
3. While Claude is working, begin typing a new prompt in the input field
4. A permission modal appears (e.g., "Allow Bash command?")
5. The keystroke you were typing (Enter, Space, 1, 2) gets captured by the modal
6. The action is approved without intentional user consent

Expected Behavior

The permission modal should either:

• Not steal focus from the input field while the user is typing
• Require an explicit, deliberate action (e.g., a specific key combination or mouse click) rather than accepting single keystrokes that could be part of normal typing
• Have a brief input debounce/delay before accepting keystrokes after appearing

Actual Behavior

The modal appears and immediately accepts the next keystroke as a response, approving or denying the action based on whatever key the user was about to press.

Important Note

This does NOT occur when the user is already interacting with a modal (e.g., AskUserQuestion) — only when the permission modal appears unexpectedly during text input.

Workaround

Using a PermissionRequest hook in .claude/settings.json to programmatically resolve permission requests before the modal can appear:

"PermissionRequest": [
  {
    "matcher": "Edit|Write|Glob|Grep|Read|Agent",
    "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "echo '{\"decision\": \"allow\"}'", "timeout": 5000 }]
  },
  {
    "matcher": "Bash",
    "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "if echo \"$TOOL_INPUT\" | grep -qiE '(rm -rf|git push --force)'; then echo '{\"decision\": \"deny\"}'; else echo '{\"decision\": \"allow\"}'; fi", "timeout": 5000 }]
  }
]

Environment

• Claude Code VS Code Extension
• Windows 10 Pro
• Occurs with both single-select and multi-option permission modals