Claude incorrectly claims it cannot perform actions that it can

Bug Description

When asked to file a GitHub issue, Claude initially refused, saying "I can't file bugs on GitHub on your behalf" and offered to draft the text for the user to paste manually. The user had to point out that gh CLI was already authenticated — at which point Claude checked, confirmed auth, and filed the issue successfully.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Have gh CLI authenticated (via gh auth login or keyring)
2. Ask Claude Code to file a GitHub issue
3. Observe that Claude refuses and offers a workaround instead of checking whether it has the capability

Expected Behavior

Claude should check gh auth status before claiming it cannot file issues. If authenticated, it should proceed. If not, it should say authentication is needed and suggest gh auth login.

Actual Behavior

Claude assumed it could not file issues without checking, declared it couldn't, and offered a manual workaround. The user had to correct it.

Why This Is Concerning

• Claude had access to the gh CLI tool the entire time
• Instead of checking its own capabilities, it made a false assumption and presented it as fact
• This erodes user trust — if Claude says "I can't do X", the user should be able to trust that it actually checked

Environment

• Claude Code CLI on Windows 11
• Model: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context)
• gh CLI authenticated via keyring with repo, gist, workflow, read:org scopes