Permission prompt UX: View/Confirm/Cancel buttons need better discoverability and clarity

Problem

The permission prompt buttons (👁️ View, ✅ Confirm, ❌ Cancel) have several UX gaps that make them harder to use effectively:

1. "View" is ambiguous — Users don't know what clicking it will reveal until they try. It toggles Claude's reasoning text, but there's no indication of this. The more useful debug view (Ctrl+D, which shows raw tool parameters) is completely hidden.

1. Visual hierarchy buries the command — The actual command/parameters being approved are not the most prominent element. Users are confirming something they can't easily see. (Related: #31967)

1. Explanation text vs. debug info are two separate toggles with no discoverability — Ctrl+E toggles explanation, Ctrl+D toggles debug. Neither is labeled or documented in the prompt itself.

1. No keyboard shortcut hints shown — The prompt doesn't show that Y/Enter = confirm, N/Escape = cancel, or that Ctrl+E/Ctrl+D exist.

1. "Don't ask again" has known persistence bugs — Rules sometimes don't write to settings.json, or saved patterns don't match command variations. (#16735, #29400, #28905, #12796)

1. "Yes + comment" silently drops the comment — Adding context with approval is lost and never reaches the model. (#29989)

Recommended Improvements

Short-term (low effort, high impact)

• Show keyboard shortcuts inline in the prompt (e.g., [Y] Confirm [N] Cancel [Ctrl+E] Details)
• Show the tool name and key parameters prominently before the confirm/cancel buttons, not behind a toggle
• Rename "View" to something specific like "Show reasoning" or "Details", so users know what they'll see

Medium-term

• Merge the two toggle views (Ctrl+E explanation + Ctrl+D debug) into a single expandable section with two levels: summary → full parameters
• Fix "don't ask again" persistence — ensure rules reliably write to settings.json and match command variations
• Make "Yes + comment" actually work — route the comment to the model context

Longer-term

• Add "Always allow globally" option directly in the prompt (currently requires manual settings.json edit). Related: #18699, #32973
• Emit terminal bell (BEL) when waiting for approval so users notice in background terminals. Related: #36850

Related Issues

• #31967 — Invert visual hierarchy in Bash permission prompts
• #32534 — Tool approval prompts have poor readability
• #29989 — "Yes + comment" comment silently dropped
• #36850 — Terminal bell when waiting for approval
• #16735, #29400, #28905 — "Don't ask again" not persisting
• #12796 — Pattern not matching command variations
• #18699, #32973 — "Always allow globally" feature request