🐛 [Bug] Follow-up to #29108 — Systemic billing failure corroborated by multiple issues — Credit restoration requested

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

This is a follow-up to #29108, which was auto-closed and locked by the bot before receiving any response from the Anthropic engineering team.

Anthropic's own support team (conversation #215473516500734) confirmed a billing system failure during my session on 2026-02-25 and issued a partial refund of $2.70 — establishing that the system was not behaving normally during my first ever Claude Code session.

Since #29108 was filed, four issues were automatically linked to it, all describing the same root behavior:

• #36669 — Background tasks cause rapid usage over hours despite idle compute
• #41430 — Idle time is included in session time
• #42734 — Stuck/zombie sessions consume API quota while unresponsive
• #41666 — Yanked release caused wasted session and significant token loss

Total consumed: $39.07 out of $45.00 loaded. Partial refund of $2.70 issued. Remaining $36.37 in dispute.

What Should Happen?

Credits should not be consumed by background/zombie processes after session close. Deleting an API key should immediately halt all charges. Users should have access to per-session spending caps.

I am requesting $36.37 in API credit restoration — not a cash refund — so I can continue building with Claude Code.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Load prepaid API credits with auto-reload DISABLED
2. Open Claude Code and start an interactive session (scaffolding/planning)
3. Close the Claude Code session normally
4. Check billing dashboard the next morning
5. Observed: credits continued draining after session close and after API key deletion

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.59

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

Account: jrbsolucoes@gmail.com
Support conversation: #215473516500734
Original issue: #29108
Amount still in dispute: $36.37

Anthropic support acknowledged billing system failure and issued partial refund of $2.70. The remaining $36.37 was attributed to "valid API activity" without providing an itemized log. Itemized log was formally requested and not provided.