[Bug] Claude Sonnet: Response quality degradation in iterative CLI workflows with poor context retention

Bug Description
Claude Sonnet – Degradation Feedback (CLI Context) Summary Over the past month, response quality has consistently degraded in CLI-based workflows. The model is increasingly unreliable for iterative tasks like debugging, refactoring, and commit fixing. Key Issues 1. Regression in Iterative Fixes When asked to fix a commit or bug, each iteration often introduces new errors Fails to preserve previously correct logic Lacks stability across turns (no convergence) 2. Poor Context Retention Ignores constraints or instructions from earlier in the thread Reverts to generic solutions instead of respecting prior decisions Weak handling of long or evolving contexts 3. Over-Correction / Destructive Edits Instead of minimal diffs, it rewrites large sections unnecessarily Breaks working code while attempting to fix a small issue Doesn’t follow “surgical fix” behavior expected in CLI workflows 4. Hallucinated Changes Modifies unrelated parts of the codebase Introduces variables, logic, or assumptions not present in the original code Occasionally invents APIs or structures 5. Declining Instruction Adherence Ignores explicit instructions like: “Do not refactor” “Only fix this specific bug” “Keep structure unchanged” Tends to default to its own interpretation Expected Behavior (Not Met) Deterministic, minimal diffs for commit fixes Strong constraint adherence Stable multi-step debugging (progressively improving, not degrading) Clear reasoning tied to the actual code (not generic patterns) Impact Slows down development instead of accelerating it Requires manual rollback of model changes Reduces trust in CLI-based workflows Makes the model unusable for commit repair tasks

Environment Info

• Platform: darwin
• Terminal: vscode
• Version: 2.1.123
• Feedback ID: dbadfd51-f467-4683-8724-7599925b51b4

Errors

[{"error":"Error: 1: Command failed with ERR_STREAM_PREMATURE_CLOSE: code --force --install-extension anthropic.claude-code\nPremature close \n    at qcL (/$bunfs/root/src/entrypoints/cli.js:1717:4046)\n    at async _cL (/$bunfs/root/src/entrypoints/cli.js:1717:1435)\n    at processTicksAndRejections (native:7:39)","timestamp":"2026-04-30T15:59:18.354Z"},{"error":"McpToolCallError: Failed to initialize browser: browserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist at /Users/diegon/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/chromium-1200/chrome-mac-x64/Google Chrome for Testing.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome for Testing\n╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗\n║ Looks like Playwright Test or Playwright was just installed or updated. ║\n║ Please run the following command to download new browsers:              ║\n║                                                                         ║\n║     npx playwright install                                              ║\n║                                                                         ║\n║ <3 Playwright Team                                                      ║\n╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝. Please try again.\n    at oB4 (/$bunfs/root/src/entrypoints/cli.js:4892:63)\n    at lU1 (/$bunfs/root/src/entrypoints/cli.js:4892:1409)\n    at processTicksAndRejections (native:7:39)","timestamp":"2026-04-30T16:11:36.032Z"},{"error":"Error: Request was aborted.\n    at makeRequest (/$bunfs/root/src/entrypoints/cli.js:50:3448)\n    at processTicksAndRejections (native:7:39)","timestamp":"2026-04-30T16:18:28.194Z"}]