Clipboard-pasted screenshots are treated as duplicates in VS Code extension

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?

When pasting a screenshot directly from the clipboard into the Claude Code VS Code extension chat, subsequent pastes in the same conversation are treated as the same image as the first paste. Claude responds as if I re-shared the original screenshot instead of seeing the new one.

This is specific to the VS Code extension chat panel (not the integrated terminal / CLI) and specific to clipboard paste (saving the screenshot to disk and dragging it in works correctly).

What Should Happen?

Each pasted image should be treated as a distinct attachment, and Claude should see the new content on every paste.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open a Claude Code chat in the VS Code extension (chat panel, not terminal).
2. Take a screenshot to the clipboard (macOS: Cmd+Ctrl+Shift+4, or Cmd+Shift+5 "Copy to Clipboard").
3. Paste into the chat with Cmd+V. Send a message referencing the screenshot.
4. Take a clearly different screenshot (different window, different content) to the clipboard.
5. Paste into the same chat with Cmd+V. Send another message.
6. Observe: Claude's response describes the first screenshot, not the second.

Theory: clipboard images have no real filename, so the extension likely assigns a generic name (e.g. image.png). If something downstream keys on filename rather than content hash, the second paste collides with the first and gets deduped.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.140 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

Note on Terminal/Shell field: this bug is in the Claude Code VS Code extension chat panel, not the integrated terminal. The dropdown doesn't have a separate option for the extension, so I picked the closest match. Please route to platform:vscode / area:ide.