[DOCS] Agent view docs omit that `/bg` preserves the current permission mode

Documentation Type

Missing documentation (feature not documented)

Documentation Location

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/agent-view

Section/Topic

"From inside a session" and "Permission mode and settings"

Current Documentation

The Agent view page currently says:

To move a session you already have open into agent view, run /bg inside it, or press ← on an empty prompt to background it and open agent view in one step. The session keeps running and appears as a row alongside the ones you dispatched.

Run /background or its alias /bg to move the current conversation into a background session. Pass a prompt such as /bg run the test suite and fix any failures to give one more instruction first. Backgrounding from an interactive session starts a fresh process that resumes from the saved conversation, so running subagents, monitors, and background commands do not transfer to it.

A dispatched session reads its settings and permission mode from the directory it runs in, the same as if you had started claude there. Dispatching from the agent view input doesn't pass a permission mode, so the session uses the defaultMode from that directory's settings or the permissionMode from the dispatched subagent's frontmatter.

What's Wrong or Missing?

As of v2.1.141, backgrounding the current session via /bg or the empty-prompt arrow shortcut preserves the session's current permission mode.

The current page documents how to background an existing session and separately explains how newly dispatched sessions choose a permission mode, but it never states what happens to the active mode when you background the session you are already in.

That leaves an important gap for users who switch to plan, acceptEdits, auto, or another non-default mode before backgrounding. The docs currently do not tell them that the backgrounded session keeps that active mode instead of recalculating from the directory's defaultMode.

Suggested Improvement

Add an explicit note in the Agent view docs that distinguishes these two cases:

1. Dispatching a new background session from agent view or claude --bg uses the launched session's configured mode (--permission-mode, subagent frontmatter, or the directory's defaultMode).
2. Backgrounding the current session with /bg or the empty-prompt arrow shortcut preserves the current session's active permission mode.

Suggested wording for the existing page:

When you background the session you're already in with /bg or the empty-prompt arrow shortcut, Claude preserves the session's current permission mode. This differs from dispatching a new background session from agent view, which starts with the mode configured for that directory or launch command.

Impact

Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand

Additional Context

Affected Pages:

| Page | Line(s) | Context |
|------|---------|---------|
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/agent-view | 65, 248-250, 296-300 | Documents /bg, the empty-prompt arrow shortcut, and how dispatched sessions choose a mode, but does not state that backgrounding the current session preserves its active permission mode |

Total scope: 1 page affected

Version context: This gap was found while cross-referencing the v2.1.141 release entry about background agents preserving the current permission mode.