[FEATURE] Human-readable IDs for background tool tasks
Preflight Checklist
- [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
- [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)
Problem Statement
When invoking Bash (or other tools) with run_in_background: true, the returned task ID is a short opaque random string (e.g. bclalsipw, bljju2ana). With more than one background task in flight, it's hard for both the agent and the user to remember which is which — every reference needs a sidecar phrase like "the nuget polling one" or "the workflow watcher."
Proposed Solution
Could the runtime either:
- Derive the ID from the task's
description(slugify, dedupe with a counter):nuget-indexing-poll-1,workflow-run-monitor-2. The opaque ID can stay as the canonical handle underneath; the slug is just a display alias the
agent and user can reference.
- Accept an optional
name/idparameter onBash/Agentso the agent can pick a meaningful handle when it starts the task.
Either would make multi-task sessions easier to navigate — particularly when the user asks "what is <id>?", which has happened in practice.
Alternative Solutions
_No response_
Priority
Medium - Would be very helpful
Feature Category
CLI commands and flags
Use Case Example
Example Scenario:
- Task Claude Code with publishing packages and monitoring for success
- Task Claude Code with running static analysis tools
- Task Claude Code with running the test suite and monitoring
These may all be long running bash processes that CC will spawn. Each would be given a random string process ID that CC will use for discussion. The user must ask what each is if/when they are referenced later in conversation. If they could be auto-generated or passed by parameter, the ambiguity could be avoided.
Additional Context
_No response_
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