Opening /btw panel pauses running process; closing panel kills it

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 a long-running task is in progress, opening the /btw (by the way) side panel causes the main Claude process to stop responding — it pauses execution and does not continue the task. If the /btw panel is then closed, the running process is killed entirely and cannot be recovered.

What Should Happen?

Opening /btw should be non-destructive: the main process should continue running in the background while the side panel is open. Closing /btw should return focus to the ongoing task without interrupting or terminating it.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start a long-running task in Claude Code (e.g., a multi-step code generation or file editing task).
2. While the task is running, type /btw to open the side panel.
3. Observe that the main process stops responding — task execution is paused.
4. Close the /btw panel.
5. Observe that the running process is now terminated entirely.

Related issues: #63092 (Escape in /btw aborts main job), #33313 (permission prompts not shown in /btw, agent hangs)

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.158 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Terminal: Alacritty on i3wm (Linux/Ubuntu). The issue is 100% reproducible — every time /btw is opened mid-task, the main process halts, and every time it is closed, the process is killed.