[BUG] Claude Code burns rate limits in minutes, indexes its own generated files, silently burns rate limits on failed image processing

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?

I'm a Pro subscriber using Claude Code in VS Code. Over the past few days my usage limits were exhausted in 10-20 minutes instead of the usual hours.
The cause: Claude Code created a script (cdp_fetch_v3.py) that launches Chrome with a user data directory inside my project folder. Chrome generated ~3,700 image files (SVGs, PNGs — browser icons, extension assets). Claude Code then indexed all of them, attempted to process them as images every single message, failed each time with "API Error: an image in the conversation could not be processed and was removed," and burned tokens on every retry.
This is a loop where Claude Code creates files, indexes them, fails to process them, retries every turn, and drains the user's rate limits — with no warning.
I had to diagnose this myself. There was no indication of what was consuming my limits.
Suggested fixes:

Claude Code should not retry failed image processing on every message
Claude Code should auto-ignore or warn about large numbers of binary/image files in the project
When Claude Code creates scripts that generate files (scrapers, temp directories, browser profiles), it should place output outside the project root or add entries to .claudeignore before running
Users should be warned when their project index contains an unusually high number of non-code files

Plan: Pro
Platform: VS Code, Windows

What Should Happen?

a loop where Claude Code creates files, indexes them, fails to process them, retries every turn, and drains the user's rate limits — with no warning.

<img width="1508" height="892" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b6884fdb-7b9b-4b77-ae67-3b47cd174e30" />

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Open a project in Claude Code (VS Code)
2. Ask Claude Code to create a web scraper that uses Chrome CDP (or any script that launches a browser)
3. Claude Code creates the script with the Chrome user data directory inside the project folder (e.g. ./cdp_profile_9222/)
4. Run the script — Chrome generates thousands of image files (icons, extension assets, favicons) inside that folder
5. Continue using Claude Code normally
6. Every message now triggers "API Error: an image in the conversation could not be processed and was removed" — repeatedly, for each indexed image
7. Usage limits are exhausted in 10-20 minutes instead of hours
8. No warning is shown about what is consuming the limits
9. The error persists across messages because the images remain in the conversation context
10. Only fix is manually creating a .claudeignore file and starting a new session — which the user must discover on their own

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.76 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

_No response_