[BUG] VSCode extension: markdown file links with non-ASCII (Cyrillic) paths don't open files in chat panel

Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Jun 19, 2026 by igostv Closed Jun 19, 2026

Description

In the Claude Code VSCode extension chat panel, markdown file links behave differently
depending on whether the path contains non-ASCII characters:

  • ASCII path → link renders and opens the file correctly ✅
  • Cyrillic path → link renders as a blue hyperlink, but clicking does nothing ❌
  • URL-encoded Cyrillic path → not rendered as a link at all (plain text) ❌

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open Claude Code in VSCode extension (chat panel)
  2. Ask Claude to reference a file with a Cyrillic path, e.g.:

\[ОбщийМодуль.bsl](src/ОбщиеМодули/МойМодуль/Ext/Module.bsl)\

  1. Click the link — nothing happens

For comparison, this works fine:
\[Module.bsl](src/CommonModules/MyModule/Ext/Module.bsl)\

Expected behavior

The file opens in the VSCode editor regardless of the encoding of its path.

Actual behavior

  • Cyrillic path: link is rendered but click does nothing
  • URL-encoded Cyrillic path (\%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B9...\): rendered as plain text, not clickable

Notes

The same URL-encoded markdown link works correctly in a \.md\ file opened in VSCode
(both in editor and preview pane). This suggests the chat panel uses a custom renderer
that does not handle non-ASCII paths the same way as VSCode's built-in markdown renderer.

Workaround

Using the Read tool causes Claude to emit a special clickable element in the extension UI
that correctly opens the file in a new tab — even for Cyrillic paths.

Environment

  • OS: Windows 11
  • VSCode: latest
  • Claude Code extension: latest

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