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

Status Closed — duplicate
Maintainer reply None cached
Activity 3 comments · opened Jun 19, 2026 · 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

View original on GitHub ↗

This issue has 3 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗