Windows Terminal: Claude Code shows block cursor despite `cursorShape = "bar"`

Summary

On Windows Terminal, Claude Code appears to draw or override its own input cursor. Even when Windows Terminal is configured with cursorShape = "bar" and the normal PowerShell prompt correctly shows a bar cursor, the Claude Code input area still shows a block cursor.

I found a local workaround by comparing another machine's Claude Code configuration:

• Enable cachedGrowthBookFeatures.tengu_native_cursor = true in ~/.claude.json.
• Remove explicit UI/input-mode overrides such as editorMode, tui, theme, and showTurnDuration from ~/.claude/settings.json.
• Fully close all claude.exe processes and restart Claude Code.

After those changes, Claude Code uses the expected thin native terminal cursor.

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 / Windows NT 10.0.22631.0
• Terminal: Windows Terminal 1.24.11321.0
• Shell: PowerShell in Windows Terminal
• Claude Code: 2.1.183
• Node.js: v24.17.0

Steps to reproduce

1. In Windows Terminal settings, set the default profile cursor shape to a bar:

``json
{
"profiles": {
"defaults": {
"cursorShape": "bar"
}
}
}
``

1. Open PowerShell in Windows Terminal.
2. Confirm the normal PowerShell prompt uses a bar cursor.
3. Start Claude Code with claude.
4. Focus the Claude Code input prompt.

Expected behavior

Claude Code should either:

• preserve the terminal's configured cursor shape, or
• provide a documented setting/environment variable for choosing the native terminal cursor instead of the block/inverted-text cursor.

Actual behavior

The Claude Code input prompt shows a block cursor even though the terminal profile is configured to use a bar cursor.

Changing the Windows Terminal cursor setting affects normal PowerShell, but it does not affect Claude Code's prompt cursor.

Workaround that fixed it locally

The following change in ~/.claude.json fixed the cursor shape after restarting Claude Code:

{
  "cachedGrowthBookFeatures": {
    "tengu_native_cursor": true
  },
  "showSpinnerTree": false
}

I also removed these explicit keys from ~/.claude/settings.json so Claude Code could fall back to its default UI behavior:

editorMode
tui
theme
showTurnDuration

I am not suggesting users should rely on cachedGrowthBookFeatures as a stable public API. I am including it because it strongly suggests that the native cursor path already exists and works, but there does not appear to be a documented user-facing setting for this behavior.

Request

Could Claude Code expose a stable documented option for native terminal cursor behavior on Windows Terminal?

For example:

• a documented setting in ~/.claude/settings.json, or
• a dedicated environment variable for native cursor behavior, separate from broader accessibility mode.

If CLAUDE_CODE_ACCESSIBILITY=1 is the intended supported workaround, it would be helpful to document that specifically for cursor behavior and clarify any UI tradeoffs.