/config: search/list keyboard navigation breaks after switching tabs and returning

Reproduced on v2.1.233 (macOS, tmux).

Note: in current builds Shift+Tab does not switch tabs from the search box; you first press ↑ to move to the tab bar, then ←/→ (or Tab) to switch. The bug reproduces either way, and it also reproduces without typing anything in the search box.

Steps:

1. Run claude, then /config.
2. Type a query in the search box (e.g. auto) — the list filters.
3. Press ↑ to move to the tab bar, then → to switch to another tab (e.g. Status).
4. Press ← to switch back to Settings.
5. Press ↓ (repeatedly), or type any letter.

Observed: the search query is cleared, the footer still reads ←/→/tab to switch · ↓ to return · Esc to close, and nothing responds — ↓ never moves focus back into the search box or the list, and typed letters do not filter. Only Esc and reopening /config recovers.

Expected: ↓ returns focus to the search box / settings list, as it does when you press ↑ then ↓ without switching tabs (that control case works: the footer flips back to Type to filter · Enter/↓ to select).

Assessment: this is a genuine bug, and a regression. The footer explicitly promises "↓ to return", and the intended design is that ↓ from the tab bar hands keyboard focus back to the tab's content — but after leaving and re-entering the Settings tab, keyboard focus is dropped entirely, so ↓ and typing go nowhere. It appears to have started around v2.1.128 (early May 2026), when tab switching in /config was reworked so that ←/→ only switch tabs while the tab bar is focused; the fix that stopped the newly opened tab from stealing focus left this hand-off case uncovered. It is still present in the current source.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Confirmed — reproduced on 2.1.233 and 2.1.237 (Linux, terminal CLI).

One note: tab switching in /config has changed since 2.1.201 — it's now ↑ to focus the tab bar, then ←/→/tab to switch (Shift+Tab no longer switches tabs). With the current keys the same bug appears: open /config, type a search query, go ↑ to the tabs, switch to another tab and back to Config. The footer still says "↓ to return", but ↓ does nothing and typing no longer reaches the search box — only ←/→ (tab switching) and Esc respond, so the only recovery is closing and reopening /config, exactly as you described.

Good news: this is already fixed in our latest internal build (focus returns to the search/list correctly after switching tabs), so the fix should reach an upcoming release. Leaving this open until it ships.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

For your information: the label reproduced on this issue despite the mention Leaving this open until it ships does not prevent the issue from becoming stale and eventually auto-closed. See https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/87647 for details, and consider upvoting that for visibility.