[DOCS] [Agent view] `Needs input` state legend and version history omit the v2.1.203 fix for stale state after the question is answered

Documentation Type

Incorrect/outdated documentation

Documentation Location

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/agent-view

Section/Topic

The "Read session state" section of agent-view.md — specifically the Needs input row in the session-state legend table that defines what each row icon/color means — and the "Version history" table at the very bottom of the same page, which currently ends at v2.1.202.

Current Documentation

The agent view page defines session states only in terms of when the indicator is set, not when it is cleared:

### Read session state Each row starts with an icon whose color and animation show the session's state: | State | Icon shows as | What it means | | :---------- | :------------ | :----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Working | Animated | Claude is actively running tools or generating a response | | Needs input | Yellow | Claude is waiting on a specific question or permission decision from you | | Idle | Dimmed | The session has nothing to do and is ready for your next prompt | | Completed | Green | The task finished successfully | | Failed | Red | The task ended with an error | | Stopped | Grey | The session was stopped with Ctrl+X or claude stop |

The Needs input row says only that the icon means "Claude is waiting on a specific question or permission decision from you." Nothing on the page tells a reader what clears that state — for example, that the icon returns to Working once the user replies through the peek panel or the inline reply input.

The "Version history" table at the bottom of the page lists every agent-view change through v2.1.202 and ends with:

| v2.1.202 | {/ min-version: 2.1.202 /}A name set with /rename or Ctrl+R on a background session persists when the supervisor stops and restarts its process, instead of reverting to the name the session was dispatched with. |

There is no v2.1.203 row, and no note anywhere on the page acknowledging that the Needs input indicator is now reliably cleared when the user answers the question.

The "Peek and reply" section describes only the action of answering:

Type a reply in the peek panel and press Enter to send it to that session. When the session is asking a multiple-choice question, the peek panel shows the options and you can press a number key to pick one. For other blocked sessions, press Tab to fill the input with a suggested reply you can edit before sending. Prefix a reply with ! to send a Bash command instead.

It does not say what the row does after the reply is sent, so a reader who saw Needs input stuck after answering had no documented signal that this was a regression.

What's Wrong or Missing?

A. The Needs input row of the state legend is silent on what clears the state

The v2.1.203 changelog entry says:

Fixed background sessions showing "Needs input" in the agent list after the question was already answered

Before v2.1.203, replying to a session in Needs input did not always clear the yellow Needs input icon and group label, so the row stayed pinned under Needs input even though the session had moved on. The state legend describes only the meaning of the indicator — "Claude is waiting on a specific question or permission decision from you" — and never describes the lifecycle of the indicator after the question is answered. A reader who hit the regression cannot tell from the docs whether the indicator is supposed to clear when the reply is sent or whether it stays until the session produces output, and they cannot tell that v2.1.203 made the indicator reliably clear.

B. The version history table skips the v2.1.203 fix

Other recent fixes for agent-view state flapping are recorded as rows in the version history table, including:

| v2.1.199 | {/ min-version: 2.1.199 /}A background session whose process exits before it finishes starting on a low-memory host shows possibly low memory — free some up and retry in its row status instead of only the bare exit reason. Backgrounding a session with ← or /background carries its /color over to the new row. |

| v2.1.198 | {/ min-version: 2.1.198 /}Agent view sends a notification through preferredNotifChannel when a background session needs input, finishes, or fails, and fires the Notification hook with the agent_needs_input or agent_completed type. |

The v2.1.203 fix is in the same family — it corrects a stale state shown on a background session row — but the table has no row for it. Users who only read the agent-view page never learn that the fix shipped, and anyone troubleshooting the regression has to read the upstream changelog to find it.

C. The "Peek and reply" section does not confirm that the indicator clears

The page describes pressing a number key or Enter to answer a question in the peek panel but never states the visible effect on the row. After v2.1.203, the row reliably returns to Working (or moves to Completed/Failed) once the reply is accepted. The current text leaves that outcome implicit, which is exactly the gap that hid the bug from readers.

Suggested Improvement

State legend update — change the Needs input row in the "Read session state" table so the description names both when the icon is set and when it clears. Suggested wording:

| Needs input | Yellow | Claude is waiting on a specific question or permission decision from you. As of v2.1.203, the icon clears once your reply through the peek panel or inline reply input is accepted, and the row returns to Working or moves to Completed/Failed based on what the session does next. |

Version history update — add a v2.1.203 row to the version history table at the bottom of agent-view.md, in the same shape as the v2.1.198 and v2.1.199 rows. Suggested entry:

| v2.1.203 | {/ min-version: 2.1.203 /}A background session row that was in Needs input now clears the yellow indicator once the question is answered through the peek panel or inline reply input. Before v2.1.203, the row could stay under Needs input even after the reply was sent. |

Optional cross-reference in "Peek and reply" — append one sentence after the number-key reply paragraph that names the visible effect:

After you answer, the row returns to Working (or moves to Completed/Failed) once the session picks up the reply. Requires Claude Code v2.1.203 or later for the indicator to clear reliably.

Impact

Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand

Additional Context

Affected Pages:

| Page | Context |
|------|---------|
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/agent-view | Read session state legend Needs input row and Version history table at the bottom of the page |

Total scope: 1 page affected.

Related prior fixes that already changed how the agent view reports session state and were recorded in the version history table on the same page:

• v2.1.198 added the agent_needs_input / agent_completed notification hook firing.
• v2.1.199 added the possibly low memory — free some up and retry row status and the /color carry-over for backgrounded sessions.
• v2.1.200 added the in-place supervisor restart of stopped sessions.

The v2.1.203 fix is in the same family as those prior fixes (correcting what the agent-view row shows) and should be recorded next to them in the version history table.