[FEATURE] Disable or Customize User Input Background Highlighting
Preflight Checklist
- [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
- [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)
Problem Statement
Problem
Claude Code applies a white background highlight to user input in the terminal, which makes text unreadable for users with bright-colored terminal themes (e.g., bright green text on black background).
### Current Behavior
- User messages are displayed with a white/light background highlight
- This highlighting cannot be disabled or customized through:
- Output styles (only affects response formatting, not UI rendering)
~/.claude/settings.json- Environment variables
- Command-line flags
Proposed Solution
### Requested Solution
Add configuration options to control user input highlighting:
Option 1: Disable highlighting entirely
```json
{
"ui": {
"highlightUserInput": false
}
}
Option 2: Customizable highlight colors
{
"ui": {
"userInputBackground": "none",
"userInputBorder": "blue"
}
}
Use Case
Users with custom terminal themes (bright colors, high contrast, accessibility themes) need readable text. Current white background makes green/yellow/cyan text completely unreadable.
Alternative Solutions
Workarounds Attempted
- Created custom output style - doesn't affect UI rendering
- Checked settings.json - no relevant options
- Reviewed documentation - no color customization available
Priority
Critical - Blocking my work
Feature Category
CLI commands and flags
Use Case Example
_No response_
Additional Context
_No response_
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13 Comments
I'm having the same issue, but (ironically) in dark mode. Seems to be light grey on white and no way to change that, so there's no way to read back my previous prompts without copy/pasting them somewhere else.
+1
Same here in all my iTerm light mode themes. My workaround is to set "Minimum Contrast: 50".
<img width="984" height="221" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/70644a2d-2244-4038-9017-e1f0bcee6f66" />
I'll add my support to this idea. I also would like to be able to customize the user input text to be more obvious.
This issue has been inactive for 30 days. If the issue is still occurring, please comment to let us know. Otherwise, this issue will be automatically closed in 30 days for housekeeping purposes.
this bug is still existing, I'm using a light theme, some text's color are white as the background
!Image
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I found a workaournd, just set terminal's minimum-contrast (3 works for me), it will solve the problem.
+1 for this feature. The brown/tan background on user input makes it hard to quickly scan through conversation history
and distinguish my prompts from Claude's responses.
I'd love either:
Being able to visually separate input from output is important for my workflow, but the current implementation makes
it harder rather than easier. A simple on/off toggle would be a great start.
Thanks for considering this!
I'd love to see this option as well.
Very similar here,
When selecting text in code blocks while using dark mode, the selection highlight switches to a bright/white blinding background, creating a harsh light flash that breaks the dark mode experience. The contrast is jarring for the eyes. Please help
This is similar to #29475 which is talking about prompting the user (communication going the other way). If these are the same internally, then this issue would include separating them so that questions from claude could appear differently from user input to claude.
This talks about the input area.
I'm unable to re-open #29475 (don't have permissions). Please consider reopening it.
Duplicate report from Windows 10 Pro (Claude Code v2.1.177, PowerShell): the submitted prompt text is overlaid with gray making it completely unreadable after submission. Closing #68326 as duplicate and adding weight here — this is reproducible and blocking on Windows.
Use case: tmux + conversation readability
Running Claude Code in tmux with a custom terminal theme — code blocks already render with full syntax highlighting, which looks great. The missing piece is visual differentiation between user messages and Claude responses in the conversation history.
When scrolling back through a long session to find something I said earlier, both sides appear in the same color/style, making it hard to quickly scan for my own prompts without overshooting. A distinct color or style for user messages (even something as simple as a different text color, not necessarily a background) would make navigation significantly easier.
Since ANSI color support is clearly working in this environment (syntax highlighting, tmux status bar), this feels like a small implementation gap rather than a technical blocker.
Thank you for considering this!