[BUG] Agent view shows "esc to return" hint but Esc interrupts the agent instead
Status Open
Reported on v2.1.233
Maintainer reply None cached
Activity 0 comments · opened Aug 16, 2026
Preflight Checklist
- [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet (closest related: #77286, #16347 — neither matches exactly, see below)
- [x] This is a single bug report
- [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code
What's Wrong?
When viewing an attached background agent/session, the header shows a hint:
Viewing @<agent-name> · esc to return
Pressing Esc does not return to the previous view (e.g. the agents dashboard / session list). Instead it interrupts the running agent.
This is worse than simply lacking a hint (as described in #77286, which says there is no on-screen indication of the back binding): here the UI actively displays incorrect guidance, so a user follows the hint and gets a surprising result instead of navigation.
Steps to Reproduce
- Start or attach to a background agent session so the header reads "Viewing @<agent-name> · esc to return"
- Press Esc
- Observe: the agent is interrupted, rather than returning to the previous view
Expected Behavior
Either:
- Esc should actually return to the previous view (matching the hint text), or
- The hint text should be corrected to reflect what Esc actually does, with a non-destructive key offered for "go back" (see suggestions in #77286) - although there is already a way back via navigating the list of agents at the bottom of the screen and selecting "main".
Environment Info
- Platform: darwin (macOS)
- Claude Code version: 2.1.233
- Terminal: wezterm 20240203-110809-5046fc22
Screenshot
<img width="904" height="270" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/407737d0-52ff-4313-986d-0ea2636d9c81" />