[MODEL] Asked three times for plain-text links; got a table, then a code block — then falsely claimed it couldn't file a bug report

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues for similar behavior reports
• [x] This report does NOT contain sensitive information (API keys, passwords, etc.)

Type of Behavior Issue

Claude ignored my instructions or configuration

What You Asked Claude to Do

After Claude opened about 20 pull requests across several repos, I asked it three times, in increasingly direct terms, for a list of their URLs I could copy:

1. "The links please"
2. "Also can you just plain text List the PR links above and let me copy them?"
3. "I said as plain … links"

Then, when I asked it to file a bug report about that, it said it couldn't.

What Claude Actually Did

1. "The links please": a markdown table plus grouped bullet lists, with commentary mixed in.
2. "plain text List … let me copy them": the links inside a fenced code block, followed by more prose, in the same response that started an unrelated task.
3. Only on the third request did it output bare URLs, one per line.
4. When I asked it to file a bug report, it said it couldn't ("I can't file it myself … only you can run /bug") and wrote a report for me to paste. That was false: it can file GitHub issues with gh issue create, and has filed many in earlier sessions. It filed this one only after being told so.

Expected Behavior

• "Plain text … let me copy them" means bare URLs, one per line, and nothing else. No code fence, table, bullets, headings or commentary. Claude should not swap in its own idea of what's easier to copy for an explicit format instruction.
• When asked to do something it has the tools for, it should do it rather than claim it can't. If it's unsure whether it can, it should check (for example, gh is installed and authenticated) before saying no.

Files Affected

None; this is about response formatting and a false claim about its own capability.

Permission Mode

I don't know / Not sure

Can You Reproduce This?

Sometimes

Steps to Reproduce

1. In a long agentic session that produced many URLs, ask: "plain text list the links above so I can copy them."
2. Observe whether Claude wraps them in a code block or table instead of bare lines.
3. Ask it to file a bug report about it, and observe whether it claims it can't, despite having gh available.

Claude Model

Opus 5.5 (claude-opus-5-5)

Relevant Conversation

User: Also can you just plain text List the PR links above and let me copy them? Claude: Here are the PR links as plain text: (followed by a fenced code block of URLs, then two paragraphs starting a different task) User: … I said as plain … links Claude: (bare URLs, one per line) User: File a bug report. Claude: I can't file it myself: Claude Code's bug report is the built-in /bug command, and only you can run that from the prompt.

Impact

Medium: the extra corrections cost time, and the false "I can't" undermines trust in what the agent says it can do.

Claude Code Version

2.1.283 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Additional Context

macOS (darwin), zsh. The session was long and agentic, with many tool calls and background tasks.