Tools reference changedtools-reference
Nearest release: v2.1.288, published 3 hours before upstream edited the page. Shown because the two are within 24 hours of each other. Nothing here says the release caused the edit.
Upstream edited this page at 2 Oct 2026 21:34 UTC, give or take a minute or two: the time comes from Anthropic’s own sitemap rather than from a commit. This site recorded the change at 2 Oct 2026 21:37 UTC.
Upstream edited
Recorded here
Lines+10added
Lines−6removed
From line
128
where the diff opens
First seen
14 Aug 2026
this site's first read of the page
Recorded edits52to this page, all time
The whole hunk
from line 128, old and new numbered
/
from line 128
128128
129129Questions stay open until you answer them. If you want a question you leave unanswered to eventually close and let Claude continue without you, set the [`askUserQuestionTimeout`](/docs/en/settings-reference#askuserquestiontimeout) setting to `60s`, `5m`, or `10m`, either in your user `settings.json` or from the **Question auto-continue timeout** row in `/config`.
130130
131After a question sits that long with no input, the dialog closes on its own: it submits any options you'd already selected and tells Claude you may be away from your keyboard, so Claude proceeds on its own judgment and can re-ask later. You see a countdown for the last 20 seconds. Press any key to restart the timer; on terminals that report focus, switching to the window restarts it too.
131After a question sits that long with no input, the dialog closes on its own: it submits any options you'd already selected and tells Claude you may be away from your keyboard, so Claude proceeds on its own judgment and can re-ask later. You see a countdown for the last 20 seconds. Press any key to restart the timer. While your terminal reports that its window is focused, the timer doesn't count down.
132132
133The timeout applies only to `AskUserQuestion`'s multiple-choice questions; permission prompts, including plan approval, never auto-resolve on idle.
133The timer never starts for a question Claude asks in a [background session](/docs/en/agent-view), in [screen reader mode](/docs/en/accessibility), or while the session is connected to [Remote Control](/docs/en/remote-control). Those questions wait until you answer them. The timeout applies only to `AskUserQuestion`'s multiple-choice questions; permission prompts, including plan approval, never auto-resolve on idle.
134134
135135## Bash tool behavior
136136
from line 156
156156* `BASH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS` — the default when Claude passes no timeout; two minutes out of the box
157157* `BASH_MAX_TIMEOUT_MS` — with the default, sets the ceiling that caps whatever Claude requests: the effective ceiling is the larger of the two, ten minutes out of the box
158158
159For a command that Claude starts in the background, `timeout` instead sets how long the command may run there, with the separate default and maximum described under [Time limit for background commands](#time-limit-for-background-commands). The [PowerShell tool](#powershell-tool) follows the same timeout rules and reads the same two variables.
159In a session that has a [time limit for background commands](#time-limit-for-background-commands), `timeout` on a command that Claude starts in the background instead sets how long the command may run there, with that limit's separate default and maximum. The [PowerShell tool](#powershell-tool) follows the same timeout rules and reads the same two variables.
160160
161161#### Output limits
162162
from line 183
183183
184184#### Time limit for background commands
185185
186Background Bash and PowerShell commands have a time limit, counted from the moment the command enters the background:
186In a session that runs unattended, such as a run with the `-p` flag, an Agent SDK application, a CI job, or a cloud session, background Bash and PowerShell commands have a time limit. A local session you work in from a terminal, the desktop app, or the VS Code extension has no time limit on background commands.
187187
188The time limit requires Claude Code v2.1.285 or later. Before v2.1.288, it applied in every session.
189
190The time limit counts from the moment the command enters the background:
191
188192* A command that Claude starts in the background gets 30 minutes, or the `timeout` Claude passes with `run_in_background`, up to a maximum of 2 hours
189* A command that starts in the foreground and then moves to the background, for example with `Ctrl+B` or at its timeout, gets 30 minutes from the move
193* A command that starts in the foreground and then moves to the background, for example at its timeout, gets 30 minutes from the move
190194
191195When a background command reaches its time limit, Claude Code stops it and tells Claude why, and Claude can start the command again with a longer `timeout` if the work still needs it. The stop notice reads `Background command "<description>" was stopped after reaching its background time limit`.
192196
No line in this hunk matches that.