A background task is work Claude Code keeps running while you carry on. Claude Code points to that task's output file through a symbolic link, a file that points to another location.
The link is recorded only after Claude Code reads it back and confirms it points where intended.
It is read again before any later check on it.
If the link already exists because something else created it at the same moment, that no longer counts as a failure.
An earlier shortcut that could skip this work has been removed.
Why
If a task's output link has been changed to point somewhere else, Claude Code now notices instead of trusting it. It reports this as "output symlink was re-pointed".
