--bg stops when it cannot be told apart from prompt text, and --exec joins the special launch flags
claude --bg now exits with an error instead of starting anything when the flag might be prompt text, and --exec is handled alongside other launch flags
You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
3Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
CLIArea: what it touches
Internal ChangesKind: in v2.1.299,
ImprovementsSection of the release
Unclear What this list is used for, and whether --exec is something a reader can use, is not known.
What
claude --bg starts a background session, which is a Claude Code session that keeps working without you watching it. Combined with --exec, it runs a shell command as a background job instead. This release changes how both flags are handled:
--bg now refuses to start when Claude Code cannot tell the flag apart from your prompt text. It exits with status 1 and prints a message ending: "so nothing was started. To start a background session put it first: claude --bg ".
After a --exec job is handed off to run in the background, Claude Code now waits for one more follow-up step to finish.
--exec was added to an internal list of command-line flags. Before this release the list held only --resume-session-at, --resume-drops-turn and --project-config-root.
Why
Before, an ambiguous command line could quietly start, or fail to start, a background session you did not mean to run. Now you get a clear error and nothing runs. Put --bg first, directly before your prompt.
How sure we are
Something disagreesSomething we can check disagrees with this entry, or the writer said they could not settle it.
The writer flagged doubtWhat this list is used for, and whether `--exec` is something a reader can use, is not known.
Anthropic's release notes agreeFixed bare mode notices in background sessions telling you to restart without --bare, which keeps the mode; they now name /stop and claude…
