What
The Bash tool lets Claude run shell commands. Its description, the instructions Claude reads about the tool, has a rewritten line about the working directory. The line is now built by the program instead of being fixed text. The rewrite was captured under this release and appears in the agent-claude, compaction, command-init and command-security-review prompts.
cdcarries to the next call only in the main session, if the command succeeds and ends inside the working directories.- Outside them the shell returns to the start folder; otherwise it stays where it was.
- Shell state does not persist. The shell environment is initialized from the user's profile (bash or zsh).
The old line said only that the working directory persists between calls, that absolute paths are preferred, and that cd in a compound command can trigger a permission prompt.
Why
Claude now has an exact rule for when a change of folder sticks. In subagents, which are helper agents Claude starts for a task, after a failed command, or after leaving your project folders, the next command starts from the original folder.