[Bug] File autocomplete suggestions disappear when navigating subdirectories with @ syntax

[ductai199x]

Bug Description
"I cannot see autocomplete or suggestions for file referencing when typing '@'. typing '@' doesn't show anything and then typing another character after that, like 'a', shows the list of agents and then the list of top-level files and directories. However, when I tried to keep typing to go into one of the subdirectories, the autocomplete or suggestions just vanish. just This behavior is useless and different from earlier versions of claude code. This makes referencing files using claude code without and ide like vscode a lot harder."

Environment Info

• Platform: linux
• Terminal: vscode
• Version: 2.1.31
• Feedback ID: 8813d02b-2bcb-4a87-a45d-fbd1cfd8cc7f

Errors

[]

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. [BUG] File suggestions with @ stopped working for large directories after update #15816
2. [BUG] @ autocomplete menu requires additional character - does not trigger on @ alone (incorrectly closed as duplicate) #14325
3. [BUG] @ search not triggering when using previous prompt #20205

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[ductai199x]

This issue #15816 is different because this happens for small directories as well, in the case of my project. My project has a couple nested folders and I saw no autocompletion or suggestions

This issue #14325 is different although I do encounter the same problem here but my issue runs deeper than just it does not trigger on @ alone.

This issue #20205 is completely different.

I just tested with version 2.1.32 and this is still happening.

[ned9]

This is breaking my brain most of the time I use the @ feature. when the path selection suggestions do appear, I can't reliably use it to tab complete directories the same way I use in a shell (and which is hardwired into muscle-memory).

In particular, a space will be inserted at the end of the completed path, whenever the user interacts with the list of suggested paths appearing below the prompt -- in contrast to when the user only tab completes prefixes they have typed. this breaks path autocompletion as you have hit backspace before you can continue expanding subdirectories.

It seems to me that the UX friction point here is that only a small number of paths fit in the suggestion area, so one can't see at a glance what the complete set of options are to pick from. at this point I find myself doing one of two things:

1. hitting down to scroll through the options and then hitting tab on the one I want
2. reflexively hitting tab to get a complete list of path completions, as my shell would do

In either case a space ends up being inserted at the end of the selected path (breaking tab completion through further paths), or in the case of 2, you might get the first completion at the top of the list.

[frayer]

Reproduction + Workaround

I've been able to narrow this down to a specific trigger in my environment: an initialized git repo with no commits.

Environment

• OS: macOS 26.3.1
• Shell: zsh 5.9 (arm64-apple-darwin25.0)
• Terminal: Kitty 26.3.1
• Claude Code: 2.1.77 (native installer)

Full sequence

✅ Step 1 — Plain directory, no git (autocomplete works)

mkdir temp && cd $_
touch README.md

Open Claude Code, type @REA — file suggestions appear as expected.

---

❌ Step 2 — After git init with no commits (autocomplete broken)

git init

Close and reopen Claude Code, type @REA — file suggestions disappear and only agents are shown if there's a match. This reproduces the issue described in this report.

---

✅ Step 3 — After at least one commit (autocomplete works again)

git add . && git commit -m "init"

Close and reopen Claude Code, type @REA — file suggestions are back and working correctly.

Workaround

Make an initial commit before opening Claude Code in a new repo.