[BUG] Claude cannot read images anymore.

[sagarspatil]

@bcherny @ashwin-ant

Environment

• Platform (select one):
  • [ X] Anthropic API
  • AWS Bedrock
  • Google Vertex AI
  • Other:
• Claude CLI version: 0.2.49
• Operating System: macOS sequoia
• Terminal: iterm2

Bug Description

The image viewing functionality is not working. When attempting to view both local and online images, the system responds that it cannot access or view the images.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Attempt to view a local image by providing the file path: /Users/sagar/Library/Application Support/CleanShot/media/media_gSh7LXNPct/CleanShot 2025-03-19 at 16.41.53@2x.png
2. Receive error message stating inability to access local system files
3. Upload image online to CleanShot (https://share.cleanshot.com/redacted)
4. Attempt to view the online image by providing the URL
5. Receive error message stating inability to view images from the web

Expected Behavior

The system should be able to access and read images, either from local file paths or from web URLs, particularly when using the CleanShot sharing feature.

Actual Behavior

The system responds with error messages stating it "can't view the image" from the local system and is "unable to view the image at the provided URL" even after uploading it online. The system claims it "doesn't have the ability to follow external links or view images from the web" and describes itself as "running in a CLI environment."

Additional Context

The issue occurs when trying to view both local and web-hosted images. The system identifies itself as "an AI assistant running in a CLI environment" which suggests this may be a limitation of the current environment rather than a bug. The timestamps show this occurred on March 19, 2025.

[ashwin-ant]

It's likely the model made a mistake here. If you give it a local file path, it is able to view it.

[wolffiex]

I'm going to close this since claude is far from perfect. there are workarounds if you copy the image and use CTRL+V (not CMD+V) to paste it in. It may also help to rename the screenshot and/or prompt claude to convince it that it can read the file.

[wolffiex]

on second thought, let's see what can do with prompting to fix this

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