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AskUserQuestion tool returns empty response when bypass permissions enabled #10400

@brandon-fryslie

Description

@brandon-fryslie

Bug Description

When AskUserQuestion tool is called with bypass permissions enabled, it returns an empty response without showing a prompt to the user, but claims the user answered the questions.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Enable bypass permissions in Claude Code
  2. Use the AskUserQuestion tool to ask the user questions
  3. Observe the tool result

Expected Behavior

One of:

  • The tool should show the prompt to the user regardless of bypass permissions (questions require user input, not permission)
  • The tool should return an error indicating it was bypassed
  • The tool should block and wait for actual user input

Actual Behavior

The tool returns immediately with:

User has answered your questions: . You can now continue with the user's answers in mind.

But:

  • No prompt was shown to the user
  • No answers were collected
  • The response suggests proceeding with answers that don't exist

Impact

Claude proceeds as if questions were answered when they weren't, leading to:

  • Incorrect assumptions about user preferences
  • Wasted work on wrong approaches
  • Confusion when Claude references non-existent answers

Workaround

Added to CLAUDE.md:

AskUserQuestion tool: If response is empty/only punctuation → re-ask in plain text immediately, NO tools until I respond

Environment

  • Claude Code version: latest as of 2025-10-26
  • Bypass permissions: Enabled
  • Platform: macOS (Darwin 25.0.0)

Note

AskUserQuestion is fundamentally different from permission-based tools - it's requesting information, not permission to act. It should probably not be bypassable, or should handle bypass gracefully with an error.

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    area:toolsautocloseIssue will be closed automaticallybugSomething isn't workinghas reproHas detailed reproduction stepsplatform:macosIssue specifically occurs on macOS

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