Claude Code hangs for minutes with no tokens used, especially after Bash tool calls. What helps?
Claude Code sits for 5 to 20 minutes or more with the spinner running and no tokens consumed. The reporter was on version 2.1.38 in WSL2 Ubuntu using Opus 4.6. Pressing Escape and re-prompting sometimes unsticks it, but not always.
Originally asked on GitHub: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/26224
8 answers
Status: open. In the thread, an Anthropic team member said they were actively investigating and would update the thread. No confirmed fix is recorded.
Workarounds reported in the thread, none confirmed as a general fix:
- Set the Haiku model explicitly. A commenter using a third-party API through ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL, where no default Haiku model was set, said this stopped the hang for them:
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL=claude-haiku-4-5Another commenter tried the same setting and reported no luck. The thread does not give their setup.
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Downgrade Claude Code. A commenter reported that installing version 2.1.44 (stable) helped. A later commenter said the hang still happened on 2.1.44 with 0 tokens used, so this is not reliable.
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Reduce MCP server load. A macOS user on a Max subscription, running Claude Code v2.1.52, found duplicate MCP servers in ~/.claude.json and .mcp.json. Removing about 400 MB of redundant processes made hangs less frequent but did not eliminate them.
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Press Escape and re-send a prompt. This sometimes unsticks the session, though not always.
General advice: check for duplicate MCP entries in ~/.claude.json and .mcp.json. Keep API keys out of shared config files.
Did this work for you?What a GitHub user tried on GitHub (Didn't work)
Reporter on Claude Code 2.1.38, WSL2 Ubuntu, Opus 4.6 with High thinking. Deleted the full install and tried a fresh config with no MCPs or skills; the problem persisted.
Source: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/26224 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @fkxxyz tried on GitHub (Worked)
Commenter saw hangs when running Bash tool calls and set ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL to a valid Haiku model. The comment does not state the setup details.
Source: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/26224#issuecomment-3932604818 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @fkxxyz tried on GitHub (Worked)
Commenter set ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL=claude-haiku-4-5 in a setup using a third-party API through ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL, where no default Haiku model was set.
Source: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/26224#issuecomment-3934021782 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @nullbio tried on GitHub (Didn't work)
Another user tried ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL=claude-haiku-4-5 and reported no luck.
Source: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/26224#issuecomment-3936560954 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @khwerhahn tried on GitHub (Partly worked)
macOS user on v2.1.52 with a Max subscription deduplicated MCP servers across ~/.claude.json and .mcp.json, removing about 400 MB of redundant processes. Hangs became less frequent but still occurred.
Source: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/26224#issuecomment-3950312114 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @ieshuaganocry tried on GitHub (Worked)
Commenter downgraded to Claude Code 2.1.44 (stable) and reported the hang stopped.
Source: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/26224#issuecomment-3953192713 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @jurmadani tried on GitHub (Didn't work)
Another user downgraded to v2.1.44 and still saw hangs with 0 tokens used.
Source: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/26224#issuecomment-3957314480 (opens external site)
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