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process.title is set to version number instead of "claude", breaking tmux window names #49852
Closed as not planned
Description
Description
When Claude Code starts, it sets process.title to its version string (e.g. 2.1.112). On macOS (and Linux), Node.js propagates this to the OS-level process name via pthread_setname_np() / prctl(). Tools that read the process name — most notably tmux's automatic-rename — then display the version number as the window name instead of claude.
Steps to reproduce
- Open a tmux session with
automatic-renameenabled (the default) - Run
claudein a pane - Observe the window name becomes e.g.
2.1.112instead ofclaude
Expected behavior
Window name shows claude (or claude code).
Actual behavior
Window name shows the version string, e.g. 2.1.112.
Root cause
process.title is being set to the version number. The fix is a one-liner:
// before
process.title = version; // e.g. "2.1.112"
// after
process.title = "claude";Notes
- This is distinct from [Feature Request] Use OSC 2 escape sequences for terminal title instead of process.title #21409 (which is about OSC 2 escape sequences for the terminal emulator title bar) — this bug affects the OS process name, which is what tmux reads for window naming.
- Workaround: wrap
claudein a shell function that manually renames the tmux window and disablesautomatic-renamefor the duration of the process.
Reacted by Brian Deane, Alexey Smolianinov, David Chambers and MichaelCG8
Activity
0xbrainkid commentedon Apr 17, 2026
process.titlebeing set to the version number (e.g., "1.2773.0") instead of "claude" is an agent identity display bug — terminal multiplexers, process managers, and monitoring tools that rely onprocess.titleto identify the process will show a version string instead of the agent name.From a behavioral monitoring perspective, this breaks tmux window names, process list filtering (
pgrep claude), and any tool that uses process title to identify Claude Code sessions. For users running multiple Claude Code sessions in a tmux setup, all tabs showing the same version string makes it impossible to distinguish sessions by name.The fix is a one-liner in the startup code:
The version is already visible in
/status,--version, and the update notifications — it does not need to be the primary process title. The agent's name ("claude") should be the primary identifier in the process table.From an agent identity perspective, this is a minor but meaningful issue: an agent should be identifiable by its name in the operating system's process table, not by its version string. "claude" is the stable identity; the version is an attribute of that identity, not the identity itself.
brian-deane-gusto commentedon Apr 27, 2026
Seeing this as well, would love a fix! ❤️
brian-deane-gusto commentedon Apr 27, 2026
+1 — confirming on Claude Code 2.1.119 / tmux 3.6a (macOS).
Concrete repro of the tmux symptom:
The tmux 3.6 stock
automatic-rename-formatis#{?pane_in_mode,[tmux],#{pane_current_command}}#{?pane_dead,[dead],}— itrenders
pane_current_commanddirectly, so every claude window in the statusbar collapses to
<idx>:2.1.119*. Indistinguishable across multipleconcurrent claude sessions.
Tmux-side workaround for anyone hitting this before the fix lands:
Detects the version-shape via fnmatch
*.*.*and substitutesclaude:<cwd-basename>. Brittle by design — it stops triggering the momentprocess.titleis fixed in this issue, which is exactly the point.🤖 Generated with Claude Code
davidchambers commentedon Apr 28, 2026
I believe this to be a duplicate of #12433.
github-actions commentedon May 30, 2026
Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.
bashrc: wrap `claude` so tmux windows don't get named after its version
github-actions commentedon Jul 30, 2026
This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.