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Claude Code's Send-Now Key Backgrounds Tools

Claude CodeView original changelog

Claude Code changed what its send-now key does when tools are running. Pressing Ctrl+Enter (or Ctrl+X Ctrl+S) to send a queued message immediately used to cancel the current turn, discarding whatever running tools were doing. As of 2.1.281, it instead moves those running tools to the background, preserving their work, while still sending the queued message right away. The change refines a feature Anthropic shipped on September 17, 2026, nine days after it first launched.

Key Takeaways

  • Ctrl+Enter (or Ctrl+X Ctrl+S) no longer cancels running tools when used to send a queued message immediately; it now moves them to the background instead.
  • Work a running tool had already started is preserved rather than thrown away, reducing the cost of interrupting a turn to send a new message.
  • The change refines the send-now key Anthropic shipped for queued messages on September 17, 2026, nine days after its initial launch.
  • Backgrounded tools continue under the same background-task system used by /bg and Ctrl+B, so their output can still be retrieved once they finish.
  • The change reflects a broader pattern in this release of Claude Code making interruptions less destructive rather than purely faster.
  • Users who relied on Ctrl+Enter specifically to stop a runaway tool should note it no longer does that; the tool keeps running in the background instead.

What changed

Claude Code's send-now key, Ctrl+Enter or, in terminals where that doesn't register, Ctrl+X Ctrl+S, lets a user send a queued message immediately instead of waiting for the current turn to finish. Since it shipped on September 17, 2026, using it while a tool was still running would cancel that turn outright, discarding any in-progress work the tool had started.

As of 2.1.281, send-now no longer cancels running tools. Instead, it moves them to the background using the same background-task system that powers /bg and Ctrl+B, and sends the queued message right away. Whatever the running tool was doing keeps going, and its output can still be retrieved once it finishes.

Why it matters

The previous behavior meant interrupting a turn to say something new to Claude carried a real cost: any tool call in flight, a long-running build, a test suite, a search, was simply thrown away. That made send-now feel risky to use mid-task. By backgrounding instead of cancelling, Anthropic removes that trade-off: a user can redirect Claude immediately without losing the work that was already underway.