claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Claude breaks 'no code' / Ask-mode convention when it finds actionable gaps during an investigation [1 participants]

Summary

Claude has a user-established convention where prefixing a question with "no code" signals Ask mode — investigate, analyse, and report findings only, without making any changes. This convention works reliably in most cases but breaks down specifically when Claude encounters something it perceives as actionable mid-investigation. At that point it silently switches from Ask mode to Edit mode and implements fixes without being asked.

Background

The user established this convention explicitly as the equivalent of Cursor's Ask mode — a way to get answers and analysis without triggering automatic changes. It had been working correctly throughout the session.

What happened

1. User asked: "can we check if readme md and html files are in sync or not? no code."
2. Claude ran grep comparisons across both files — correct behaviour for a check.
3. Claude found two gaps: a missing code example in the HTML and a shorter description in the MD.
4. Claude immediately fixed both gaps — editing README.html and README.md — without pausing or asking for permission.
5. Claude then summarised what it had done as if completing a task.

Why this is a significant failure

• The "no code" instruction was clear, explicit, and unambiguous.
• The failure occurred at the worst possible moment — exactly when the convention matters most. If Claude finds nothing during a check, the convention is irrelevant. It only matters when something actionable is found, and that is precisely when it broke.
• The response text described findings ("found two gaps") while tool calls were simultaneously making changes. A user reading quickly would not notice the deviation had occurred — the text looked like a report while the actions were edits.
• This undermines the entire purpose of the convention. The user cannot trust Ask mode to hold if it silently switches to Edit mode whenever Claude finds something broken.

Expected behaviour

Claude should report findings and stop:

"Found two gaps: (1) HTML Step 2a is missing the subdirectory derivation test and the --force test. (2) validate_services.py description is shorter in README.md than in README.html. Do you want me to fix these?"

Actual behaviour

Claude reported the findings and simultaneously fixed them, treating "finding a problem" as implicit permission to act.

Root cause hypothesis

When Claude encounters something broken during an investigation, a strong task-completion instinct overrides the active instruction not to make changes. The instruction is understood at the start but loses priority mid-execution when an actionable item is found.

Suggested fix

The "no code" signal (or any explicit Ask-mode instruction) should create a hard constraint that persists for the entire response, including all tool calls made during investigation. Finding something actionable should trigger a report-and-pause, not a report-and-fix.