Can't Paste images into Claude Code

[dannyneira]

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• I have searched Warp bugs and there are no duplicates
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Describe the bug

We're tracking an issue with not being able to paste images into Claude code that appears in a recent release:

Description:

Since I updated to the latest version of Warp, when I use Claude Code (also the latest version), I can’t upload images to the chat. At first, I thought it was a bug in the latest version of Claude Code, but when testing on other terminals, I can upload images, so I imagine it’s something specific to Warp with Claude Code.
This is preventing me from using Warp in my daily workflow. Everything used to work perfectly before.
Could you help me or check if that’s the case? Thank you very much.

To reproduce

Open Warp
Launch Claude Code
Copy/Paste an image into CC for context
(possibly click/drag image aswell)

Expected behavior

Expect Warp to let me copy/paste or click/drag images into Claude Code)

Does this block you from using Warp daily?

To anyone else facing this issue, please add a 👍 to the original post at the top or comment with your details, and subscribe if you'd like to be notified.

Warp Internal (ignore): linear-label:b9d78064-c89e-4973-b153-5178a31ee54e

None

[azeitler]

this needs to be escalated to "Can't drag and drop image-type files". It's not just coding agents, its the whole terminal which is broken.

It is not okay for a terminal application to selectively highjack OS-level operations, like file drag & drop, for its own purposes.
It seems that the Warp team is okay with breaking decades old developer expectations. This is a big deal and should never ever happened.

If it's not addressed quickly this is definitely a reason to off-board from Warp and adopting a clear "not recommended" attitude towards Warp.

[dannyneira]

Hi @azeitler a fix for this will be released next release (this Thursday).

[ljt940601]

Only fixed for Mac, not for Windows

[postandrail]

still broken on Windows, but i can paste images with Alt+V
https://www.jdhodges.com/blog/ctrlv-not-working-in-claude-code-heres-the-simple-fix-solved/

[hqhq1025]

clipaste fixes this. Tiny background daemon that normalizes the screenshot clipboard — adds a file URL so Cmd+V works, and adds the PNGf type so Ctrl+V works.

brew install hqhq1025/clipaste/clipaste
brew services start clipaste

Also supports SSH remote paste via clipaste ssh-setup user@host.

[eranartzi]

I just updated Warp to the latest version and I can no longer drag and drop an image into Claude Code running on Warp. Please help.

[PowerUserZ]

Detailed diagnosis and a validated end-to-end client-side workaround for the Windows + WSL case.

Claude Code imagePaste defaults by platform

• Windows native: Alt+V
• Linux / WSL: Ctrl+V

Warp "Alternate terminal paste" defaults to Ctrl+V on Windows

This yields the following matrix:

Warp "Alternate terminal paste"	Windows-native Claude Code	WSL Claude Code
Ctrl+V (default)	Alt+V → imagePaste ✅ · Ctrl+V → consumed by Warp	Ctrl+V → consumed by Warp · Alt+V → reaches TUI but unbound on Linux, no-op
Alt+V	Alt+V → consumed by Warp · Ctrl+V → reaches TUI but unbound on Windows default, no-op	Ctrl+V → imagePaste ✅ · Alt+V → consumed by Warp

With stock defaults on both sides, no Warp binding allows both Windows-native Claude Code and WSL Claude Code to receive imagePaste simultaneously.

---

Complete step-by-step workaround (validated end-to-end)

1) In Warp: move "Alternate terminal paste" off Ctrl+V.

Open Warp Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts, find "Alternate terminal paste" (default Ctrl+V on Windows) and remap it to Alt+V, Ctrl+Shift+V, or any other combination. This frees Ctrl+V so the keypress reaches the child TUI.

2) In Claude Code: bind BOTH keys to chat:imagePaste on both sides.

• Windows-native install: C:\Users\<you>\.claude\keybindings.json
• Inside WSL: ~/.claude/keybindings.json

{
  "$schema": "https://www.schemastore.org/claude-code-keybindings.json",
  "bindings": [
    {
      "context": "Chat",
      "bindings": {
        "ctrl+v": "chat:imagePaste",
        "alt+v":  "chat:imagePaste"
      }
    }
  ]
}

3) [WSL only] Install a BMP → PNG clipboard watcher.

WSL Claude Code reads the Linux clipboard and only accepts image/png, but Windows screenshot tools (Snipping Tool, Win+Shift+S) publish image/bmp via WSLg. Without conversion, Claude Code responds "no image" even when the Windows clipboard contains a screenshot. (Tracked separately at anthropics/claude-code#25935.) Flameshot users can skip this step since Flameshot already writes image/png.

Install dependencies and the watcher:

sudo apt install -y wl-clipboard xclip imagemagick

Save as ~/.local/bin/clipboard-bmp-to-png-watcher and chmod +x:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Poll Wayland clipboard; when image/bmp is present and image/png is not,
# convert and publish PNG to both Wayland (wl-copy) and X11 (xclip).
# Note: wl-paste --watch does NOT work under WSLg — Weston lacks the wlroots
# data-control protocol — so we poll at 300 ms instead.
set -u
interval="${CLIPBOARD_WATCH_INTERVAL:-0.3}"
last=""
while true; do
    types=$(wl-paste --list-types 2>/dev/null || true)
    if [ "$types" != "$last" ]; then
        last="$types"
        has_png_wl=false; grep -qx "image/png" <<<"$types" && has_png_wl=true
        has_bmp=false;    grep -qx "image/bmp" <<<"$types" && has_bmp=true
        x_targets=$(xclip -selection clipboard -t TARGETS -o 2>/dev/null || true)
        has_png_x=false;  grep -qx "image/png" <<<"$x_targets" && has_png_x=true

        if ! $has_png_x && { $has_png_wl || $has_bmp; }; then
            tmp=$(mktemp --suffix=.png)
            if $has_png_wl; then
                wl-paste -t image/png 2>/dev/null >"$tmp"
            else
                wl-paste -t image/bmp 2>/dev/null | convert bmp:- png:- >"$tmp"
                [ -s "$tmp" ] && wl-copy -t image/png <"$tmp" 2>/dev/null
            fi
            [ -s "$tmp" ] && xclip -selection clipboard -t image/png -i "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
            rm -f "$tmp"
            last=$(wl-paste --list-types 2>/dev/null || true)
        fi
    fi
    sleep "$interval"
done

Auto-start from ~/.bashrc:

if command -v wl-paste &>/dev/null && [ -x "$HOME/.local/bin/clipboard-bmp-to-png-watcher" ] \
   && ! pgrep -f "clipboard-bmp-to-png-watcher" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    nohup "$HOME/.local/bin/clipboard-bmp-to-png-watcher" >/dev/null 2>&1 &
    disown
fi

4) Restart Claude Code (exit and relaunch) on both sides so the new bindings are picked up, and start a fresh WSL shell once after installing the watcher so it auto-launches from bashrc.

Verification. Copy a screenshot (Win+Shift+S or Flameshot region + Ctrl+C) and press whichever of Ctrl+V / Alt+V you did NOT assign to Warp's "Alternate terminal paste". The image attaches to the Claude Code prompt. Confirmed end-to-end on:

• Windows 11 + Warp for Windows + Windows-native Claude Code v2.1.114 (no watcher needed; Windows build reads the clipboard via powershell Get-Clipboard -Format Image, which handles BMP/DIB natively).
• Windows 11 + Warp for Windows + WSL2 Ubuntu 24.04 + Linux Claude Code v2.1.114 (watcher required for Windows screenshots; not needed for Flameshot which already emits PNG).

Trade-off. Whichever key is assigned to "Alternate terminal paste" in Warp continues to do Warp's text paste inside the TUI. You effectively dedicate one of the two shortcuts to image paste and use the other (or Ctrl+Shift+V) for text paste.

---

Why this remains a Warp-side issue

The above only masks the symptom. Warp on Windows consumes Ctrl+V before the child TUI on the alternate screen buffer receives the keypress. Community reports indicate that WezTerm and Windows Terminal deliver both keys to the child; PowerShell (Windows console host) exhibits the same interception in my environment.

Requested fix

Either:

1. On Windows, do not capture Ctrl+V / Alt+V while the child is using the alternate screen buffer — let the TUI handle its own paste.
2. Expose a documented per-session passthrough-keys configuration so TUIs or launch configs can opt out of terminal shortcut interception, matching the earlier Mac fix referenced in this thread.

Environment

• Windows 11, Warp for Windows, tested 2026-04-20
• WSL2 Ubuntu 24.04
• Claude Code CLI v2.1.114 (both Windows-native and inside WSL)
• Reference — Alt+V as the documented Windows shortcut: https://www.jdhodges.com/blog/ctrlv-not-working-in-claude-code-heres-the-simple-fix-solved/
• Related Claude Code keybinding issue: [WSL] Bind Alt+V to chat:imagePaste in addition to Ctrl+V for parity with Windows-native build anthropics/claude-code#50985
• Related Claude Code MIME-handling issue (image/bmp not accepted on Linux): Add image/bmp to Linux clipboard check for WSL2 image paste anthropics/claude-code#25935