AskUserQuestion picker fallback

When to use this

Claude Code's AskUserQuestion picker can occasionally render fully but refuse to accept keystrokes — Enter / arrow keys do nothing, only Esc dismisses the picker. The skill that called the picker then sees User declined to answer questions and aborts.

This was observed in CC 2.1.139 (see orchestkit#1795). Suspected upstream input-handling regression; reproduction is intermittent and not yet fully characterised.

OrchestKit ships a mitigation: a UserPromptSubmit hook (prompt/ask-fallback-injector) that, when the ORK_ASK_FALLBACK=text environment variable is set, injects a system reminder telling the assistant to use inline numbered text prompts instead of calling AskUserQuestion.

How to enable

Set the env var before starting Claude Code:

export ORK_ASK_FALLBACK=text
claude

Or for a single session:

ORK_ASK_FALLBACK=text claude

The hook checks this variable on every UserPromptSubmit. While set, every skill that would otherwise open a picker (33 skills today: brainstorm, fix-issue, create-pr, assess, verify, etc.) emits a numbered list inline and asks the user to reply with the option number.

Example interaction

Without fallback (picker mode):

┌─ Which auth strategy? ─────────────────────────┐
│ ▸ JWT (stateless, no revoke)                   │
│   Session cookies (server-side store)          │
│   OAuth-only (delegate to provider)            │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  Enter to select · ↑/↓ to navigate · Esc to cancel

With fallback (ORK_ASK_FALLBACK=text):

> Which auth strategy?
>   1. JWT (stateless, no revoke)
>   2. Session cookies (server-side store)
>   3. OAuth-only (delegate to provider)
> Reply with 1, 2, or 3.

How to disable

Unset the variable and restart CC:

unset ORK_ASK_FALLBACK
claude

Restart restores picker mode. Recommended once an upstream CC fix ships.

Implementation

• Hook: src/hooks/src/prompt/ask-fallback-injector.ts
• Event: UserPromptSubmit
• Cost: one env-var read per prompt, ~80-byte reminder when active, no I/O
• Tests: src/hooks/src/__tests__/ask-fallback-injector.test.ts
• Scope: global — applies to all 33 skills using AskUserQuestion without per-skill edits

Related

• orchestkit#1795 — original bug report
• M119 (Usage hygiene) milestone — UX behavioural mitigations
• ORK_GOAL_MAX_TURNS_PER_SESSION / ORK_GOAL_MAX_TOKENS_PER_SESSION — sibling env-var-based behavioural controls (M140)