← Claude Code changelog

Claude Code 2.1.261

Significant enhancements for managing larger contexts and optimizing resource usage. Key additions include expansion of command and task output limits up to 128K characters, support for subagent system prompts from files, and a new skill optimization tool for identifying unused skills and their context cost. A wide array of fixes for critical issues such as character input accuracy during fast typing, improved Remote Control stability, reliable Bedrock setup and plugin syncing, and consistent session resumption. Overall improvements to productivity for users dealing with complex prompts, application stability, and the user experience across all environments.

Added

  • Added an "Organization policy" line to `/status` and `claude doctor` that says why your organization's policy could not be loaded, such as a proxy not passing the endpoint through
  • Added `bashOutputMaxChars` and `taskOutputMaxChars` settings to raise how much command and background-task output Claude receives inline before it is saved to a file, up to 128K characters
  • Added `--append-subagent-system-prompt-file` to read the subagent system prompt from a file, for prompts too large to pass on the command line
  • Added `/skill-doctor` to show which loaded skills go unused and what they cost in context, so you can prune them
  • Added a "Build a custom style" walkthrough to the Output styles menu that writes a custom output style file and lists it right away
  • Added an Add server form and a Remove action to the MCP servers dialog, so MCP servers can be added and removed without leaving the IDE
  • Added a hollow ring in the session list for sessions open in a terminal, another VS Code window, or Claude Desktop, so they no longer look closed
  • Added a fold button to permission and question prompts so the conversation behind them can be read without dismissing them; the space beside the prompt now scrolls the conversation
  • Added "Archive session" to the session list's right-click menu and gave Unarchive its own icon

Improved

  • Improved the `/model` picker and the VS Code model pill to show a model's name instead of its raw Bedrock, Vertex AI, or LLM gateway ID when Claude Code recognizes it
  • Improved startup on Google Vertex AI when `GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS` is set: API client creation no longer re-runs Google Cloud project discovery or spawns extra `gcloud` processes
  • Improved streaming performance: already-rendered blocks are no longer re-checked by layout on each update
  • Improved the dangerous-`rm` safety prompt to also catch `rm -rf` on positional parameters and inside double-quoted `sh -c` scripts
  • Improved handling when the API sends no response headers: the retry now waits up to `API_TIMEOUT_MS` (10 minutes by default) instead of another 3 minutes, and the messages say what to change

Changed

  • Changed a Claude apps gateway 403 on the managed settings load (at startup or after `/login`) to say Claude Code may not be enabled for the organization, instead of advising a new sign-in
  • Changed machines whose managed settings pin `forceLoginMethod: "gateway"` to ignore a leftover API key or claude.ai login and ask for `/login`; Bedrock, Vertex AI, and Foundry sessions are unaffected
  • Changed auto mode to treat a link that packs content into a public diagram renderer's URL as an upload to that site: no longer auto-approved unless you asked for it
  • Changed the prompt's word-editing keys to match Bash: Ctrl+W deletes back to whitespace, Alt+F and Alt+D stop at word end, punctuation separates words; `keybindingFlavor` no longer has any effect
  • Changed `/context` token counting to use a local estimate when the token-counting API is unavailable, instead of extra small-model requests
  • Changed the model picker to one flat list of every model, with rows kept for older model spellings listed last

Fixed

  • Fixed typed or pasted characters occasionally landing out of order or being dropped during fast input or key repeat
  • Fixed `/add-dir <subdirectory>` printing a false "couldn't be resolved" error when the working directory is on a `/net` automount
  • Fixed the Bedrock setup wizard hanging when AWS or an AWS credential helper never responds (it now times out with a clear error), and its model checks failing behind a TLS-inspecting proxy
  • Fixed cloud sessions discarding a plugin synced from claude.ai when managed settings force-enable it in `enabledPlugins`, then falling back to a marketplace clone that could fail
  • Fixed being unable to delete the character immediately before an inline `[Image #N]` chip in the prompt input
  • Fixed resuming a session losing hook output and other context around parallel tool calls, which changed the resumed request
  • Fixed Remote Control showing a stale permission mode when a phone, browser, or claude.ai app attaches to a terminal session or after the mode changes in the terminal
  • Fixed Remote Control sessions showing as still working (stuck spinner and Stop button) after stopping a turn from a connected phone or browser, or after a local slash command like `/clear`
  • Fixed SDK and cloud sessions ignoring a Stop or interrupt sent just after the first prompt, before the turn had started; the turn now stops instead of running to completion
  • Fixed Remote Control uploading a session pulled with `/teleport` into the connected session, which appeared appended to the original on phone and web
  • Fixed Remote Control's inbound event stream failing behind TLS-inspecting corporate proxies on native Windows
  • Fixed Remote Control sessions showing the default effort level on claude.ai when the effort comes from settings
  • Fixed `gcpAuthRefresh` opening a browser at startup when the Google credential check was slow, even though the credential was still valid
  • Fixed claude.ai connectors staying absent for the whole session when the startup connector fetch timed out — the CLI now retries in the background
  • Fixed sustained high CPU usage when a background agent could not be resumed and its wake-up was retried in a tight loop
  • Fixed feature flags gated to a newer version occasionally applying to an older Claude Code version running on the same machine
  • Fixed `/usage` and the VS Code usage panel dropping a model-specific weekly limit row when the usage endpoint is rate limited or when opened right after startup
  • Fixed `claude -p --resume <file>` adopting a malformed session ID recorded in the transcript; it now resumes under a fresh session ID instead
  • Fixed the terminal progress indicator (iTerm2, Ghostty, ConEmu) showing the session as finished while a background workflow or agent was still running
  • Fixed a rare layout glitch where a box could render with the wrong height after its container switched between row and column direction
  • Fixed Claude apps gateway client IP when a trusted proxy appends a port to `X-Forwarded-For`; with an access list set, an unreadable entry now gets 403
  • Fixed Claude apps gateway telling Claude Desktop to export OpenTelemetry as JSON even when the terminal CLI uses protobuf, so protobuf-only collectors rejected Desktop's data
  • Fixed Desktop and web showing a session as busy while it only watches an artifact for updates
  • Fixed Claude in Chrome `file_upload` failing with "paths: expected array, received undefined" in local Cowork sessions run from the Claude Desktop app
  • Fixed `SendMessage` to an offline Remote Control session on another machine reading as delivered; the result now says delivery is queued until that machine reconnects
  • Fixed plugin install hints from CLIs run in background Bash commands: they are now detected, and the raw `<claude-code-hint>` tag no longer leaks into the conversation
  • Fixed in-process agent-team teammates re-sending their first-turn tool and skill announcements on the second turn, which changed the request prefix and missed the prompt cache
  • Fixed a session teleported from Claude Code on the web treating a question that was cut off when the cloud session shut down as declined
  • Fixed the session tab's Rename box opening empty for a tab restored with the window; it now starts with the current name
  • Fixed collapsed sections in the session list panel briefly showing expanded each time the panel loaded
  • Fixed Focus view showing a tool call as still running after Claude had moved on, such as while a question waited for your answer
  • Fixed the session list's active-row highlight going stale when an unfocused Claude tab's session ID is corrected
  • Fixed Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+T reopen and deep-link opens placing the Claude tab outside the Claude editor group when a Claude tab has focus
  • Fixed the session tab's "Add to group" putting a session opened from Claude Code on the Web in two groups; it now moves the entry the session list shows
  • Fixed the model picker showing models an organization has since disabled until the window was reloaded twice
  • Fixed a tab opened from the session list jumping back to that session, and a tab opened from a Web session restarting its teleport or staying empty, after VS Code reloads the tab's view
  • Fixed `/btw` side-question history from earlier sessions being overwritten when a question is asked right after a window reload or while a settings file has errors
  • Fixed the pending question card not reappearing after the Claude panel reloads when signed in with a Claude.ai or Console account
  • Fixed claude.ai-only features staying visible in a window's other Claude panels after one panel picked up a third-party provider from a settings file
  • Fixed the sign-in screen appearing despite the Disable Login Prompt setting when Claude Code reports no login or a request fails for lack of one
  • Fixed the next queued permission prompt keeping text typed on the previous prompt and accepting an immediate second click
  • Fixed install-plugin links opening the Claude sidebar without the install dialog in a window where only the session list had been shown
  • Fixed the sidebar usage meter staying empty on a new window until the Account & usage dialog was opened, and a 0% usage limit being left out of the meter
  • Fixed "Start new session in this group" losing the group after New conversation, and a missing unread dot for a session that finished before the sidebar's unread list loaded
  • Fixed the editor tab badge showing unread during a running turn or missing on a tab opened from the session list, and "Add Session Tab to Group" doing nothing for an archived session
  • Fixed "Enable Remote Control for all sessions" so flipping it also applies right away to sessions open in other VS Code windows
  • Fixed the session list's Open filter for sessions continued from claude.ai whose tab was still recorded under the web session, and labeled the filter menu's sections for screen readers