ReleaseBytes
anthropic Claude Code Releases · · 2.1.218

Claude Code v2.1.218: Background Agents, Screen Reader & Path Fixes

sdkaiengineer
feature patch

This release for Claude Code v2.1.218 introduces significant improvements by migrating the `/code-review` function to a background subagent, preventing conversation filling and improving command stacking. It also enhances accessibility with screen reader announcements for text deletions and fixes critical bugs like Windows path corruption and arrow key interactions. These changes benefit developers using Claude Code, especially those who rely on screen readers or encounter specific path and interaction issues.

  • →Added an announcement when fast mode changes as a result of switching models via /config model=<x> or Remote Control
  • →Added yes/no/on/off/1/0 (case-insensitive) as accepted values for skill and plugin frontmatter booleans, alongside true/false
  • →Fixed multi-line paste collapsing into one line with j in place of newlines in terminals that encode pasted newlines as Ctrl+J
  • →Fixed /context reporting stale pre-compact token usage after compacting from the message picker
  • →Fixed /code-review ultra silently running a local review in non-interactive sessions — it now launches the cloud review
Features (4) ›

  • Added screen-reader announcements of deleted text for word and line deletions (Option+Delete, Ctrl+W, Cmd+Backspace, Ctrl+U, Ctrl+K) in --ax-screen-reader mode

  • Added HTTP status and error text to claude mcp list and /mcp when a server fails to connect, and a warning for MCP config values with hidden leading or trailing whitespace

  • Added an announcement when fast mode changes as a result of switching models via /config model=<x> or Remote Control
  • Added yes/no/on/off/1/0 (case-insensitive) as accepted values for skill and plugin frontmatter booleans, alongside true/false
Enhancements (10) ›

  • Changed /code-review to run as a background subagent, so review work no longer fills your conversation and keeps stacked slash commands as its review target

  • Improved /ultrareview error feedback so Claude can correct an invalid argument instead of retrying it unchanged

  • Improved auto mode: the dangerous-rm, background-&, and suspicious-Windows-path checks no longer open permission dialogs; the auto-mode classifier adjudicates them instead

  • Improved sandbox command restrictions for IDE interactions
  • Improved trust dialogs to name the repository root the grant covers
  • Changed /deep-research to start only when invoked manually; Claude no longer launches it on its own

  • Changed plan mode with auto to no longer prompt for Bash commands the static analyzer can't prove read-only; the auto-mode classifier judges them instead

  • Changed server-managed settings so benign feature and cost toggles no longer trigger the settings-approval prompt
  • Changed agent markdown files to reject agent names containing :, which is reserved for plugin namespacing
  • Changed skills with context: fork to run in the background by default; opt out per skill with background: false
Fixes (23) ›

  • Fixed Windows paths with \u-prefixed segments (like C:\Users\unicorn) being corrupted into CJK characters in tool inputs, which made those files inaccessible

  • Fixed the left arrow key discarding the conversation with no undo: presses right after editing now ask to confirm, and Esc in the agent view returns to the conversation it backgrounded

  • Fixed multi-line paste collapsing into one line with j in place of newlines in terminals that encode pasted newlines as Ctrl+J
  • Fixed /context reporting stale pre-compact token usage after compacting from the message picker

  • Fixed /ultrareview failing on descriptive arguments like "review my auth changes" — they now run a review of your current branch with the text applied as a note to the findings

  • Fixed /code-review ultra silently running a local review in non-interactive sessions — it now launches the cloud review

  • Fixed gateway spend metering to price Bedrock application-inference-profile ARNs and other config-mapped upstream model IDs at the configured model's rates

  • Fixed mojibake when a long IDE selection was truncated mid-emoji, and a case where a tool executor error could be silently dropped
  • Fixed an engine teardown race that could start and abandon a phantom turn, and made input pushed after close consistently rejected

  • Fixed spurious "[Request interrupted by user]" messages after interrupted tool calls, and an unpaired tool_use block left in the transcript when a tool aborted mid-response

  • Fixed VoiceOver reading "new line" instead of echoing the typed space at the end of the input in --ax-screen-reader mode

  • Fixed plugin and settings panels not moving the terminal cursor to the focused row, so screen readers and magnifiers can follow arrow-key navigation

  • Fixed crashes (maximum call stack exceeded) when a deeply nested watched directory tree was deleted or moved, and when rendering deeply nested UI trees

  • Fixed pull request events occasionally being lost when a session exited immediately after creating or linking a PR
  • Fixed the Bedrock setup wizard failing profile verification for assume-role profiles in partitioned AWS regions and on proxy-only networks
  • Fixed rare negative or incorrect turn duration measurements after a system clock adjustment by timing turns with a monotonic clock
  • Fixed the "N MCP servers need authentication" startup notice over-counting claude.ai connectors that aren't connected in claude.ai
  • Fixed prompt history entries being dropped or duplicated when history writes raced or failed

  • Fixed a retry loop that re-sent identical doomed requests after a context-overflow error with a large thinking budget; Ctrl+B backgrounding now applies the same background-shell caps as other paths

  • Fixed agent frontmatter hooks running from untrusted folders: hooks now require the agent file's own folder to have accepted workspace trust
  • Fixed fork-session lineage being lost after compaction in headless and SDK sessions
  • Fixed a resumed session failing every turn, or crashing on resume, when its history held a malformed delta attachment

  • Fixed remote sessions continuing to send heartbeats after their worker was replaced, which left long-lived desktop and IDE processes retrying a rejected request every few seconds forever

Read the original announcement →

https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/releases/tag/v2.1.218

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