v2.1.169 Claude Code Release Notes

Jun 8, 2026

Claude's Analysisby Sonnet 4.6

--safe-mode and /cd debut for troubleshooting and session navigation; 14 fixes close Windows hangs, MCP policy gaps, and UI stalls, with breaking changes to MCP enforcement.

Changes

Total Changes (vs Average)

2.9×

Version Type

Patch

Release Focus

Mixed

Days Since Prior Release

Release # This Month

#9 of 10

Bug Fix Ratio

45%

Post-Release Edits

Change Category

Ecosystem Impact

Windows has drawn fixes in 5 of the last 10 releases; this release's 5 items is the peak in that window (prior high: 4 in v2.1.160). The sustained cadence signals active investment to close the macOS/Linux experience gap on Windows and WSL.

Key Themes

3New Developer Capabilities|5Windows Reliability Push|4Enterprise Security Hardening|5Background Agents Overhaul|7UX & Performance Wins

May Help If You've Noticed

claude -p hangs or seems frozen on Windows while waiting for slash commands to load

Added4 changes

•Added --safe-mode flag (and CLAUDE_CODE_SAFE_MODE) to start Claude Code with all customizations (CLAUDE.md, plugins, skills, hooks, MCP servers) disabled for troubleshooting
•Added /cd command to move a session to a new working directory without breaking the prompt cache mid-session
•Added a disableBundledSkills setting and CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_BUNDLED_SKILLS environment variable to hide bundled skills, workflows, and built-in slash commands from the model
•Added a tip suggesting claude agents when running multiple concurrent sessions

Improved4 changes

•Improved TaskCreate reliability: malformed inputs are repaired automatically and validation errors for unloaded tools include the schema
•Improved the error message shown when your organization has disabled API key authentication, with guidance based on where the active API key comes from
•Reduced CPU usage while responses stream and during spinner animations
•Improved color contrast for skill tags in the slash-command menu

Fixed14 changes

•Fixed Up/Down arrows jumping to command history past the wrapped rows of a long input line — they now move through each visual row first, and history recall enters at the near edge
•Fixed enterprise managed MCP policies (allowedMcpServers/deniedMcpServers) not being enforced on reconnect, IDE-typed configs, --mcp-config servers during the first session after install, or before remote settings loaded; also fixed slow cold starts for orgs without remote settings
•Fixed a ~30-50ms UI stall at the start of each turn for macOS users logged in with claude.ai credentials
•Fixed claude -p being slow or appearing to hang on Windows while waiting for the slash-command/skill scan (regression in 2.1.161)
•Fixed Remote Control getting stuck on "reconnecting" after resuming a session when an OAuth token refresh happened at the same time
•Fixed Git Credential Manager's "Connect to GitHub" popup appearing on Windows at startup when background git commands ran without cached credentials
•Fixed footer hints (e.g. "esc to interrupt") not showing for users with a custom statusline
•Fixed stale permission and dialog prompts reappearing every time you reattached to a remote session whose worker had died while waiting on them
•Fixed claude agents --json omitting blocked and just-dispatched background sessions; added --all to include completed sessions, plus new id and state fields
•Fixed agents view leaving a stale/garbled frame after navigating back from an agent on WSL in Windows Terminal
•Fixed background agents ignoring project-level settings env values (e.g. ANTHROPIC_MODEL) when dispatched onto a pre-warmed worker
•Fixed MCPB plugin cache being spuriously invalidated on Windows, causing unnecessary re-extraction
•Fixed plugin .in_use PID lock files accumulating without bound; stale markers from crashed sessions are now swept once per day
•Fixed untrusted project settings being able to set OTEL client-certificate paths without trust confirmation

Other9 changes

•Self-hosted runner: added a post-session lifecycle hook that runs after the session ends and before the workspace is deleted, so you can snapshot uncommitted work or export logs; also made the child-process SIGTERM→SIGKILL window configurable (default unchanged at 5s)
•/workflows now opens immediately even while a turn is in progress
•Restored a default 5-minute idle timeout on Vertex/Foundry so a stalled stream aborts instead of hanging indefinitely; set API_FORCE_IDLE_TIMEOUT=0 to opt out
•Remote-managed settings with an invalid entry now apply their remaining valid policies and surface the validation error, instead of silently dropping the whole payload
•Background sessions now preserve --ide, --chrome, --bare, --remote-control, and other flags across retire→wake, and respawn state validation was hardened
•Background sessions are now told that shared-checkout edits are blocked until they enter a worktree, avoiding a wasted rejected edit before EnterWorktree
•The "CLAUDE.md is too long" warning threshold now scales with the model's context window
•Auto-updater on Windows now stops retrying within a session once claude.exe is held by another process
•Promo credit claims for Apple/Google-billed subscribers without a payment method now explain where to add one

Added4 changes

•Added --safe-mode flag (and CLAUDE_CODE_SAFE_MODE) to start Claude Code with all customizations (CLAUDE.md, plugins, skills, hooks, MCP servers) disabled for troubleshooting

•Added /cd command to move a session to a new working directory without breaking the prompt cache mid-session

•Added a disableBundledSkills setting and CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_BUNDLED_SKILLS environment variable to hide bundled skills, workflows, and built-in slash commands from the model

•Added a tip suggesting claude agents when running multiple concurrent sessions

Improved4 changes

•Improved TaskCreate reliability: malformed inputs are repaired automatically and validation errors for unloaded tools include the schema

•Improved the error message shown when your organization has disabled API key authentication, with guidance based on where the active API key comes from

•Reduced CPU usage while responses stream and during spinner animations

•Improved color contrast for skill tags in the slash-command menu

Fixed14 changes

•Fixed Up/Down arrows jumping to command history past the wrapped rows of a long input line — they now move through each visual row first, and history recall enters at the near edge

•Fixed enterprise managed MCP policies (allowedMcpServers/deniedMcpServers) not being enforced on reconnect, IDE-typed configs, --mcp-config servers during the first session after install, or before remote settings loaded; also fixed slow cold starts for orgs without remote settings

•Fixed a ~30-50ms UI stall at the start of each turn for macOS users logged in with claude.ai credentials

•Fixed claude -p being slow or appearing to hang on Windows while waiting for the slash-command/skill scan (regression in 2.1.161)

•Fixed Remote Control getting stuck on "reconnecting" after resuming a session when an OAuth token refresh happened at the same time

•Fixed Git Credential Manager's "Connect to GitHub" popup appearing on Windows at startup when background git commands ran without cached credentials

•Fixed footer hints (e.g. "esc to interrupt") not showing for users with a custom statusline

•Fixed stale permission and dialog prompts reappearing every time you reattached to a remote session whose worker had died while waiting on them

•Fixed claude agents --json omitting blocked and just-dispatched background sessions; added --all to include completed sessions, plus new id and state fields

•Fixed agents view leaving a stale/garbled frame after navigating back from an agent on WSL in Windows Terminal

•Fixed background agents ignoring project-level settings env values (e.g. ANTHROPIC_MODEL) when dispatched onto a pre-warmed worker

•Fixed MCPB plugin cache being spuriously invalidated on Windows, causing unnecessary re-extraction

•Fixed plugin .in_use PID lock files accumulating without bound; stale markers from crashed sessions are now swept once per day

•Fixed untrusted project settings being able to set OTEL client-certificate paths without trust confirmation

Other9 changes

•Self-hosted runner: added a post-session lifecycle hook that runs after the session ends and before the workspace is deleted, so you can snapshot uncommitted work or export logs; also made the child-process SIGTERM→SIGKILL window configurable (default unchanged at 5s)

•/workflows now opens immediately even while a turn is in progress

•Restored a default 5-minute idle timeout on Vertex/Foundry so a stalled stream aborts instead of hanging indefinitely; set API_FORCE_IDLE_TIMEOUT=0 to opt out

•Remote-managed settings with an invalid entry now apply their remaining valid policies and surface the validation error, instead of silently dropping the whole payload

•Background sessions now preserve --ide, --chrome, --bare, --remote-control, and other flags across retire→wake, and respawn state validation was hardened

•Background sessions are now told that shared-checkout edits are blocked until they enter a worktree, avoiding a wasted rejected edit before EnterWorktree

•The "CLAUDE.md is too long" warning threshold now scales with the model's context window

•Auto-updater on Windows now stops retrying within a session once claude.exe is held by another process

•Promo credit claims for Apple/Google-billed subscribers without a payment method now explain where to add one

v2.1.169 Claude Code Release Notes

Changes in Claude Code v2.1.169

Added4 changes

Improved4 changes

Fixed14 changes

Other9 changes

v2.1.169 Claude Code Release Notes

Changes in Claude Code v2.1.169

Added4 changes

Improved4 changes

Fixed14 changes

Other9 changes