Claude Code — October 2026 Releases
26 releases in October 2026.
What's new in Claude Code, October 2026
Claude Code adds Claude Mods, idle compaction, Haiku 5.5 and tighter sandbox checks
Claude Code's main changes in October 2026 were Claude Mods, which let plugins modify deeper behavior, plus idle compaction, a new default Haiku model and a long run of permission and sandbox fixes. Twenty-six releases shipped, from v2.1.287 to v2.1.316.
v2.1.293 added Claude Haiku 5.5 (claude-haiku-5-5) as the default Haiku model on the Anthropic API. Idle compaction in the terminal (v2.1.299) compacts a 200K+ token conversation left idle before its prompt cache expires, with an "idleCompaction": false setting to turn it off, and v2.1.314 extended it to VS Code and Claude Desktop. Hooks gained onFailure: "block" (v2.1.295), /code-review gained --max-findings (v2.1.288), and v2.1.314 added permissions.blockWritesOutsideWorkingDirectories. v2.1.309 closed several sandbox and Bash permission gaps. Later releases added many Claude apps gateway options for admins. v2.1.316 notes that Opus 4.8 fast mode retires before November 30, 2026.
- Claude Mods let plugins modify deeper behavior, with many mod hooks added through the month (v2.1.287)
- Claude Haiku 5.5 (claude-haiku-5-5) becomes the default Haiku model on the Anthropic API (v2.1.293)
- Idle compaction compacts 200K+ token conversations before the prompt cache expires; extended to VS Code and Desktop (v2.1.299, v2.1.314)
- onFailure: "block" makes command and HTTP hooks block the action when they fail (v2.1.295)
- permissions.blockWritesOutsideWorkingDirectories stops Write, Edit and NotebookEdit outside working directories (v2.1.314)
- Sandbox and Bash permission check fixes, including startup files running outside the sandbox on macOS and Linux (v2.1.309)
Upgrading from v2.1.286? See every change through v2.1.316.
- v2.1.316 (October 31, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.316 is here: pooled group budgets, a new subagent effort setting, and a fix for shell commands left running after exit. Opus 4.8 fast
- v2.1.314 (October 30, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.314 is here: lock writes to your working directories, route gateway traffic by IdP group, and let long idle chats compact themselves.
- v2.1.312 (October 27, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.312 is out: custom OIDC user ID claims, safer large-file edits, a shorter prompt for custom model names, and a pile of fixes. Curious
- v2.1.311 (October 26, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.311 is out: new idle-hold options for self-hosted runners, plus fixes for startup freezes, stalled interrupts, and sessions that stopp
- v2.1.310 (October 23, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.310 brings the Monitor tool to Bedrock, Vertex, and Foundry, fixes gateway failures and stubborn compaction, and lets Enterprise Owner
- v2.1.309 (October 22, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.309 is out: tighter sandbox and permission checks, fixes for hooks and PowerShell on Windows, and ultrareview now asks for workspace t
- v2.1.308 (October 22, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.303 is out with bug fixes and reliability improvements. The notes don't break down the specifics, so the details are still a mystery.
- v2.1.307 (October 21, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.307 is out: a new safety telemetry event for every stopped or prompted tool call, MCP reconnect fixes after sleep and keychain locks,
- v2.1.306 (October 21, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.306 is here: cloud sessions no longer falsely report "Not logged in" for claude -p, and big MCP tool setups stop getting misleading "p
- v2.1.305 (October 20, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.305 now handles tool compatibility issues across different AI providers, so your commands won't fail when using Vertex, Bedrock, or ot
- v2.1.304 (October 19, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.304 now gives you better visibility into plugin interactions and adds intelligent setup guidance that learns from your project to opti
- v2.1.303 (October 18, 2026) — - Bug fixes and reliability improvements
- v2.1.302 (October 16, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.302 now gives you more control over how auto mode works on your device, plus we've squashed several bugs that were causing frustrating
- v2.1.301 (October 15, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.301 now handles unattended retries more intelligently, automatically stopping requests when hitting usage limits instead of waiting in
- v2.1.300 (October 14, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.300 brings smarter prompt handling with virtual text that won't interfere with your submissions, plus new ways to customize agent view
- v2.1.299 (October 14, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.299 brings smarter memory management with idle compaction, so long conversations stay efficient without reprocessing, and gives you fi
- v2.1.296 (October 9, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.296 now syncs code settings across Claude Desktop and the gateway for more consistent behavior, while new controls let you manage wind
- v2.1.295 (October 8, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.295 gives you better control with hooks that can now block actions when they fail, and improves visibility with terminal status update
- v2.1.294 (October 8, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.294 strengthens your safety controls by fixing how instruction-based hooks are interpreted, so blocking rules actually work as intende
- v2.1.293 (October 7, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.293 now defaults to the faster, more affordable Claude Haiku 5.5 model with 1M context window, giving you better performance at lower
- v2.1.292 (October 6, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.292 now lets you install plugins directly from marketplaces and control how hard sub-agents work on your tasks. We've also improved pe
- v2.1.291 (October 6, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.291 restores reliability by fixing critical issues where chat messages could disappear and permission prompts were being ignored. Thes
- v2.1.290 (October 5, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.290 now gives you deeper visibility into your tools with serverToolUses tracking what the API itself calls, plus smarter permission co
- v2.1.289 (October 3, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.289 improves security by ensuring permission rules properly apply across complex commands and user mods on managed machines. We've als
- v2.1.288 (October 2, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.288 makes it easier to recover lost work with one keystroke and gives you more control over code review findings, plus fixes that prev
- v2.1.287 (October 1, 2026) — Claude Code 2.1.287 now lets plugins modify deeper behavior with Claude Mods, and introduces an opt-in "You Should Know" agent that watches your back