Claude Code adds a subagent effort dial and locks writes to your repo
The Oct 30–31 drops harden auto mode and long sessions: idle 200K-token chats self-compact, stray shells die on exit, and Factory's Droid CLI reaches 1.0.
Copy markdown
Set subagent effort with one env var
Claude Code 2.1.316 adds `CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_EFFORT`, which sets the effort level subagents run at when nothing else names one. You can now run cheap, fast scouts under a high-effort main session instead of forcing every subagent to inherit the session level.
Writes can't escape your working directory
The 2.1.314 release adds `permissions.blockWritesOutsideWorkingDirectories`: Write, Edit, and NotebookEdit refuse any path outside your working dirs in every permission mode. Safer to leave auto mode running — it can't touch your home folder or system files.
Idle 200K-token sessions self-compact
In VS Code and the Desktop Code tab, a conversation past 200K tokens that sits idle now gets summarized in the background; the summary is used on your next message if the prompt cache has expired. Less 'context full' friction when you step away and come back.
Orphaned shell processes finally die on exit
2.1.316 fixes shell commands that kept running on macOS and Linux after Claude Code exited on its own — no more stray dev servers or watchers holding your ports. It also fixes multi-line bash aliases and dash-prefixed functions in the Bash tool.
Factory's Droid CLI reaches 1.0
Factory shipped Droid CLI and Desktop v1.0.0 (Oct 29), then v1.1.0 (Oct 30): doctor now lists every Droid install on your PATH with its version, disabling or removing an MCP server takes effect immediately, and Linux/ChromeOS users can continue in the browser after onboarding.