Claude Code v2.1.302 turns fork subagents on by default everywhere
Same drop changes default permission mode for claude -p and the SDK, adds a client-side model picker, and sets Claude Design to close Dec 14.
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Fork subagents, now on by default outside the terminal
v2.1.302 (Oct 16) flips subagent_type: "fork" on by default in claude -p, the Agent SDK, the desktop app and VS Code — matching the terminal. Forks inherit your full context and run on your model, so expect more parallel context-sharing agents unless you set CLAUDE_CODE_FORK_SUBAGENT=0 (claude mcp serve never offers them).
claude -p now starts in ask-first 'default' mode
Headless and Agent SDK sessions with no permission mode set now start in default (ask-before-acting) mode on third-party providers, with telemetry off, or on a fresh install. Pass --permission-mode auto to keep auto — pipelines that assumed auto-approval can silently stall otherwise.
One env var picks the auto-mode model
New CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_MODE_MODEL chooses which model the client-side auto-mode classifier runs on; server-side auto mode is unchanged. Useful if you'd rather a cheaper or faster model decide how your prompts get routed.
Idle compaction gets a /config toggle
Idle compaction (added in v2.1.299) now has an on/off row in /config. It compacts a 200K+ token conversation left idle about 54 minutes before its one-hour prompt cache expires, so your next message doesn't reprocess the whole thing — a real token saver on long sessions.
Standalone Claude Design closes Dec 14
/design-sync and /design-login now warn that standalone Claude Design (claude.ai/design) shuts down by December 14, 2026. If design sync is part of your flow, start planning the migration now.
The Mods plugin hook surface keeps growing
The drop rounds out the plugin ('Mods') hooks added across v2.1.299–301: a prompt.change hook that fires on non-typed edits (history recall, clear, undo, a plugin's fill), $.prompt.media so a managed-settings mod can read an attached image or document's bytes, and a .catch that now runs only on the hook's own throw or timeout.
Fixes worth noting: MCP 2026-07-28, exFAT, duplicate cloud routines
Among 43 bug fixes: MCP servers negotiating protocol 2026-07-28 without resultType/ttlMs/cacheScope no longer drop tools, Windows writes on exFAT/FAT32 drives work again, and cloud routines restarting after an hour-plus no longer duplicate work. Read now also rejects image sources over 128 MB.