TL;DR

• Ctrl+L / Cmd+K double-press /clear removed in fullscreen. Both keys now always repaint; use /clear directly if you relied on the double-press shortcut.
• New keybindingFlavor: "readline" setting for Bash-like Ctrl+W. Set it to "readline" and Ctrl+W in the prompt deletes back to the previous whitespace, matching Bash behavior.
• Unbounded memory growth in long sessions fixed. Subagent tool results are now released once they leave the recent display window, so agent-heavy sessions no longer balloon.
• Custom output styles no longer drift back to default mid-session. If the "Concise" style from 2.1.237 was reverting on you, this is the fix (more below).
• MCP headersHelper in project .mcp.json now requires folder trust. Inline MCP servers in project or --add-dir agent files also require the trust dialog, including under claude -p.

New in 2.1.238

2.1.238 (August 21, 2026)

• Added a keybindingFlavor setting: set it to "readline" to make Ctrl+W in the prompt delete back to the previous whitespace, as in Bash; the default ("classic") is unchanged
• Plugin marketplaces: headersHelper on a url marketplace or a catalog entry runs a command that mints HTTP headers (e.g. a short-lived token) for catalog and same-origin archive fetches
• A catalog entry's headersHelper runs only when you install or update that plugin, after its command is shown; claude plugin install/update ask [y/N] (or pass -y)
• Added claude self-hosted-runner --defer-shutdown-max-min <minutes>: on SIGTERM, keep serving attached sessions, park what is left after that many minutes, then exit
• Added claude self-hosted-runner --proxy-authorization-command / --proxy-authorization-file for egress proxies that require a freshly issued Proxy-Authorization header on every connection
• Fixed unbounded memory growth in long interactive sessions: subagent tool results are now released once they leave the recent display window
• Fixed custom, project, and plugin output styles drifting back to the default voice mid-session
• Fixed CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_PROMPT_SUGGESTION=true not keeping prompt suggestions on when your account is near, but not over, its usage limit
• Fixed worktree-isolation Bash refusals telling you to remove a redirect when the command had none
• Fixed self-hosted runners occasionally being removed by the server after a single slow or lost poll request, handing their healthy session to another runner
• Fixed MCP elicitation dialogs showing nothing for URLs longer than 4,096 characters, and permission prompts dropping the "don't ask again" option when the project path didn't fit the terminal width
• Fixed leftover /tmp/claude-*-cwd files when a Bash command is killed, times out, or is interrupted
• Fixed held Backspace being ignored on terminals that send Ctrl+H for Backspace when keystrokes arrive in large bursts (slow SSH/mosh links)
• Fixed text-wrapping in permission prompt diffs: lines containing wide multi-code-point characters (such as emoji) or tabs are no longer clipped
• Fixed killing a suspended (Ctrl+Z) session sometimes leaving the terminal in bracketed-paste mode with the cursor hidden
• Fixed stdio MCP servers receiving a server/discover request before initialize, forcing lazy servers to start their backend on every session open
• Fixed a proxy's refusal of a connection being reported as a generic network error instead of naming the proxy
• Fixed the /model and /effort cache-miss warning appearing when the prompt cache had already expired
• Fixed per-task Stop from the Remote Control tasks panel doing nothing on CLI-hosted sessions
• Fixed remote sessions exiting when a client delivered a user message without a valid role
• Fixed Remote Control sessions started by claude remote-control inheriting session-scoped environment variables from the launching shell
• Fixed a Remote Control session whose process crashed staying unavailable until claude remote-control was restarted; it can now be reused when you next message it
• Fixed Remote Control messages sent from the web or Desktop while Claude is mid-turn disappearing from the transcript after the turn finishes
• Fixed Remote Control model picks made on a phone or web not updating the model shown in the terminal
• Fixed Remote Control disconnecting with "login expired" when a brief network hiccup delays renewing your sign-in; it now retries and stays connected
• Fixed Remote Control reporting a failed reconnect on sign-out; signing out now ends the session with a clear message
• Fixed ListAgents/SendMessage reporting "Remote Control is not connected" in sessions run by claude remote-control (server mode) or Desktop/IDE hosts; they now list and reach Remote Control peers
• Fixed ListAgents and SendMessage exposing the idle worker that the agent view pre-warms for your next background session; it now appears only once a task claims it
• Cross-session messaging: sending to a session on this machine that refuses inbound messages (e.g. crossSessionInbound: "refuse") now reports "refused" to the sender instead of a silent success
• Cross-session messaging: a session whose inbox drops your messages (rate limit or full queue) now tells your session, instead of the messages vanishing silently
• Improved startup: bare claude starts sooner on macOS
• Improved Bash tool permission checking for zsh-specific syntax in shell conditionals
• Improved Remote Control connection resilience: brief HTTP 403 refusals from a network edge, VPN, or proxy are now tolerated for up to 3 minutes, with the refusing party named when a block persists
• Improved startup responsiveness: the automatic update check now runs about 10 seconds after launch instead of competing with startup for CPU
• Updated the bundled claude-api skill for the Managed Agents Aug 19 release: web search/fetch domain settings and memory stores on self-hosted sandboxes
• Changed Ctrl+L and Cmd+K in fullscreen to always just repaint, the double-press /clear shortcut was removed, and 1-row nvim terminals no longer trigger automatic /clear loops
• Changed claude mcp list and claude mcp get to show disabled servers as disabled instead of connecting to them for a health check
• MCP headersHelper in a project .mcp.json, and inline MCP servers in project or --add-dir agent files, now require that folder's trust dialog to have been accepted (also under claude -p)
• MCP headersHelper from a project .mcp.json, plugin, or agent file runs without inherited credential env vars; user, managed and claude.ai-scope helpers now run from the Claude config dir

Notes