taskOutputMaxChars
A Claude Code settings key, read out of the shipped bundle. It was in the build from v2.1.261 and was gone by v2.1.284.
Removed in v2.1.277, together with the TaskOutput tool it sized
Anthropic's own wording. Read off All settings, captured 2026-11-12.
In the changelogs
5Releases whose published page names taskOutputMaxChars.
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v2.1.277
TASK_MAX_OUTPUT_LENGTH removed from recognized settings list
The TASK_MAX_OUTPUT_LENGTH environment variable is no longer a recognized setting
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.277
Task output max-length now derived per output host
Task output length limit now depends on the output destination, not one global setting
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.261
New settings for inline Bash/Task output truncation limits
New settings let you control how much Bash and Task output Claude sees before it gets truncated to a file.
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.261
TaskOutput tool result size now computed dynamically
TaskOutput's result size limit is now computed dynamically rather than fixed.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.261
New settings keys: bashOutputMaxChars / taskOutputMaxChars
The new Bash and Task output limit settings are now formally recognized and propagated internally.
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
First cited
2The earliest release whose published evidence quoted taskOutputMaxChars was v2.1.261, 4 Sep 2026. That is the oldest release this project wrote about it, so it is a floor on the name's age and not the release that introduced it. It is not a presence reading: which builds carried the name is the table below.
Presence across releases
2Build by build
55One row per release since the first build this name was read out of. Absent means the build was read and the name was not in it, never mined means no bundle for that release was ever archived, and a declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
Read out of the published npm bundle release by release, and out of Anthropic's own documentation as this site captured it. Nothing on this page is a description anybody here wrote about what the settings key does. All settings keys.