What
Administrators can now enforce a minimum and/or maximum Claude Code version through managed policy settings. If the running version is outside the allowed range, Claude Code exits at startup with instructions on how to update or downgrade.
Details
requiredMinimumVersion: If the running version is older than this value, Claude Code exits with a message to update using the organization's approved method.requiredMaximumVersion: If the running version is newer than this value, Claude Code exits with a message to install an approved version (claude install <version>may also work).- Both settings are only enforced from managed/policy settings (
managed-settings.json/ MDM). They have no effect in user or project settings. - Exempt commands:
update,install, anddoctorbypass the version check so users can fix the problem. - Invalid semver values are logged as errors and ignored rather than blocking startup.
Evidence
Version check at startup (search for "is older than the minimum version required by your organization" and "is newer than the maximum version allowed by your organization")
Strings lifted out of the shipped bundle, so the claim above can be checked against them.
One source agreesOne thing we can check says the same as this entry.
Anthropic's release notes agree
Added requiredMinimumVersion and requiredMaximumVersion managed settings — Claude Code refuses to start if its version is outside the…