Claude Code v2.1.261 · 4 Sep 2026
SDK session init accepts a plugins field over stdin
The SDK's initialize request can now carry plugin paths over stdin instead of one flag per plugin.
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All of v2.1.261
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3 Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
2 Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
SDK Area: what it touches
New Features Kind: in v2.1.261, 04 Sep 26
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The SDK's initialize control-request schema now accepts a plugins field, mirroring the SDK's plugins launch option, so callers can pass plugin-dir entries over stdin instead of adding one --plugin-dir flag per plugin. It only takes effect on a CLI launched with --await-initialize, where it's read during startup before plugin work happens; a repeated initialize call or a remote session transport ignores it. The response's plugins_applied field reports whether it actually took effect.
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4 Sep 2026 · 179 entries, this one is #17.
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setting plugins Signing in can request an extra permission for plugin search, though search itself remains policy-gated.
cli --plugin-dir Load a plugin from a directory or .zip archive, or several from a folder of plugins , for this session only. Each flag takes one path. Repeat the flag for more paths: --plugin-dir A --plugin-dir B.zip. Passing a folder of plugins requires Claude Code v2.1.265 or later
setting initialize Some MCP server discovery calls are answered from cache, avoiding an extra round trip.
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Other releases about the same thing. Found by shared names or similar wording; neither means one caused the other.
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--resume can now adopt/accept custom (non-UUID) session IDs when used with SDK URL…
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Escalated retry windows for the first-byte stream timeout
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