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Sweep 22 Sep 2026 · 17:19Z Build v2.1.280 501 read Stable v2.1.267 Latest v2.1.280 Next v2.1.280 Feeds RSS JSON llms.txt Unofficial
Claude Code v2.1.267 ·

Model-catalog shadow-compare fetch changes: network gating and caching

The background check that compares the served model catalog now handles network access and caching differently, with a bounded wait

TierUnder the hoodhow much it should matter to you
Useful1my rating, 1 to 5
Signal2worth watching, 1 to 5
AreaModel Catalogwhat it touches
KindInternal Changesin v2.1.267,
Group of 2 Under the hood

The background check that compares the served model catalog now handles network access and caching differently, with a bounded wait

What

  • The background "shadow compare" fetch that checks the served/published model catalog now unconditionally allows network access for its own fetch path (a related sibling call still gates access based on whether Claude Code is running headless). The shadow-compare fetch only runs at all if an internal mode check doesn't disable it (covering environment overrides, bare mode, non-first-party or non-claude.ai auth, missing organization, or policy).
  • The shadow-compare check now first looks at a local cache entry and checks whether it is stale before deciding whether to make a network fetch, then writes the fresh (or errored) result back to the cache.
  • If the fetch does not finish within a fixed time budget, it no longer blocks; instead it schedules a background check to finish later and logs a new model_catalog_late_fetch event.

Why These changes make the background catalog comparison less likely to block or make unnecessary repeated network requests, while keeping the feature itself gated off unless explicitly enabled.

How sure we are
Something disagreesSomething we can check disagrees with this entry, or the writer said they could not settle it.
The writer flagged doubtThe finding does not say what reading `tengu_model_catalog_compare` gets for this release, since nothing has been read about that gate yet.

See this entry in the whole of v2.1.267 →

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