Unclear It is not confirmed that this 3.5-hour timing is the one Claude Code actually uses for artifact watches, rather than one of several timing presets.
When you publish an artifact, Claude Code can keep "watching" it so that it can respond to comments left on it. Some of these watches are set up automatically, for example when you publish, attach or resume. An automatic watch with no activity for more than 3.5 hours is now retired, and the notice says "idle auto-armed watches are retired". Previously the idle limit was switched off, so automatic watches never expired this way.
Two kinds of watch are exempt:
- Watches you set up explicitly
- The watch on your most recent publish
Automatic replies to comments on older published artifacts now stop after 3.5 quiet hours. Before, they carried on for as long as the session was open. If you want a watch to keep running, set it up explicitly.
It is not confirmed that this 3.5-hour timing is the one Claude Code actually uses for artifact watches, rather than one of several timing…