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Sweep 08 Oct 2026 · 18:53Z Build v2.1.295 516 read Stable v2.1.286 Latest v2.1.295 Next v2.1.295 Feeds RSS JSON llms.txt llms-full.txt Unofficial

Claude Code v2.1.290 ·

Channels now wait on a server-side allow_channels verdict, denied under HIPAA

Channels now also need a server allow_channels verdict besides tengu_harbor, and that verdict is denied for HIPAA policy (HIPAA-R71)

Group of 2 You'll notice Improvements
JSON All of v2.1.290
You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
4Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
ChannelsArea: what it touches
ImprovementsKind: in v2.1.290,
What probably matters to youSection of the release

Unclear What provides the allow_channels answer is not clear.

What

Whether Channels is available used to depend only on the tengu_harbor flag. It now also depends on a policy verdict about allow_channels that comes from Anthropic's servers:

  • A new check, cdt(), treats Channels as off unless tengu_harbor is on and an allow_channels verdict is present that is not cache_miss or route_missing. nL() now also requires nn("allow_channels").
  • A new policy entry, allow_channels, labelled Channels (HIPAA-R71), is denied under the hipaa policy. It is also denied when the verdict is not cached yet (cache miss) and when the verdict is a fail-open one.
  • The startup dialog now asks isChannelsOffForSession, which is the reverse of the old isChannelsEnabled question.
  • The Channels status has a new verdictPending field. While the verdict has not arrived, it reads cache_miss or route_missing.
  • The waiting text shown on screen is now " · web fetch, design sync and Channels wait for it".

Why

Turning the flag on is no longer enough to get Channels. Organisations under the HIPAA policy will not get it, and anyone may see Channels held back at startup until the server verdict arrives.

Read from
Feature flag
tengu_harbor Off by default, switched on for this account

The shipped code defaults this off, and the flag server returned on for the one account this site reads on this version. That is the reading that makes the entry above worth a second look, and it still says nothing about your account.

This account: on · anonymous baseline: on · compiled default in v2.1.290: off

These values were read against a different version of Claude Code, so treat them as the nearest reading available instead of one taken on this release.

Read once, for one account on one subscription tier, against v2.1.290. It isn't a statement about your account. What a flag value here can and cannot tell you

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 doubtWhat provides the `allow_channels` answer is not clear.

See this entry in the whole of v2.1.290 →

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