Claude can be told how much to do on its own: low, medium or high proactivity
A proactivity note in the conversation tells Claude whether to ask first, act normally or act on its own for commits, pushes, pull requests and follow-ups
You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
4Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
4Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
ProactivityArea: what it touches
New FeaturesKind: in v2.1.290,
What probably matters to youSection of the release
What
Claude Code can add a note to the conversation that sets a proactivity level. The note is extra text Claude reads alongside your messages. It has three levels:
low (ask): Claude confirms before changing anything, agrees a plan first, and never commits, pushes or opens a pull request unless you confirm it
medium (default): Claude asks only when it truly cannot go on, and does not commit or push unasked
high (proactive): Claude does not ask questions, commits, pushes and opens pull requests when that is the natural next step, picks up follow-up work, and schedules check-ins instead of waiting
The note is only sent when the session was started with --proactivity (or a restart handed a level over) and the proactivity selector is on; the --proactivity startup entry lists what switches it off. The note says it does not override plan mode, the permission mode, or the rules about destructive actions. When the setting is removed, Claude Code sends a message saying the proactivity setting announced earlier no longer applies.
Why
The level changes how freely Claude commits and pushes your code. If you are used to Claude asking before a push, a high level means it may not.
What has happened since
Corrected by handThe operator corrected this entry by hand after it was published.
