Idle compaction can now run in a new mode, compact_on_return, alongside the existing log and compact modes. Compaction is when Claude Code replaces the earlier part of a conversation with a summary to free up room. In this mode the summary is prepared in the background while you are away, and when it is used Claude Code tells you: "Compacted after an hour idle, using a summary written while you were away".
The mode is skipped if preparing the summary in advance is turned off, or if swapping it in is not supported. The setting that chooses the mode is off unless it is switched on remotely. The minimum conversation size for idle compaction can also be set with CLAUDE_CODE_IDLE_COMPACT_MIN_TOKENS.
It is a different way to compact after a long break: the summary is ready by the time you come back instead of being written then.
tengu_sunny_locket Not enough to sayNothing here resolved what this flag was doing on this version, so nothing here should be read as on or off.
This account: no value returned · anonymous baseline: no value returned · compiled default in v2.1.300: not a boolean we can read
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 v2.1.300. It isn't a statement about your account. What a flag value here can and cannot tell you
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.
A reading is one sample. Claude Code evaluates its flags remotely, so no client sees the targeting rule behind a value and this says nothing about your account.