Brief Mode (Compact Chat View) / Claude Code v2.1.72

What

A new compact view mode that shows only checkpoint messages (from SendUserMessage) instead of the full tool-call transcript, with dedicated visual styling.

Details

Controlled by the CLAUDE_CODE_BRIEF environment variable or the tengu_kairos_brief feature flag
Adds a Brief tool and BRIEF_TOOL_NAME / LEGACY_BRIEF_TOOL_NAME constants
User messages display with a "You" label in blue; Claude's responses use a distinct orange label
When brief-only mode is active, the token usage bar is hidden and the spinner uses a simplified dots animation
Toggle via a new "Toggle brief-only mode" action

Evidence

Brief mode infrastructure (search for "CLAUDE_CODE_BRIEF", "tengu_kairos_brief", "isBriefOnly")

Strings lifted out of the shipped bundle, so the claim above can be checked against them.

See this entry in the whole of v2.1.72 →

The build it came inv2.1.72

9 Mar 2026 · 24 entries, this one is #3.

Either side of it

v2.1.71Older
v2.1.73Newer

Open the release →

Names in this entry

envCLAUDE_CODE_BRIEF
/brief is hidden by server config, but brief mode still works via an environment variable.
flagtengu_kairos_brief
Default false. With CLAUDE_CODE_BRIEF, one of the switches that turn on brief mode, subject to a further gate; in brief mode plain assistant text is hidden from the user and replies reach them through the SendUserMessage tool. The flag is also read directly when rendering user prompt messages and the spinner.

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