# Claude Code v2.1.76 > Claude Code v2.1.76, released 14 Mar 2026 (2026-03-14). 22 entries read out of the shipped bundle. Unofficial, and not affiliated with Anthropic. Web version: https://changelogs.core-directive.com/v/2.1.76 This release adds the `/effort` slash command for controlling model effort level, replaces the interactive hooks editor with a read-only viewer, introduces automatic background memory extraction (feature-flagged), adds a PostCompact hook event, and makes the `--plugin-dir` flag repeatable for loading multiple session-only plugin directories. ## Changes ### `/effort` Slash Command **What** A new built-in slash command to view and set the model effort level directly from the REPL, without navigating into `/config`. **Usage** `/effort # Show current effort level /effort medium # Set to medium /effort max # Maximum reasoning depth (Opus 4.6 only) /effort auto # Reset to automatic (default)` **Details** - Effort levels: `low`, `medium`, `high`, `max`, `auto` - Named levels are persisted to user settings (`effortLevel` in settings.json) - `auto` clears the setting, returning to the model default - Each level has a descriptive summary (e.g. "Balanced approach with standard implementation and testing") **Evidence** `/effort` command registration (search for `name: "effort"`, `description: "Set effort level for model usage"`) ### PostCompact Hook Event **What** A new hook event that fires after conversation compaction completes, letting you run shell commands or prompts in response to compaction. **Details** - Hook event name: `PostCompact` - Input includes compaction details and the summary text - Allows post-processing after compaction (e.g., logging, notification, or custom follow-up actions) - Hook output: exit code 0 shows stdout to user; other exit codes show stderr only **Evidence** PostCompact hook event definition (search for `hook_event_name: C.literal("PostCompact")`, `"Running PostCompact hooks…"`) ### Built-in Hooks **What** A new category of hooks that are registered internally by Claude Code, distinct from user-configured and plugin hooks. **Details** - Shown separately in the hooks viewer as "Built-in Hooks" / "Built-in hooks (registered internally by Claude Code)" - Cannot be modified by users—they are part of the Claude Code runtime - Visible in the `/hooks` UI for transparency **Evidence** Built-in hooks category (search for `"Built-in hooks (registered internally by Claude Code)"`) ### Bundled Skill Reference Files **What** Built-in skills can now declare reference files that are extracted to a temporary directory at runtime, making them available for the skill prompt to reference. **Details** - Skills define a `files` property in their registration, mapping relative paths to file content - Files are extracted to a per-skill directory inside the Claude Code data directory - Path traversal is blocked (`bundled skill file path escapes skill dir:` error) - Files are written with `O_NOFOLLOW` to prevent symlink attacks - The skill prompt is prefixed with `Base directory for this skill: ` **Evidence** Bundled skill file extraction (search for `"Bundled skill reference files are allowed for reading"`, `"Failed to extract bundled skill '"`) ### Hooks UI Redesigned as Read-Only Viewer The `/hooks` command has been redesigned from a full hook management interface (add, edit, delete) to a read-only viewer. Users can browse hook events, matchers, and see hook details, but can no longer modify hooks through the UI. What changed: - Removed: "Add new hook", "Delete hook?", "Delete matcher?", "Save hook configuration", "Where should this hook be saved?" dialogs - Added: "Hook details" detail view showing event, matcher, type, source, command/prompt, and status message - Added: "This menu is read-only. To add or modify hooks, edit settings.json directly or ask Claude." - Added: "To re-enable hooks, remove `disableAllHooks` from settings.json or ask Claude." - Navigation: "Esc to go back" / "Esc to close" guides - Description changed from "Manage hook configurations" to "View hook configurations" **Evidence** Read-only hooks viewer (search for `"View hook configurations"`, `"This menu is read-only"`, `"Hook details"`) ### `--plugin-dir` Flag Now Repeatable The `--plugin-dir` flag has been updated from accepting a single paths argument to being individually repeatable. What changed: - Old: `--plugin-dir ` (space-separated paths in one argument) - New: `--plugin-dir ` (repeat the flag: `--plugin-dir A --plugin-dir B`) - Session-only plugins are now labeled as "Session-only plugins (--plugin-dir):" in the UI - The reserved marketplace name `"inline"` is used internally for `--plugin-dir` session plugins **Evidence** Repeatable plugin-dir flag (search for `"Load plugins from a directory for this session only (repeatable: --plugin-dir A --plugin-dir B)"`) ### Language Setting Now Includes Voice Dictation The preferred language setting description has been expanded to explicitly include voice dictation. What changed: - Old: `Preferred language for Claude responses (e.g., "japanese", "spanish")` - New: `Preferred language for Claude responses and voice dictation (e.g., "japanese", "spanish")` - New dictation language display: shows current dictation language with unsupported-language warning **Evidence** Language setting update (search for `"Preferred language for Claude responses and voice dictation"`, `"Dictation language:"`) ### Disabled Organization Error Handling New error messages provide better guidance when an `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` belongs to a disabled organization. **Details** - Subscription users: "Your ANTHROPIC_API_KEY belongs to a disabled organization · Unset the environment variable to use your subscription instead" - Other users: "Your ANTHROPIC_API_KEY belongs to a disabled organization · Update or unset the environment variable" - Organization verification errors now include actionable guidance about token scope and managed settings **Evidence** Disabled org handling (search for `"organization has been disabled"`, `"Your ANTHROPIC_API_KEY belongs to a disabled organization"`) ### Session Transcript Retention Semantics Changed The `transcriptRetentionDays` setting now has stricter behavior when set to 0. What changed: - Old: "Number of days to retain chat transcripts (0 to disable cleanup)" — 0 meant keep forever - New: "Number of days to retain chat transcripts (default: 30). Setting to 0 disables session persistence entirely: no transcripts are written and existing transcripts are deleted at startup." - This is a behavioral change: setting 0 previously preserved transcripts forever; now it deletes them **Evidence** Transcript retention change (search for `"disables session persistence entirely"`) ### Stale Agent Worktree Cleanup Agent worktrees that are no longer active are now automatically cleaned up. **Details** - Worktrees with no uncommitted changes and no unpushed commits are removed - The current session's worktree is never cleaned up - Cleanup runs `git worktree prune` after removal - Logged as: `cleanupStaleAgentWorktrees: removed N stale worktree(s)` **Evidence** Worktree cleanup (search for `"cleanupStaleAgentWorktrees"`) ### Compaction Now Preserves Message Segments Conversation compaction can now preserve a segment of recent messages instead of summarizing everything. **Details** - Compacted boundaries include a `preservedSegment` with `headUuid`, `anchorUuid`, and `tailUuid` - Loaders splice the preserved segment at the anchor point so resumed sessions include actual message content - Metadata is serialized as `preserved_segment` in transcript files **Evidence** Preserved segment in compaction (search for `"preservedSegment"`, `"Relink info for messagesToKeep"`) ### Read Tool Guidance Updated The Read tool system prompt now encourages partial file reads when the needed section is known. What changed: - Added: "When you already know which part of the file you need, only read that part. This can be important for larger files." - This supplements the existing guidance about offset/limit parameters **Evidence** Read tool guidance (search for `"When you already know which part of the file you need"`) ### PDF Reading Now Requires Anthropic API Full PDF reading (without specifying page ranges) now requires the Anthropic API and poppler-utils. What changed: - Old: "PDF reading is not supported. Install poppler-utils..." - New: "Reading full PDFs is only supported with the Anthropic API. Use the pages parameter to read specific page ranges (e.g., pages: \"1-5\", maximum N pages per request). This requires poppler-utils: install with `brew install poppler` on macOS or `apt-get install poppler-utils` on Debian/Ubuntu." **Evidence** PDF reading message (search for `"Reading full PDFs is only supported with the Anthropic API"`) ### Plugin Dependency Resolution Enhanced Plugin dependencies can now be specified as bare names (without `@marketplace`) and are resolved against the declaring plugin's own marketplace. **Details** - `Dependency must be a plugin name, optionally qualified with @marketplace` - Bare names resolve against the parent plugin's marketplace source - The `"inline"` marketplace name is reserved for `--plugin-dir` session plugins **Evidence** Plugin dependency resolution (search for `"Dependency must be a plugin name, optionally qualified with @marketplace"`) ### LSP Server Manager Reinitialization A new `reinitializeLspServerManager()` function allows the LSP server manager to be restarted without restarting the entire session, useful when plugin configurations change. **Evidence** LSP reinit (search for `"[LSP MANAGER] reinitializeLspServerManager() called"`) ### MCP Tool Call Error Type A dedicated `McpToolCallError` error type has been added for MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool call failures, providing better error categorization. **Evidence** Error type (search for `"McpToolCallError"`) ### ExitPlanMode Tool Description Clarified The ExitPlanMode tool description now explicitly states it's only for plan mode: "present plan for approval and start coding (plan mode only)". An error message was also added: "You are not in plan mode. This tool is only for exiting plan mode after writing a plan." **Evidence** ExitPlanMode update (search for `"present plan for approval and start coding (plan mode only)"`) ## Bug Fixes - Fixed autocompact circuit breaker to stop retrying after repeated failures: `"autocompact: circuit breaker tripped after N consecutive failures — skipping future attempts this session"` (search for `"circuit breaker tripped"`) - Prompt/memory count now only counts messages after the last compaction boundary, fixing inflated counts in long sessions (search for `"compact_boundary"` in `UFY`) - Tool schema discovery warning now explains why typed parameters fail and how to fix it: `"This tool's schema was not sent to the API — it was not in the discovered-tool set"` (search for `"This tool's schema was not sent to the API"`) ### Automatic Memory Extraction [In Development] **What** A background agent that automatically extracts and saves memories from conversations, running alongside the main conversation without user intervention. **Status** Feature-flagged behind `tengu_passport_quail` (default: `false`) **Details** - After each turn, a background agent analyzes recent messages and saves relevant information to memory files - Uses the `tengu_bramble_lintel` flag to control how many turns to accumulate before running (default: 1) - Supports both private (user-only) and team (shared) memory scopes - Team memory format controlled by `tengu_swinburne_dune` flag (alternative two-step format) - Tracks which files the conversation has already written to, skipping extraction if the user manually saved memories - Coalesces rapid extractions: if one is already running, subsequent requests are stashed for a trailing run - Sends notification: "Saved N memor(y|ies)" when memories are written - Memory extraction agent is restricted to only Write, Read, and Edit tools within the memory directory - System prompt: "A background agent automatically extracts and saves memories from this conversation. If the user asks you to remember or forget something, acknowledge it — the save happens automatically." **Evidence** Memory extraction system (search for `"tengu_passport_quail"`, `"[extractMemories]"`, `"extract_memories"`) - Flag `tengu_passport_quail`: Off in both readings (read for one account on one subscription tier against v2.1.76; this account: off, anonymous baseline: off, compiled default: no gate table built for this version) 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. - Flag `tengu_bramble_lintel`: Not enough to say (read for one account on one subscription tier against v2.1.76; this account: no value returned, anonymous baseline: no value returned, compiled default: no gate table built for this version) 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. ### Session Quality Survey [In Development] **What** An in-session quality survey that can appear when a session is eligible. **Status** Feature-flagged — controlled by a probability setting (suggested starting point: 0.05) **Details** - Configuration: "Probability (0–1) that the session quality survey appears when eligible. 0.05 is a reasonable starting point." - No evidence of the survey UI itself in the diff, suggesting infrastructure only **Evidence** Survey config (search for `"session quality survey"`) ### Cancel Async Message [In Development] **What** Ability to cancel a pending async user message from the command queue by UUID. **Status** Infrastructure added **Details** - Operation: `cancel_async_message` drops a pending message that hasn't been dequeued yet - Result includes `cancelled` boolean: false means the message was already dequeued or never enqueued - Related to Remote Control bridge functionality **Evidence** Async message cancellation (search for `"cancel_async_message"`, `"Drops a pending async user message"`) ### Bridge Debug Commands (Internal) **What** A `/bridge-kick` debug command for injecting failure states into the Remote Control bridge for manual recovery testing. **Status** Registered but explicitly disabled (`isEnabled: () => !1`) **Details** - Subcommands: `close`, `poll`, `register`, `reconnect-session`, `heartbeat`, `reconnect`, `status` - Only available when Remote Control is connected (USER_TYPE=ant) - Intended for internal Anthropic debugging, not user-facing **Evidence** Bridge debug command (search for `"bridge-kick"`, `"Inject bridge failure states"`)