# Claude Code's subagents can now fork the whole conversation!

Hey everyone, it's me! Claude Code just shipped a new version, and this one focuses heavily on subagents. I got pretty excited digging through the changelog, so let me walk you through it!

## What was announced?

Claude Code Release v2.1.232 ships a big batch of new features and security fixes together. The headline change: subagent forking is now on by default. A subagent started with `subagent_type: "fork"` now inherits the full calling conversation and its prompt cache, instead of starting fresh.

There's more too — you can now type `@` in a prompt to mention another Claude session by name, and GitLab gets much stronger token protection and native repository support.

## The story so far

Until now, spinning up a subagent meant rebuilding the conversation and cache from scratch every time. Non-teammate agent spawns in interactive sessions also ran in the foreground by default, so the screen would fill up with agent output.

Cross-session messaging had rough edges too: sending a message with `SendMessage` to a name that ambiguously matched more than one session required an extra confirmation step, and two sessions sharing a name could get confusing. On the GitLab side, bare `gitlab.com` repo URLs couldn't be used directly as plugin marketplaces.

## What changes

Forked subagents now carry over the conversation and cache, so multi-agent workflows don't need to re-feed the same context over and over. Non-teammate agent spawns default to running in the background, keeping your interactive screen cleaner.

`@`-mentioning a session by name now delivers directly, and if two sessions would share a name, one gets automatically renamed to a `name-word-word` variant. Teams on GitLab benefit too: even repos in nested subgroups now work as plugin marketplaces without extra setup.

## Dive Deep

**Multi-agent & sessions**
- Subagent forking is on by default, inheriting the full conversation and prompt cache
- Non-teammate agent spawns in interactive sessions now run in the background by default
- `SendMessage` delivers directly when a name matches exactly one live session (previously required confirmation)
- A session started or renamed to a name already in use on the same machine gets a `name-word-word` variant automatically
- `/config` gained rows for "Dialog expiry" and "Messages from your other sessions" (accept/hold/refuse cross-session messages)

**GitLab & marketplaces**
- GitLab token families (`glrt-`, `gloas-`, `glptt-`, `glagent-`, `glimt-`, `glsoat-`, `glcbt-`, `glft-`, `glffct-`) are now redacted, and routable `glpat-`/`gldt-` tokens are fully redacted; the `glab` CLI config store gets the same sandbox and credential-path protection as `gh`
- Bare `gitlab.com` repo URLs, including nested subgroups, now clone like `github.com` URLs for plugin marketplaces
- `additionalMarketplaces` and `allowedMarketplaces` are now accepted as friendlier aliases for `extraKnownMarketplaces` and `strictKnownMarketplaces`
- A url-typed `blockedMarketplaces` enterprise policy entry now correctly keeps blocking a bare repo URL when the CLI classifies it as a git clone

**Security fixes**
- Fixed a PowerShell bypass where variable-writing parameters could silently overwrite `$PSDefaultParameterValues` and redirect later commands' file access
- Fixed a Windows Git Bash bypass where Cygwin-style symlinks were seen as regular files by path validation; writes through them now require permission approval
- Fixed nested git repositories inheriting trust from a parent directory — each repository now needs its own trust confirmation
- Hardened the Linux filesystem sandbox against a protected-path bypass
- Hardened the auto-generated cross-session messaging socket directory on shared `/tmp` against pre-planted symlinks or another user's directory
- `sandbox.ripgrep` is now honored only from user, managed, and `--settings` settings — project settings can no longer override it

**Stability & more**
- Fixed MCP connections hanging for the full 30-second timeout when a server failed to answer the protocol-version probe
- Multiple Remote Control fixes around session reattachment, history restoration, and idle-session reachability, plus reconnection attempts now continuing for about 30 minutes after a network blip
- Stream idle timeout errors now recover automatically instead of failing the request on Bedrock, Vertex, and gateway deployments
- Malformed AWS or Vertex region values now fall back to the default region
- Rotated mTLS client certificates now reload automatically without a restart
- Fable 5 is available again as an `/advisor` option for organizations with access, via consent through `/model fable`

## Wrap-up

- Subagent forking is on by default, carrying over the conversation and prompt cache
- `@`-mention another session to message it directly; clashing session names get auto-renamed
- GitLab token protection and marketplace support got a major upgrade
- Several security fixes across PowerShell, Windows Git Bash, nested git repos, and the Linux sandbox
- Plenty of stability improvements around Remote Control and MCP connections

This one's especially worth a look if you regularly juggle multiple Claude sessions or subagents, or if your team lives on GitLab!