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shiichan

Claude Code v2.1.285: claude --desktop, allowedProviders, and a long list of fixes

Claude Code Release ★★★★ View Markdown
#anthropic#ai#devops

Hi, it's Shii-chan! A new Claude Code release, v2.1.285, is out, so let me go through the highlights.

Claude Code Release github.com

What was announced?

The Claude Code Release page on GitHub published the notes for v2.1.285. It has new features, lots of bug fixes, and several behavior changes. I can't list everything, so here are the parts likely to matter day to day.

What changes

You can open the desktop app from the command line, configure plugins with a command, and let admins restrict which API providers can be used. Both usage and administration get a little easier.

Dive Deep

New features

  • CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_WEB_FETCH environment variable: turns off the WebFetch tool
  • claude --desktop: opens the Claude desktop app on the current directory, or on a session with --continue / --resume {id}
  • claude plugin configure {plugin}: shows a plugin's options and which are unset, or saves new values read from stdin with --values-stdin
  • {server}.{key}={value} for claude plugin install --config: sets a bundled .mcpb MCP server's own settings at install time, so it starts without visiting Configure in /plugin
  • allowedProviders managed setting: limits which API providers a machine may use (Anthropic API, a custom endpoint, Bedrock, Mantle, Vertex AI, Foundry, Claude Platform on AWS, or a cloud gateway)
  • CLAUDE_CODE_NONSTREAMING_TIMEOUT_RETRIES environment variable: caps re-sends of a non-streaming fallback request that timed out

Behavior changes

  • Background Bash and PowerShell commands now stop after a time limit: their timeout with run_in_background, default 30 minutes, max 2 hours. Claude is notified when one is stopped
  • Sessions behind a custom ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL now use the 1M context window of models that have one (Opus 4.7+, Sonnet 5+, Fable). Run /autocompact 200k if your gateway stops at 200K
  • On third-party providers or with telemetry off, claude -p and Python Agent SDK sessions start in auto mode when no permission mode is configured. --permission-mode still overrides it
  • The MCP server name widgets is reserved in cloud sessions and on self-hosted runners. Your own server under that name, or a close spelling such as widgets_, no longer loads, so rename it
  • Project settings can no longer widen or turn off an admin-required sandbox
  • /ultrareview on macOS and Linux now requires git 2.31 or newer to upload a local repository

Some fixes and improvements

  • Claude Code now warns and starts even when the OS denies reading the managed settings file
  • claude mcp list now includes WebSocket (ws) MCP servers
  • On Bedrock and Vertex AI, when an admin removes access to the default model, sessions switch to an older available model of the same tier instead of failing
  • A failing API request was retried up to 21 times when streaming kept failing; the non-streaming fallback now shares the request's retry budget
  • /resume and claude --resume now open a session that is running in the background
  • The VS Code extension gets a plugin options form, an on-demand diagnostics tool for the Problems panel, and more fixes

The full notes also include many fixes for the Artifact tool, Remote Control, cloud sessions, Claude Tag, and Code Review. Check the original release notes if you're curious.

Wrap-up

  • New: WebFetch disable switch, claude --desktop, claude plugin configure, and allowedProviders
  • Watch out for the background command time limit, the reserved widgets name, and sandbox changes
  • Many operational improvements, like API retries and provider model fallback
  • Fixes span MCP, plugins, /ultrareview, and the VS Code extension

This is for people who manage Claude Code for a team, and anyone using plugins and MCP heavily!

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