Claude docs changes for May 14th, 2026 [diff]

Executive Summary

  • Agent SDK billing change (June 15, 2026): claude -p and Agent SDK usage on subscription plans will draw from a new separate monthly credit, distinct from interactive usage limits — announced across multiple docs
  • claude agents gains session defaults and config flags: new --permission-mode, --model, and --effort flags set defaults for all dispatched sessions; new section documents how to pass settings, plugins, and MCP servers to the agent view
  • Output styles page overhauled: restructured with a numbered creation workflow, clearer guidance on when to use keep-coding-instructions, and a new comparison table against CLAUDE.md, --append-system-prompt, agents, and skills
  • Model lifecycle updates: Claude Sonnet 3.7 marked as fully retired on Bedrock (April 28) and Vertex AI (May 11); explicit retirement dates added for Opus 4, Sonnet 4, and Haiku 3.5 across platforms; removed from tool/pricing tables throughout
  • Context window overflow behavior clarified: Claude 4.5+ now accepts requests exceeding the context window and stops with stop_reason: "model_context_window_exceeded" instead of a validation error

New Claude Code versions

2.1.141

New features

  • Added terminalSequence field to hook JSON output so hooks can emit desktop notifications, window titles, and terminal bells without needing a controlling terminal
  • Added CLAUDE_CODE_PLUGIN_PREFER_HTTPS environment variable to clone GitHub plugin sources over HTTPS instead of SSH, for environments without a GitHub SSH key
  • Added ANTHROPIC_WORKSPACE_ID environment variable for workload identity federation — scopes the minted token to a specific workspace when the federation rule covers more than one
  • Added claude agents --cwd <path> to scope the session list to a specific directory
  • /feedback can now include recent sessions (last 24 hours or 7 days) for issues that span more than the current session
  • Rewind menu: added "Summarize up to here" to compress earlier context while keeping recent turns intact
  • Auto mode permission dialog now explains when a permissions.ask rule caused the prompt
  • Restored the "view diff in your IDE" option on file-edit permission prompts when an IDE is connected

Existing feature improvements

  • Background agents launched via /bg or ←← now preserve the current permission mode instead of reverting to default
  • claude agents: agents that finish work but leave a background shell running now move to Completed instead of staying as Working
  • Spinner warms to amber after 10 seconds of thinking to signal Claude is still working
  • Improved plugin menu navigation: /Tab switch tabs, moves to the tab strip, and tab headers and search box are clickable in fullscreen mode
  • Background side-queries on Bedrock/Vertex/Foundry/gateway now fall back to the main-loop model when no ANTHROPIC_SMALL_FAST_MODEL is set, instead of sending an unavailable Haiku model ID
  • claude agents launching no longer fails when the pre-warmed background worker is unhealthy — now falls back to a fresh launch
  • Empty idle background sessions left over from are automatically retired by the daemon after 5 minutes

Major bug fixes

  • Fixed /model in one session silently changing the autocompact threshold in other concurrent sessions
  • Fixed hooks receiving a non-existent transcript_path after EnterWorktree switches the working directory
  • Fixed markdown tables with cell wrapping falling back to the vertical key-value layout instead of rendering as a bordered grid (regression in 2.1.136)
  • Fixed Ctrl+C not interrupting a running turn while in vim INSERT/VISUAL mode
  • Fixed alternative chat:submit keybindings (e.g. meta+enter, ctrl+enter) not working when enter is rebound to chat:newline
  • Fixed prompt suggestions being silently disabled when an output style was configured
  • Fixed /tui silently dropping running background shells and subagents — now refuses and asks to wait for them to finish
  • Fixed Bedrock awsCredentialExport being skipped when ambient AWS credentials resolve, fixing auth for cross-account access
  • Fixed Remote Control MCP connectors all failing with 401 when the worker session token rotated mid-session
  • Fixed SDK "Claude Code native binary not found" on Linux when both glibc and musl platform packages are installed
  • Fixed MCP HTTP/SSE servers returning 403 on connect showing as "failed" instead of "needs auth"
  • Fixed plugin details pane showing 0 MCP servers for plugins that declare them via .mcp.json
  • Fixed Web Search status showing "Did 0 searches" when searches returned errors

Claude Code changes

Changed documents

Admin Setup [Source]

  • Added a note that several Claude Code features (web, Routines, Code Review, Remote Control, Chrome extension) require a Claude.ai account and are not available through Console API keys or cloud-provider credentials alone — relevant for teams deploying via Bedrock, Vertex, or Foundry [line 18] [Source]

Agent SDK - Modifying System Prompts [Source]

  • Clarified that a custom output style replaces claude_code preset's software engineering instructions by default; set keep-coding-instructions: true in the frontmatter to keep them and layer your instructions on top [lines 30-34] [Source]
  • Updated the code-review example to include keep-coding-instructions: true in the frontmatter [line 42] [Source]
  • Updated comparison table: output styles column now reads "Replace or extend default" to reflect the new keep-coding-instructions option [line 51] [Source]

Agent SDK - Overview [Source]

  • Added notice: starting June 15, 2026, Agent SDK and claude -p usage on subscription plans will draw from a new monthly Agent SDK credit, separate from interactive usage limits [line 9] [Source]

Agent View [Source]

  • "Permission mode and settings" section renamed to "Permission mode, model, and effort" and expanded: claude agents now accepts --permission-mode, --model, and --effort flags that set defaults for every session dispatched from that agent view instance; active defaults appear in the footer [lines 108-121] [Source]
  • New "Settings, plugins, and MCP servers" section documents how to pass --settings, --add-dir, --plugin-dir, --mcp-config, and --strict-mcp-config to claude agents — these apply to agent view itself and to every session dispatched from it [lines 123-141] [Source]
  • Clarified that backgrounding a session also does not transfer running monitors (in addition to subagents and background commands) [line 91] [Source]

Authentication [Source]

  • Added notice about the Agent SDK credit starting June 15, 2026 in the "Generate a long-lived token" section [line 152] [Source]

Claude Platform on AWS [Source]

  • Added enterprise deployment callout at the top of the page with links to pricing and sales contact [lines 9-11] [Source]

Commands [Source]

  • Removed the "through May 5, 2026" expiration date from the /ultrareview free runs description — the 3 free runs are now described as a standing one-time allotment with no expiry date [line 181] [Source]

Fast Mode [Source]

  • Fast mode pricing updated from $30/150 MTok to a 4-tier rate 30/30/30/150 MTok for both Opus 4.6 and Opus 4.7 [line 194] [Source]

Headless [Source]

  • Added notice about the Agent SDK credit starting June 15, 2026 at the top of the page [line 9] [Source]

Hooks Guide [Source]

  • Clarified that disableAllHooks: true only disables user-configured hooks — hooks configured in managed settings continue to run unless disableAllHooks is also set there [line 226] [Source]

Legal and Compliance [Source]

  • Added notice about the Agent SDK credit starting June 15, 2026 at the top of the page [line 9] [Source]

Memory [Source]

  • Updated the CLAUDE.md locations table to show explicit load order from broadest to most specific scope; corrected the row ordering so "User instructions" appears before "Project instructions", matching actual load order [lines 252-260] [Source]

Output Styles [Source]

  • Page substantially rewritten and restructured: custom output style creation is now presented as a 3-step numbered guide (create file → add frontmatter/instructions → switch to style) [lines 346-393] [Source]
  • Clarified that custom styles exclude Claude Code's built-in software engineering instructions unless keep-coding-instructions: true is set in the frontmatter [line 273] [Source]
  • Comparisons section replaced with a concise table comparing output styles, CLAUDE.md, --append-system-prompt, agents, and skills [lines 447-454] [Source]
  • Added "Related resources" section with links to settings, permission modes, plugins, and debug config [lines 456-461] [Source]

Permissions [Source]

  • Clarified deny rule precedence: a user-level deny blocks a project-level allow (and vice versa) because deny rules from any scope are evaluated before allow rules [line 473] [Source]

Plugins [Source]

  • Clarified that both force-enabled and force-disabled plugins in managed settings cannot be overridden by --plugin-dir (previously only force-enabled was mentioned) [line 486] [Source]

Settings [Source]

  • Clarified how scopes interact: scalar settings from higher-priority scopes override lower ones; array settings (like permission rules) concatenate and deduplicate across scopes rather than replace [lines 499-527] [Source]
  • Updated examples to distinguish scalar vs. array setting behavior and avoid using permission rules as the example for simple override [lines 508-517] [Source]

Ultrareview [Source]

  • Removed the "expire on May 5, 2026" language from the free runs description — the 3 free runs are now described as a permanent one-time allotment that does not refresh or expire [lines 540-545] [Source]

API changes

Changed documents

Adaptive Thinking [Source]

  • Removed references to Claude Sonnet 3.7 migration; updated summarization description to remove the "easy migration from Claude Sonnet 3.7" framing [lines 168-175] [Source]

Batch Processing [Source]

  • Removed older models (Claude Sonnet 3.7, Haiku 3.5, Opus 3, Haiku 3) from the Batches API pricing table; added deprecation/retirement labels to Claude Opus 4, Sonnet 4, and Haiku 3.5 [lines 187-198] [Source]

Claude on Amazon Bedrock (Legacy) [Source]

  • Added a note explaining that lifecycle terms and dates in the Bedrock table are set independently by AWS and may differ from the Anthropic-operated schedule [line 210] [Source]
  • Updated model table: Claude Sonnet 3.7 now marked as "Retired April 28, 2026" with all regions removed; Claude Opus 4 retiring May 31 2026; Claude Sonnet 4 retiring October 14 2026; Claude Haiku 3.5 retiring June 19 2026 [lines 219-227] [Source]

Claude on Vertex AI [Source]

  • Added a note explaining that lifecycle terms and dates in the Vertex AI table are set independently by Google Cloud [line 239] [Source]
  • Updated model table: Claude Sonnet 3.7 marked as "Retired May 11, 2026"; Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 retiring September 14 2026; Claude Haiku 3.5 retiring July 5 2026 [lines 247-257] [Source]

Code Execution Tool [Source]

  • Removed Claude Sonnet 3.7 and Claude Haiku 3.5 from the supported models table for the code execution tool [lines 9-10] [Source]

Computer Use Tool [Source]

  • Updated beta header documentation: removed references to Sonnet 3.7 from the beta version table and added Claude Haiku 4.5 and Opus 4 ([deprecated]) to the computer-use-2025-01-24 list [lines 27-28] [Source]
  • Simplified the sampling loop code example: removed thinking_budget parameter, the text_editor_type variable, and the optional thinking block — uses text_editor_20250728 unconditionally [lines 47-89] [Source]
  • Enhanced actions description changed from "Available in Claude 4 models and Claude Sonnet 3.7" to "Available on all models that support computer use" [line 98] [Source]
  • Removed Claude Sonnet 3.7 row from the tool token pricing table [line 120] [Source]

Context Windows [Source]

  • Section renamed "Context window overflow behavior" and content updated: on Claude 4.5 models and newer, requests that exceed the context window are accepted and generation stops with stop_reason: "model_context_window_exceeded"; older models still return a validation error but can opt in with the model-context-window-exceeded-2025-08-26 beta header [line 282] [Source]

Dreams [Source]

  • Sessions parameter is now required (1 to 100) rather than optional (0 to 100) when creating a dream [lines 484-493] [Source]

Extended Thinking [Source]

  • Removed Claude Sonnet 3.7 from the thinking model comparison table; Opus 4.7 now shows thinking output as "Omitted by default" (matching Opus 4.6), and the table is condensed from 7 columns to 6 [lines 365-374] [Source]
  • Updated context window behavior: on Claude 4.5+ models, max_tokens exceeding the context window now stops with model_context_window_exceeded instead of a validation error; older behavior documented alongside [line 335] [Source]
  • Removed note about Claude Sonnet 3.7 returning full (non-summarized) thinking output [lines 321-322] [Source]

Files [Source]

  • Simplified the supported models description: images are now described as supported on "all current Claude models" rather than "all Claude 3+ models"; PDF and code execution tool support now deferred to their respective linked pages [line 387] [Source]

Tool Use - Overview [Source]

  • Updated the tool token counts table: removed Claude Sonnet 3.7, Haiku 3.5, Opus 3, Sonnet 3, and Haiku 3; added deprecation/retirement labels to Claude Opus 4, Sonnet 4, and Haiku 3.5 [lines 132-144] [Source]

Prompt Caching [Source]

  • Updated pricing table: removed Claude Sonnet 3.7, Haiku 3.5, Opus 3, and Haiku 3; added deprecation/retirement labels to Claude Opus 4, Sonnet 4, and Haiku 3.5 [lines 408-419] [Source]
  • Updated minimum cacheable prompt lengths: Claude Sonnet 4.6 minimum lowered from 2,048 to 1,024 tokens (grouped with Sonnet 4.5, Opus 4.1, Opus 4, Sonnet 4); cache minimums section now notes platform differences and adds a separate callout for Bedrock's own prompt caching documentation [lines 428-447] [Source]

Search Results [Source]

  • Removed Claude Sonnet 3.7 from the supported models list; updated Claude Haiku 3.5 status to "retired, except on Bedrock and Vertex AI" [lines 468-471] [Source]

Text Editor Tool [Source]

  • Removed the text_editor_20250124 (Claude Sonnet 3.7) row from the additional input token pricing table [line 156] [Source]