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Releases v2.1.83 → v2.1.856 features · March 23–27
Auto moderesearch preview

Auto mode hands your permission prompts to a classifier. Safe edits and commands run without interrupting you; anything destructive or suspicious gets blocked and surfaced. It’s the middle ground between approving every file write and running with —dangerously-skip-permissions.

Claude Code prompt footer showing 'auto mode on (shift+tab to cycle)' indicator in yellow

Cycle to auto with Shift+Tab, or set it as your default:

.claude/settings.json
{
  "permissions": {
    "defaultMode": "auto"
  }
}
Permission modes guide
Computer useDesktop

Claude can now control your actual desktop from the Claude Code Desktop app: open native apps, click through the iOS simulator, drive hardware control panels, and verify changes on screen. It’s off by default and asks before each action. Best for the things nothing else can reach: apps without an API, proprietary tools, anything that only exists as a GUI.

Claude Desktop settings with the Computer use toggle enabled, showing the option to let Claude take screenshots and control your keyboard and mouse in apps you allow

Enable it in Settings, grant the OS permissions, then ask Claude to verify a change end to end:

Claude Code
> Open the iOS simulator, tap through the onboarding flow, and screenshot each step
Computer use guide
PR auto-fixWeb

Flip a switch when you open a PR and walk away. Claude watches CI, fixes the failures, handles the nits, and pushes until it’s green. No more babysitting a PR through six rounds of lint errors.

Claude Code web CI panel showing the Auto fix toggle enabled, with description 'Proactively fix CI failures and review comments'

After creating a PR on Claude Code web, toggle Auto fix in the CI panel.

Auto-fix pull requests
Transcript searchv2.1.83

Press / in transcript mode to search your conversation. n and N step through matches. Finally a way to find that one Bash command Claude ran 400 messages ago.

Open transcript mode and search:

Claude Code
Ctrl+O    # open transcript
/migrate  # search for "migrate"
n         # next match
N         # previous match
Fullscreen guide
PowerShell toolpreviewv2.1.84

Windows gets a native PowerShell tool alongside Bash. Claude can run cmdlets, pipe objects, and work with Windows-native paths without translating everything through Git Bash.

Opt in from settings:

.claude/settings.json
{
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_USE_POWERSHELL_TOOL": "1"
  }
}
PowerShell tool docs
Conditional hooksv2.1.85

Hooks can now declare an if field using permission rule syntax. Your pre-commit check only spawns for Bash(git commit *) instead of every bash call, cutting the process overhead on busy sessions.

Scope a hook to git commits only:

.claude/settings.json
{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [{
      "hooks": [{
        "if": "Bash(git commit *)",
        "type": "command",
        "command": ".claude/hooks/lint-staged.sh"
      }]
    }]
  }
}
Hooks reference

Other wins

Plugin userConfig now public: prompt for settings at enable time, keychain-backed secrets
Pasted images insert [Image #N] chips you can reference positionally
managed-settings.d/ drop-in directory for layered policy fragments
CwdChanged and FileChanged hook events for direnv-style setups
Agents can declare initialPrompt in frontmatter to auto-submit a first turn
Ctrl+X Ctrl+E opens your external editor, matching readline
Interrupting before any response restores your input automatically
/status now works while Claude is responding
Deep links open in your preferred terminal, not first-detected
Idle-return nudge to /clear after 75+ minutes away
VS Code: rate limit banner, Esc-twice rewind picker
Full changelog for v2.1.83–v2.1.85 →