What's new in Claude Code v2.1.111

A dense release — Opus 4.7 becomes the default flagship, a brand-new xhigh effort level lands between high and max, and two cloud-backed skills ship simultaneously. Plus a native Windows PowerShell tool, Auto mode as a first-class permission mode, and a handful of DX wins.

Opus 4.7 + Auto mode for Max

Why: Max subscribers juggled plans and manual model switches when they wanted the strongest reasoning during complex agentic work.

What: Opus 4.7 is now the default opus alias on the Anthropic API, and Auto mode is available to Max subscribers when Opus 4.7 is active.

How: claude --model opus, then /permissions to set defaultMode: auto.

New xhigh effort level

Why: high was starting to feel thin on Opus 4.7's harder tasks; max is uncapped and burns tokens on routine prompts.

What: A new Opus-4.7-only level between high and max. It's the default effort on Opus 4.7 across every plan and provider. Other models fall back to high.

How: /effort xhigh, claude --effort xhigh, or CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL=xhigh.

/effort interactive slider

Why: Remembering five level names broke flow when changing how hard the model thinks.

What: Running /effort with no arguments opens an interactive slider; arrow keys navigate levels, Enter confirms. The same slider appears in /model via left/right arrows.

How: /effort (no args) then arrow keys + Enter.

Auto (match terminal) theme

Why: Claude Code's theme drifted out of sync with the terminal's dark/light mode.

What: A new "Auto (match terminal)" theme option follows your terminal's light/dark signal live.

How: /theme → "Auto (match terminal)".

/less-permission-prompts skill

Why: Power users accumulate dozens of small permission prompts — ls, rg, git status — that interrupt flow.

What: Scans recent transcripts for common read-only Bash and MCP tool calls and proposes a prioritized allowlist to paste into .claude/settings.json.

How: /less-permission-prompts.

/ultrareview command

Why: Comprehensive code review wants multiple perspectives — security, performance, style — and running them sequentially hits context limits.

What: Runs comprehensive code review in the cloud using parallel multi-agent analysis and critique. No arguments reviews current branch; a PR number fetches and reviews that PR.

How: /ultrareview or /ultrareview 1234.

Auto mode — no flag required

Why: Auto mode was gated behind the --enable-auto-mode startup flag, requiring opt-in on every launch.

What: Auto mode is now a first-class permission mode; the startup flag is gone. The classifier still gates risky actions.

How: /permissions → Auto, or "permissions": { "defaultMode": "auto" } in settings.json.

PowerShell tool on Windows

Why: Windows users routed shell work through Git Bash, which broke native PowerShell idioms and paths.

What: A native PowerShell tool is rolling out progressively on Windows. Opt in or out with CLAUDE_CODE_USE_POWERSHELL_TOOL. Linux/macOS also work with pwsh on PATH.

How: export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_POWERSHELL_TOOL=1.

Bash globs skip permission prompts

Why: Routine ls *.ts and cd packages/api && ls still triggered permission prompts.

What: Read-only Bash commands with glob patterns, and commands starting with cd &&, no longer prompt. Write-capable commands like find and sed still prompt.

How: Nothing to configure.

/setup-vertex & /setup-bedrock polish

Why: Enterprise users re-running the provider wizards had to retype model IDs and re-discover settings.json paths.

What: Both wizards now show the actual settings.json path when CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR is set, seed model candidates from existing pins on re-run, and offer a "with 1M context" option for supported models.

How: /setup-vertex or /setup-bedrock.

plugin_errors in stream-json init

Why: Headless SDK pipelines couldn't tell whether a plugin was silently demoted at startup for unsatisfied dependencies.

What: Headless --output-format stream-json now includes a plugin_errors field on the init event, distinguishing conflicting, invalid, and overly complex version requirements.

How: claude -p "..." --output-format stream-json and inspect init.plugin_errors.

OTEL_LOG_RAW_API_BODIES env var

Why: Debugging anomalous model behavior requires seeing exact request and response bodies, which metrics alone can't capture.

What: New OTEL_LOG_RAW_API_BODIES emits full API request/response bodies as OpenTelemetry log events.

How: export OTEL_LOG_RAW_API_BODIES=1 alongside CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_TELEMETRY=1.

Reverted non-streaming retry cap

Why: The v2.1.110 retry cap avoided multi-minute hangs but pushed transient failures into outright errors.

What: The cap is reverted. Non-streaming fallbacks retry longer during API overload, trading occasional long waits for fewer outright failures.

How: No action — behavior reverts automatically.

Windows CLAUDE_ENV_FILE support

Why: On Windows, CLAUDE_ENV_FILE and SessionStart hook env files were silent no-ops.

What: Both mechanisms now apply on Windows. Env state set in the file or SessionStart hook carries into subsequent Bash and PowerShell tool calls.

How: set CLAUDE_ENV_FILE=C:\path\to\setup.ps1 or equivalent in .claude/settings.json.

Hosts: Alex Chen & Sarah Kim · Generated from the official Claude Code CHANGELOG.

Full changelog: github.com/anthropics/claude-code/CHANGELOG.md

Claude Code docs: code.claude.com/docs

• (00:00) - Opus 4.7 + Auto mode for Max