Claude Code v2.1.118 adds Vim visual mode, custom themes, and MCP improvements

What's new in Claude Code v2.1.118

Claude Code v2.1.118 includes several significant feature additions and bug fixes focused on editor functionality, customization, and MCP server stability.

Key features and changes

• Vim visual modes: Added v (visual mode) and V (visual-line mode) with selection, operators, and visual feedback
• Usage command consolidation: Merged /cost and /stats into /usage — both remain as typing shortcuts that open the relevant tab
• Custom theme management: Create and switch between named custom themes from /theme, or hand-edit JSON files in ~/.claude/themes/; plugins can also ship themes via a themes/ directory
• MCP tool invocation: Hooks can now invoke MCP tools directly via type: "mcp_tool"
• Update blocking: Added DISABLE_UPDATES env var to completely block all update paths including manual claude update — stricter than DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER
• WSL settings inheritance: WSL on Windows can now inherit Windows-side managed settings via the wslInheritsWindowsSettings policy key
• Auto mode customization: Include "$defaults" in autoMode.allow, autoMode.soft_deny, or autoMode.environment to add custom rules alongside the built-in list instead of replacing it
• Auto mode prompt: Added a "Don't ask again" option to the auto mode opt-in prompt
• Plugin tagging: Added claude plugin tag to create release git tags for plugins with version validation
• Session continuation: --continue / --resume now find sessions that added the current directory via /add-dir
• Color sync: /color now syncs the session accent color to claude.ai/code when Remote Control is connected
• Model picker overrides: The /model picker now honors ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_*_MODEL_NAME / _DESCRIPTION overrides when using a custom ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL gateway
• Plugin update visibility: When auto-update skips a plugin due to another plugin's version constraint, the skip now appears in /doctor and the /plugin Errors tab

Bug fixes

The release includes numerous fixes, primarily focused on MCP authentication stability and user experience improvements:

• Fixed /mcp menu hiding OAuth Authenticate/Re-authenticate actions for servers configured with headersHelper
• Fixed HTTP/SSE MCP servers with custom headers being stuck in "needs authentication" after a transient 401
• Fixed MCP servers whose OAuth token response omits expires_in requiring re-authentication every hour
• Fixed MCP step-up authorization silently refreshing instead of prompting for re-consent when the server's insufficient_scope 403 names a scope the current token already has
• Fixed an unhandled promise rejection when an MCP server's OAuth flow times out or is cancelled
• Fixed MCP OAuth refresh proceeding without its cross-process lock under contention
• Fixed macOS keychain race where a concurrent MCP token refresh could overwrite a freshly-refreshed OAuth token
• Fixed OAuth token refresh failing when the server revokes a token before its local expiry time
• Fixed credential save crash on Linux/Windows corrupting ~/.claude/.credentials.json
• Fixed /login having no effect in a session launched with CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN — the env token is now cleared so disk credentials take effect
• Fixed unreadable text in the "new messages" scroll pill and /plugin badges
• Fixed plan acceptance dialog offering "auto mode" instead of "bypass permissions" when running with --dangerously-skip-permissions
• Fixed agent-type hooks failing with "Messages are required for agent hooks" when configured for events other than Stop or SubagentStop
• Fixed prompt hooks re-firing on tool calls made by an agent-hook verifier subagent
• Fixed /fork writing the full parent conversation to disk per fork — now writes a pointer and hydrates on read
• Fixed Alt+K / Alt+X / Alt+^ / Alt+_ freezing keyboard input
• Fixed connecting to a remote session overwriting your local model setting in ~/.claude/settings.json
• Fixed typeahead showing "No commands match" error when pasting file paths that start with /
• Fixed plugin install on an already-installed plugin not re-resolving a dependency installed at the wrong version
• Fixed unhandled errors from file watcher on invalid paths or fd exhaustion
• Fixed Remote Control sessions getting archived on transient CCR initialization blips during JWT refresh
• Fixed subagents resumed via SendMessage not restoring the explicit cwd they were spawned with

This release is particularly relevant for developers using Vim keybindings, customizing their Claude Code environment, or working with MCP servers that require OAuth authentication.