Claude Code v2.1.81 adds bare flag for scripting, fixes authentication and voice mode issues
New Features
Claude Code v2.1.81 adds two significant features for developers working with AI coding agents.
--bare flag for scripted -p calls: This flag skips hooks, LSP, plugin sync, and skill directory walks. It requires either an ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable or an apiKeyHelper via --settings, with OAuth and keychain authentication disabled. Auto-memory is also fully disabled in this mode.
--channels permission relay: Channel servers that declare the permission capability can now forward tool approval prompts to your phone.
Critical Fixes
The release addresses several important issues:
- Fixed multiple concurrent Claude Code sessions requiring repeated re-authentication when one session refreshes its OAuth token
- Fixed voice mode silently swallowing retry failures and showing misleading "check your network" messages instead of actual errors
- Fixed voice mode audio not recovering when the server silently drops the WebSocket connection
- Fixed CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_BETAS not suppressing the structured-outputs beta header, which caused 400 errors on proxy gateways forwarding to Vertex/Bedrock
- Fixed a crash on Node.js 18
- Fixed unnecessary permission prompts for Bash commands containing dashes in strings
- Fixed plugin hooks blocking prompt submission when the plugin directory is deleted mid-session
Performance and UX Improvements
- Fixed a race condition where background agent task output could hang indefinitely when the task completed between polling intervals
- Resuming a session that was in a worktree now switches back to that worktree
- Fixed /btw not including pasted text when used during an active response
- Fixed a race where fast Cmd+Tab followed by paste could beat the clipboard copy under tmux
- Improved MCP read/search tool calls to collapse into a single "Queried {server}" line (expand with Ctrl+O)
- Improved ! bash mode discoverability — Claude now suggests it when you need to run an interactive command
- Improved plugin freshness — ref-tracked plugins now re-clone on every load to pick up upstream changes
Remote Control Enhancements
- Fixed Remote Control sessions showing a generic title instead of deriving from the first prompt
- Fixed /rename not syncing the title for Remote Control sessions
- Fixed Remote Control /exit not reliably archiving the session
- Improved Remote Control session titles to refresh after your third message
Other Changes
- Updated MCP OAuth to support Client ID Metadata Document (CIMD / SEP-991) for servers without Dynamic Client Registration
- Changed plan mode to hide the "clear context" option by default (restore with "showClearContextOnPlanAccept": true)
- Disabled line-by-line response streaming on Windows (including WSL in Windows Terminal) due to rendering issues
- [VSCode] Fixed Windows PATH inheritance for Bash tool when using Git Bash (regression in v2.1.78)
📖 Read the full source: GitHub Claude-Code
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