Claude Code v2.1.162 Ships Session Waiting Info, MCP Timeout Fix, and Agents View Overhaul

Anthropic released Claude Code v2.1.162, a significant patch that touches the agents view, MCP tool handling, permission rules, and terminal rendering. The release contains over 20 fixes and improvements, several of which directly impact developers who use Claude Code in automated or multi-session workflows.

Key Changes

• Agents --json output now includes waitingFor field, showing what a waiting session is blocked on (e.g., a permission prompt). This helps programmatic monitoring of agent progress.
• --tools flag now respects explicitly listed Grep/Glob on native builds with embedded search. Previously these were silently ignored.
• /effort command now confirms when your chosen level will persist as the default for new sessions, reducing ambiguity.
• Slash command autocomplete behavior changed: clicking a slash command now fills it into your prompt instead of running it immediately; press Enter to execute.
• Remote Control now shows as a persistent footer pill with a link to the session, replacing the previous startup message.
• Windsurf renamed to Devin Desktop in /ide menu, /terminal-setup, and /scroll-speed, following the editor's rebrand.

MCP and Permission Fixes

• MCP per-server timeout config values below 1000 ms were being floored to a 1-second watchdog that aborted every tool call. Sub-1000 ms values are now ignored, falling back to MCP_TOOL_TIMEOUT or default. claude mcp get annotates them accordingly.
• WebFetch permission rules now correctly apply to built-in preapproved domains. Explicit WebFetch(domain:...) deny/ask/allow rules take precedence over preapproved-host auto-allow.
• Windows permission rules fixed for paths with backslashes (~\, \\server\share) or case variants. Read deny rules now hide files from Glob/Grep results.

Agents View Improvements

The agents view received multiple UI fixes:

• Live status text (tool args, replies, prompts, exec output) no longer cuts at 60–120 columns on wide terminals; it now uses the full terminal width.
• Session names truncated at 40 columns are fixed; the name column now grows with terminal width.
• Attach after background-service restart no longer bounces back to the session list on first try.
• Ctrl+V image paste now works in dispatch input and session reply box; pasting without an image shows a hint.
• Backgrounding with ← no longer silently loses the conversation if the background service fails to start; session stays as a failed row you can wake with Enter.
• Failed replies are now queued for delivery on the next session start instead of being lost.
• Cross-session messaging (SendMessage) no longer breaks when CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR or $TMPDIR points at a deep directory.
• Opening a running background session from agents view no longer stalls for 5 seconds before attaching.

Other Notable Fixes

• Startup hang when config directory is read-only or unwritable is fixed — Claude Code now starts with in-memory config and surfaces startup errors instead of a blank screen.
• Interrupt (Esc) at the very start of a turn being silently dropped in stream-json/SDK sessions is fixed; the turn now correctly shows as interrupted.
• API 400 errors for classifier side-queries and MCP server descriptions containing emoji near a truncation boundary are resolved.
• LSP tool's workspaceSymbol operation now accepts a query parameter and passes it to the language server, returning results.
• Startup noise reduced: notices group by severity, session info and announcements share a single line, warnings are shorter and clearer with concrete fix suggestions.
• Background service startup and claude update verification now wait out endpoint-security scanning of new binaries instead of failing after 5 seconds.

Who Should Update

Anyone using Claude Code via claude agents for automated workflows, MCP servers with custom timeouts, or on Windows with path-based permission rules should upgrade immediately. The terminal rendering fixes also improve everyday interactive use.