Claude Code 2.1.296 Lets a Subagent Compact Earlier
The changelog adds autoCompactWindow for subagents, one model for workflow agents, and a Read option for files past the usual size limit.
Direct answer
The Claude Code changelog section for 2.1.296 adds autoCompactWindow so a subagent can auto-compact earlier than the main conversation, and an allow_large option so Read can take a whole text file past the usual size limit when context has room.
The Claude Code changelog on the main branch opens its 2.1.296 section with three additions that change how a harness splits work. autoCompactWindow can be set in subagent frontmatter and in --agents definitions, so a subagent can auto-compact earlier than the main conversation's window. CLAUDE_CODE_WORKFLOW_SUBAGENT_MODEL runs every workflow agent on one model while other subagents keep theirs. CLAUDE_CODE_OVERLOADED_RETRY_MAX_DELAY_MS sets a longer maximum delay for the backoff when retrying an overloaded request, which the note marks as HTTP 529.
Read gains an allow_large option. The note says Claude can read a text file past the usual size limits in one call when it needs the whole file and the context has room. That is an explicit opt-in, not a new default. The same section says the Workflow tool was refusing script files with CRLF line endings, such as files checked out on Windows, and that this is fixed. A checkout convention was being treated as an invalid script.
A longer PowerShell permission window
On Windows, PowerShell commands longer than about 1 KB were always asking for permission. The changelog says allow rules and read-only detection now apply up to 32 KB. The page does not publish the previous byte threshold as an exact constant, only "about 1 KB," and it does state 32 KB as the new ceiling. These lines are separate from the hook-deny and cache-price notes in the same version.
Source: Claude Code changelog 2.1.296.
FAQ
- Can workflow agents use a different model from other subagents?
- CLAUDE_CODE_WORKFLOW_SUBAGENT_MODEL runs every workflow agent on one model while other subagents keep theirs.
- What Windows PowerShell length now gets allow rules?
- The changelog says PowerShell commands longer than about 1 KB always asked for permission, and allow rules and read-only detection now apply up to 32 KB.