Brief
Claude Code v2.1.261 adds inline output limits and a skill usage report
Anthropic released Claude Code v2.1.261, which adds settings to control how much command output is kept inline and a command to show unused skills.
The release adds bashOutputMaxChars and taskOutputMaxChars settings, which let you raise the amount of command and background-task output Claude receives inline before it is saved to a file, up to 128K characters. It also adds /skill-doctor, which shows which loaded skills go unused and what they cost in context, so you can prune them. Other changes include a new flag to read the subagent system prompt from a file and a line in /status and claude doctor explaining why an organization's policy could not be loaded.
Source details and supporting facts
Each line is stated by the page named above it.
Stated by github.com
- Added bashOutputMaxChars and taskOutputMaxChars settings to raise how much command and background-task output Claude receives inline before it is saved to a file, up to 128K characters
- Added /skill-doctor to show which loaded skills go unused and what they cost in context, so you can prune them
- Added --append-subagent-system-prompt-file to read the subagent system prompt from a file, for prompts too large to pass on the command line
- Added an "Organization policy" line to /status and claude doctor that says why your organization's policy could not be loaded, such as a proxy not passing the endpoint through
Sources
- Anthropic Claude Code release notes (GitHub)Text stored 15 September 2026
How this story was checked. Written from the 1 page listed above, stored 15 September 2026; claims checked against that stored text on 15 September 2026.
What that means
- 4 of 4 reported statements were confirmed against the page that carries them; the rest were removed rather than published.
- Figures in the text were required to appear in the stored source text: yes. Identifiers: yes.
- The check reads stored text only: no claim rests on a fresh look that did not happen.
- Where the reporting was silent, the text says so instead of filling the gap.