October 4, 2026
Claude Code keeps sessions alive after plugin crashes: fixes in version 2.1.289
A plugin UI error no longer ends a background session or breaks neighboring components.
Claude Code 2.1.289, released on Oct 3, fixes session interruptions caused by plugins. The agent keeps working when an individual component fails.
The session continues. Previously, an error in a plugin handler could end a background or supervised session. Claude Code now handles these failures without ending the session, and a crashed UI component no longer breaks neighboring components. If a mod-generated row fails, the agent renders its own row.
Claude Code no longer hangs on short code blocks with many unclosed `<script>` tags and deeply nested `${` sequences. Anthropic also fixed hangs on published artifact pages caused by these `<script>` blocks. In VSCode, the company reverted the `claude auth status` change from 2.1.288 that could cause more frequent sign-outs.
Plugins without restarts. Previously, installed mods could fail to load in the first session after an update. They now load immediately, and the `plugin list`, `plugin eval` and `plugin update` commands show the current copy of the plugin from the local marketplace. Hot reload through a symbolic link in `--plugin-dir` has also been fixed for plugin developers.
Large files open faster in the plugin's code panel. Anthropic fixed blank panels when navigating to certain URLs, `claude plugin validate` errors and rendering failures, including overlapping rows and components freezing after a terminal error. Read-deny rules now account for symbolic links, and Bash rules are no longer bypassed by variable assignments before a command.
To update immediately, run `claude update`, then restart the agent and check the version with `claude --version`. Native installations update in the background, but changes take effect after a restart. Commands differ for other installation methods:
- Homebrew: `brew upgrade claude-code` for stable, which trails latest by about a week, or `brew upgrade claude-code@latest` for latest. - WinGet: `winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode`.
Original source: [Claude Code 2.1.289 release dated Oct 3, 2026](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/releases/tag/v2.1.289).
Plugin authors now have `agent.spawn` to launch companion agents, a consistent agent identifier across hook events, and `idle` and `waiting` states in `$.agent.list()`.
