Anthropic carelessly killed a Claude Code feature users built on, no warning

Anthropic's Claude Code 2.1.323 changelog removed the `subagentStatusLine` setting, which had let users render per-subagent context use, token and dollar spend, model and reasoning effort, status, age and prompt-cache state; the settings schema now marks the key as deprecated with no effect, and configured commands silently stop running with no startup warning. Version 2.1.322 still executed the command, and the removal followed recent changelog additions of reasoning effort, `agentType` and `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}` substitution to the same setting's payload, while the documentation at code.claude.com still presents `subagentStatusLine` as live. The reporter argues no `ui.render` site in 2.1.323 covers an agent-panel row, so mods cannot reproduce the display, and cites open request #105919 from 2026-10-29 asking for that render site with no answer.

Repository navigation area:statusline https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22area%3Astatusline%22 area:tui https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22area%3Atui%22 bugSomething isn't working https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22bug%22 Something isn't working platform:linuxIssue specifically occurs on Linux https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22platform%3Alinux%22 Issue specifically occurs on Linux platform:macosIssue specifically occurs on macOS https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22platform%3Amacos%22 Issue specifically occurs on macOS regression https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22regression%22 Description Regression: 2.1.323 silently removed subagentStatusLine , with no reason, no replacement and no migration path What happened The 2.1.323 changelog says: Removed the subagentStatusLine setting: subagent rows always use the default look, and settings files that still hold the key load as before The settings schema now describes the key as "Deprecated: no longer has any effect. Subagent rows always use the default look." Nothing warns at startup. A configured command simply stops running, and users find out when their agent panel goes blank. 2.1.322 still runs the command. 2.1.323 never calls it. Why this hurts subagentStatusLine was the only place in Claude Code where a user could see, per running subagent, at a glance: - its live context use against its own window - what it has spent so far tokens and dollars - its model and its reasoning effort - its status, its age and its prompt-cache state Without it, a session that runs several background agents is flying blind. Nothing in the default row shows which agent is burning context, which one is about to hit its window, which one went to the expensive model, or which one is silently re-paying for an expired cache. This is the row as it rendered on 2.1.322, boxed in red: The same row as text: ○ ▱▱▱▱▱▱▱ 8% 82.6K/1.0M Σ$2.06/2.9M/28.5K/40 │flights:foreman│opus·▰▰ medium│running 5m:40s│1 error│💾5m✓4m:54s 98% After 2.1.323 the same row reads only flights:foreman Running grep . This contradicts your own recent direction The changelog kept investing in this setting right up to the removal: - "Added reasoning effort to the subagentStatusLine payload, so custom agent rows can render model and effort" - "Added agentType to the subagentStatusLine payload, so scripts can tell custom subagent types apart" - "Fixed ${CLAUDE PLUGIN ROOT} not being substituted in a plugin-provided subagentStatusLine command" People built on those additions. The docs still present the setting as live today: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/statusline https://code.claude.com/docs/en/statusline section on subagentStatusLine and https://code.claude.com/docs/en/settings https://code.claude.com/docs/en/settings . Mods do not replace it The ui.render sites in 2.1.323 are AskUserQuestion , UserMessage , AssistantMessage , ToolUse , ToolResult , ToolGroup , ToolProgress , CommandOutput , Spinner , TurnDuration , InfoNotice , SessionMode , PromptHint , AbovePrompt , Pane and Placed . None of them is an agent-panel row, so no mod can draw what this setting drew. 105919 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/105919 asked for exactly that render site on 2026-10-29 and has had no answer. Related open requests that all assume this setting exists: 102183 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/102183 , 102890 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/102890 , 96895 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/96895 , 97634 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/97634 the last one notes that no other place in the UI shows a subagent's model . What we ask 1. Restore subagentStatusLine in the next release, with the same payload as 2.1.322 including effort , agentType , contextWindowSize and tokenCount . 2. If the default agent panel is being redesigned, ship the replacement before removing the old hook : a ui.render site for each agent-panel row \ FEATURE\ Mods: render sites for statusLine and subagentStatusLine rows 105919 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/105919 , whose props carry the same payload. 3. Do not remove a documented, configurable surface without a deprecation release that warns at startup and a changelog line that says why. Environment - Claude Code 2.1.323 regression ; 2.1.322 works - Linux and macOS, terminal UI - The subagentStatusLine command is set through --settings and in user settings; both are ignored on 2.1.323 Activity 1. added bugSomething isn't working https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22bug%22 Something isn't working platform:linuxIssue specifically occurs on Linux https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22platform%3Alinux%22 Issue specifically occurs on Linux platform:macosIssue specifically occurs on macOS https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22platform%3Amacos%22 Issue specifically occurs on macOSon Nov 13, 2026 2. You've removed a functionality that I've built my real-time observability on it, with NO reason/replacement/explanation This is unacceptable @dhollman https://github.com/dhollman Can you please have a look into this ? Metadata Metadata Assignees Labels area:statusline https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22area%3Astatusline%22 area:tui https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22area%3Atui%22 bugSomething isn't working https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22bug%22 Something isn't working platform:linuxIssue specifically occurs on Linux https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22platform%3Alinux%22 Issue specifically occurs on Linux platform:macosIssue specifically occurs on macOS https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22platform%3Amacos%22 Issue specifically occurs on macOS regression https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22regression%22