Background subagents in Claude Code now use less of your usage limit

Anthropic's ClaudeDevs announced that background subagents in Claude Code now cost about 99% less per status-line update, because Haiku 5.5 writes each 30-second status update from short notes instead of re-reading the subagent's whole conversation. Sessions with background subagents now use about 5% less of the usage limit, giving users roughly 6% more prompts on the same limit, and the change is live for most Pro, Max and Ultra users and for everyone on Team and Enterprise on version v2.1.316 or later. The subagent itself keeps its own model.

ClaudeDevs on X: "Background subagents in Claude Code now use less of your usage limit. A running subagent updates its status line every 30 seconds, and each update used to re-read its whole conversation. Now Haiku 5.5 writes it from short notes instead, so each update costs about 99% less." / X ClaudeDevs on X: "Background subagents in Claude Code now use less of your usage limit. A running subagent updates its status line every 30 seconds, and each update used to re-read its whole conversation. Now Haiku 5.5 writes it from short notes instead, so each update costs about 99% less." Background subagents in Claude Code now use less of your usage limit. A running subagent updates its status line every 30 seconds, and each update used to re-read its whole conversation. Now Haiku 5.5 writes it from short notes instead, so each update costs about 99% less. Background subagents in Claude Code now use less of your usage limit. A running subagent updates its status line every 30 seconds, and each update used to re-read its whole conversation. Now Haiku 5.5 writes it from short notes instead, so each update costs about 99% less. The subagent itself keeps its own model. Sessions with background subagents used about 5% less of the limit, so the same limit gets you about 6% more prompts. It's live for most Pro, Max and Ultra users and for everyone on Team and Enterprise. Update to v2.1.316+.