This week in Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI (week of October 4, 2026)

Originally published at https://aicoding-guide.com.

The headline this week: Claude Sonnet 5.5 (claude-sonnet-5-5) is now the default Sonnet model on the Anthropic API (v2.1.284). The official pricing table puts it at the same rates as Sonnet 5, so the switch costs you nothing.

On features, Claude Mods extends what plugins can do (2.1.287). On settings, CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_WEB_FETCH and allowedProviders are new.

Covered here: Claude Code 2.1.284 through 2.1.288, Codex CLI 0.160.0, and Gemini CLI 0.62.0.

Key point
What you will learn

• Claude Sonnet 5.5's model ID and the prices you can verify in the official table
• Claude Mods and the three new settings
• The resume and auto-compaction fixes

Claude Code

2.1.284 Claude Sonnet 5.5 becomes the default Sonnet

The changelog reads: "Added Claude Sonnet 5.5 (claude-sonnet-5-5), now the default Sonnet model on the Anthropic API — 1M context, $2/$10 per Mtok with $0.20/Mtok cache reads". The official pricing page lists the same numbers.

Item	Claude Sonnet 5.5	Claude Sonnet 5
Model ID	claude-sonnet-5-5	claude-sonnet-5
Input	$2 / MTok	$2 / MTok
Output	$10 / MTok	$10 / MTok
Cache reads	$0.20 / MTok	$0.20 / MTok
Batch	$1 / $5 per MTok	$1 / $5 per MTok

Unlike Opus 5.5 the other week, the price is unchanged. Cache reads sit at the standard 0.1x of the input price too, with none of Opus 5.5's special multiplier. A setup that selects sonnet in /model moves to 5.5 after the update.

The same release adds a "Yes, but ask again next time" answer to auto mode's prompt before a read outside the working directories, so you can allow that one read and still be asked later. /mcp reconnect all also arrives, retrying every server that failed to connect or needs authentication at once.

For thinking about per-model cost, see Claude Code cost and usage.

2.1.285 More things you can switch off

Added	What it does
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_WEB_FETCH	Environment variable that turns off the WebFetch tool
allowedProviders	Managed setting limiting which API providers a machine may use (Anthropic API, a custom endpoint, Bedrock, Mantle, Vertex AI, Foundry, Claude Platform on AWS, a Cloud gateway)
claude --desktop	Opens the Claude desktop app on the current directory, or on a session with --continue / --resume <id>
claude plugin configure <plugin>	Shows a plugin's options and which are unset; --values-stdin saves values from stdin
CLAUDE_CODE_NONSTREAMING_TIMEOUT_RETRIES	Caps re-sends of a non-streaming fallback request that timed out

allowedProviders is the one for organizations that want a machine pinned to, say, Bedrock only.

2.1.287 Claude Mods

The first line of the release reads: "Added Claude Mods: plugins may now modify deeper behavior". Shipping with it is a built-in mod called You should know, where a side agent watches your work and flags things you or Claude might miss. Turn it on with /plugin enable cc-plugin-you-should-know@builtin (for first-party sessions with telemetry on).

On the MCP side, URL prompts from servers on the 2025-11-25 protocol are now supported, for sign-in flows among other things. If a server stops connecting after this update, add "bareElicitationCapability": true to its MCP config entry — the changelog says so explicitly.

2.1.288 Resume and auto-compaction fixes

This release is the one for anyone running long sessions.

• Long conversations failing with "Prompt is too long" instead of auto-compacting, when the last reply reported zero token usage
• --resume sometimes dropping files and other context a compaction had just restored
• A resumed session not saving the last response of a turn, so the next --resume showed the prompt unanswered
• Resuming a conversation started on 2.1.286 or earlier dropping the model's earlier thinking
• Mid-response API timeouts failing the whole turn; non-interactive sessions and subagents now continue from the partial response

CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_STRUCTURED_OUTPUTS is new, for gateways that reject structured outputs and so broke session titles and memory recall.

In auto mode, denials that pointed Claude at a Bash permission rule when the blocked tool was not Bash are fixed. Note this is a different case from a denied git command, where the blocked tool really is Bash — there the fix is still an autoMode.allow entry or the Recently denied tab. For where auto mode sits among the modes, see Changing Claude Code's default permission mode.

Elsewhere: an MCP server asking for more OAuth scope mid-tool-call now prompts you to re-authenticate (covered in Sign in to a remote MCP server in Claude Code); /code-review gained --max-findings <n>|all; and a prompt cleared with Ctrl+C comes back by pressing Up on the empty prompt.

Codex CLI

0.160.0

Four new features:

Change	What it does
Agent command center	A keyboard-accessible "Show more" for browsing older tasks
X11 copy	Select transcript text and paste with middle-click in fullscreen mode on supported local Linux X11 terminals
Sessions outside a project	Start with workspace defaults where policy permits, and restore saved permissions on resume
Guardian review	Opt-in capabilities to retrieve earlier user instructions and include context from agent handoffs

Among the fixes, Windows work continues from last week's 0.158: PowerShell fallbacks in the sandbox, long-path permission repairs, and suppressing unwanted console windows from background helpers. Queued messages that were never sent now resume after a reconnection without duplicate sends, which matters if you have lost messages this way.

Gemini CLI

0.62.0

Mostly the two new models, gemini-3.8-flash and gemini-3.5-flash-lite. The details are in their own article, Gemini CLI v0.62. A fix retaining the OAuth refresh token and several Windows PTY and ConPTY fixes are also in the release.

What to check now

1. If you resume long sessions, upgrade to 2.1.288 — several auto-compaction and --resume losses are fixed there.
2. If you select sonnet in /model, confirm landing on Claude Sonnet 5.5 is what you want. The price matches Sonnet 5.
3. If an MCP server stopped connecting on 2.1.287 or later, add "bareElicitationCapability": true to its config entry.
4. Set CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_WEB_FETCH where WebFetch shouldn't be available, and consider allowedProviders to pin an organization's API providers.

Summary

• Claude Sonnet 5.5 (claude-sonnet-5-5) is the default Sonnet model on the Anthropic API, at the same price as Sonnet 5
• Claude Mods in 2.1.287 lets plugins modify deeper behavior, with a built-in "You should know" mod
• 2.1.285 adds CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_WEB_FETCH and allowedProviders, widening what you can switch off
• 2.1.288 fixes several auto-compaction and --resume losses
• Codex 0.160.0 is mostly Windows fixes; Gemini CLI 0.62.0 is mostly its two new models