# Claude Code 2.1.316 By Steven Van · 2026-10-31 Opus 4.8 fast mode is removed on November 30, and the release adds a subagent effort setting, an ultrathink switch and gateway budget options. Fast mode for Opus 4.8 is deprecated in [Claude Code]() 2.1.316, and the release also adds several environment variables and Claude apps gateway options. The changes are listed in the [changelog](). ## Fast mode deprecation Fast mode for Opus 4.8 was deprecated on October 30, 2026, and will be removed on **November 30, 2026**. After removal, fast mode requests on Opus 4.8 return an error. They do not fall back to standard Opus 4.8. The changelog says to migrate to Opus 5.5. ## New environment variables - CLAUDE\_CODE\_DISABLE\_ULTRATHINK turns the ultrathink keyword off. - CLAUDE\_CODE\_SUBAGENT\_EFFORT sets the effort level subagents run at when nothing else names one, instead of inheriting the session's. - CLAUDE\_CODE\_DISABLE\_LOOPED\_CROSS\_CERT\_DROP keeps system cross-certificates that certify each other in a loop, for servers whose private CA needs one. ## Claude apps gateway - Pooled group budgets give a group's members one shared monthly budget, on top of each member's own limit. It is set with pooled\_budget on the spend limits admin API. - managed.policy\_mode: layered applies every policy that matches a developer, each merged over the ones listed below it, rather than only the first match. - guardrail.input\_tagging on Bedrock upstreams wraps prompts in the input tags that an Amazon Bedrock guardrail's prompt attacks filter needs. The all\_messages\_and\_system setting also tags the system prompt. ![Claude Code]() Claude Code Anthropic's agentic coding tool — Claude in your terminal, IDE, desktop app and browser, reading and editing your codebase, running commands, opening pull requests and working on tasks in the cloud. [View Claude Code →]() Sources [Original source]() [Read Claude Code 2.1.316 on Creators Toolbox]() --- Canonical source: https://creatorstoolbox.com/blog/claude-code-claude-code-2-1-316