Anthropic Releases May 2026 Updates for Claude Code, Enhancing Agent Performance and User Experience

Anthropic's May 2026 update for Claude Code (v2.1.126) introduces several powerful features aimed at developers and power users. The standout addition is the `claude project purge [path]` command, which deletes all Claude Code state for a project—including transcripts, tasks, file history, and config entries—with options like `--dry-run`, `-y/--yes`, `-i/--interactive`, and `--all`. This allows teams to cleanly reset agent contexts without manual file hunting. The `/model` picker now dynamically lists models from your gateway's `/v1/models` endpoint when `ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL` points to an Anthropic-compatible gateway, making it easier to switch models in multi-gateway setups. Permission handling gets a new `--dangerously-skip-permissions` flag that bypasses prompts for protected paths (`.claude/`, `.git/`, shell configs), while catastrophic removal commands still prompt as a safety net.

On the user experience front, OAuth login now accepts a manually pasted code when the browser callback fails on WSL2, SSH, or containers—addressing a common pain point. Windows users benefit from PowerShell 7 detection (via Microsoft Store, MSI without PATH, or .NET global tool) and automatic switching to PowerShell as the primary shell when enabled. Telemetry improvements include a `skill_activated` OpenTelemetry event with `invocation_trigger` attribute for slash commands. Bug fixes address image pasting (>2000px now downscaled), Japanese/Korean/Chinese text rendering on Windows, trackpad scrolling speed in VS Code 1.92–1.104, and race conditions with OAuth refresh tokens. Security fixes ensure `allowManagedDomainsOnly` and `allowManagedReadPathsOnly` settings are properly respected across multiple sources.