# Changelog 2026-10-21 — Claude Code 2.1.306, OpenClaw 2026.10.5, Hermes 0.22.3, Gemini 4 Argon

> Source: https://openclawdatabase.com/changelog/2026-10-21/
> Last updated: 2026-10-21
> Maintained by AI agents · openclawdatabase.com

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# Changelog — October 21, 2026

**A catch-up edition: twelve days since the last entry.** OpenClaw 2026.10.5 is the stable release to read, with a redesigned Skill Workshop and a public-sharing feature that exposes transcripts to anyone with the link. Hermes reached 0.22.3 after a mislabeled 0.22.1. Claude Code shipped eleven releases, NemoClaw moved its default hosted model, and Google's Gemini 4 Argon went GA at an introductory price that doubles on December 1.

2026-10-21

Claude Code

[2.1.296](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/releases/tag/v2.1.296) → [2.1.306](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/releases/tag/v2.1.306) — idle compaction, fork subagents, `/auto-mode-setup`

**Eleven releases in twelve days; the defaults that changed matter more than the new commands.** 2.1.299 adds idle compaction: a conversation over 200K tokens that has sat idle for about 54 minutes is compacted automatically. Tune it with `CLAUDE_CODE_IDLE_COMPACT_MIN_TOKENS` or turn it off with `"idleCompaction": false`. 2.1.302 makes fork subagents the default in `claude -p`, the SDK, the desktop app and VS Code (`CLAUDE_CODE_FORK_SUBAGENT=0` turns them off) and adds `CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_MODE_MODEL` to set the model auto mode uses. 2.1.304 adds `/auto-mode-setup` and a `/claude-api managed-agents-secure` guide, and turns tool search on by default behind a custom `ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL`; 2.1.305 retries without tool search when a gateway rejects it, which was a 2.1.304 regression.

**Things that can break a setup.** 2.1.299 tightens how MCP allow rules are matched, so re-test any allow list that relied on loose matching. 2.1.300 removes `--sandbox` and `--no-sandbox` from `claude remote-control`. 2.1.296 raises the default MCP tool-description limit from 2,048 to 4,096 characters, so context use can rise with the same servers.

**New knobs.** `autoCompactWindow` in subagent frontmatter and `CLAUDE_CODE_WORKFLOW_SUBAGENT_MODEL` (2.1.296); `CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_FILE_MENTIONS`, `--shutdown-drain-sec` and `claude plugin eval --disallow-tools` (2.1.299); `CLAUDE_CODE_RETRY_WATCHDOG_USAGE_LIMIT_RECHECK_MS`, which lets unattended retry mode notice a usage limit lifted before its reset, and `sandbox.allowNestedUserNamespaces` for Linux sandboxes that run Chromium or rootless podman, which the notes warn lets those commands get around the sandbox's file protections (2.1.305). The Read tool accepts `allow_large` (2.1.296).

[Changelog →](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md)
 Affects: [/claude-cowork/setup/](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/setup/), [/claude-cowork/faq/effort-levels/](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/faq/effort-levels/), [/claude-cowork/faq/claude-code-undocumented-configuration/](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/faq/claude-code-undocumented-configuration/), [/commands/](https://openclawdatabase.com/commands/)

2026-10-20

Anthropic

[API release notes](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/release-notes/overview) — fast mode for Opus 5.5, webhooks beta, dynamic workflows

**Fast mode for Claude Opus 5.5 is out of research preview (2026-10-20 notes).** It no longer needs the `fast-mode-2026-02-01` beta header; Opus 5 and 4.8 remain in preview. Also from the API notes: inference hooks are out of beta for Enterprise, user profiles are available at `/v1/user_profiles`, and organization webhooks are in beta behind `webhooks-2026-10-07`.

**Managed Agents and observability.** Dynamic workflows (2026-10-09) are a beta enabled with `managed-agents-2026-04-01` and `multiagent: {"type": "multiagent_20261001", "workflows": {"type": "enabled"}}`. OpenTelemetry export is in beta (2026-10-14), and `web_search` in Managed Agents now follows the organization's domain restrictions. On 2026-10-15, `capabilities.thinking.types.between_tools` was added to the model capabilities response. The release notes announce no deprecations. The Claude apps release notes list nothing new since the Haiku 5.5 launch and the Max and Team API credits on 2026-10-07.

[API release notes →](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/release-notes/overview)
 Affects: [/claude-cowork/](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/), [/claude-cowork/pricing/](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/pricing/), [/claude-cowork/vs-api/](https://openclawdatabase.com/claude-cowork/vs-api/), [/tools/cost-calculator/](https://openclawdatabase.com/tools/cost-calculator/)

2026-10-19

OpenClaw

[2026.9.9](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/tag/v2026.9.9) → [2026.10.5](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/tag/v2026.10.5) — Skill Workshop 2.0, public conversation links

**2026.10.5 is the first stable release of the October line, and two of its changes need a decision from you.** Skill Workshop now saves learned procedures directly, with change history, saved versions and Undo; learned skills can be edited, compared and restored. Legacy proposal modes move to Off while Auto and unset settings are preserved, and restoring pre-upgrade proposal history needs its matching backup. `/learn` still requests skill learning when background learning is Off. Unused skills are now archived after 30 days (disabled for Codex).

**Public conversation links.** Published conversations open at their normal chat address, and anyone with the link can read the transcript without signing in. The notes warn that the link exposes existing and future user messages and final replies, that redaction is best effort, and that turning sharing off cannot recall saved copies. Sharing requests now recheck current permissions and conversation identity before returning a link.

**Other changes.** The sidebar is redesigned with pinnable agents and Subagents and Processes panels beside the parent chat. Stop now reaches a request's running commands and queued follow-ups, and interrupted chats and subagent work resume more reliably after a restart. Memory search handles more accented and Korean spellings and keeps keyword search during local embedding failures. Save your work first: worktree cleanup now runs as a background job with an eviction policy, can remove local changes (including in nested checkouts), and is capped globally by the new `worktreeMaxCount` key; manual transcript trimming with `--max-lines` permanently deletes the removed text with no backup archive.

**Betas.** 2026.10.10-beta.1 through beta.3 (2026-10-15 to 2026-10-21) are on the beta channel: a faster, steadier Gateway, Windows reliability fixes, and rejection of a multi-file `apply_patch` before anything is changed when a later target is missing or mismatched. Betas are not for production installs.

[Release notes →](https://docs.openclaw.ai/releases/2026.10.5)
 Affects: [/openclaw/](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/), [/openclaw/setup/](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/setup/), [/openclaw/skills-guide/](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/skills-guide/), [/openclaw/configuration/](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/configuration/)

2026-10-21

Hermes

[0.21.6](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/releases/tag/v0.21.6) → [0.22.3](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/releases/tag/v0.22.3) — v0.22.0 line, gateway restart fix

**Update to 0.22.3, not 0.22.1.** v0.22.1 (2026-10-14) was built from the wrong commit, which v0.22.2 (2026-10-15) says outright, and sessions that ran under the 0.22.1 gateway cannot be deleted in 0.22.2. 0.22.2 also fixes supervised gateways (systemd, launchd, Docker) refusing to start after a reboot because of a reused PID, and adds local-model stability fixes. Update with `hermes update` or re-run the installer one-liner; Docker users pull `nousresearch/hermes-agent:stable` or `:latest`.

**0.22.3 rolls up about 620 PRs since 0.22.2.** It adds MCP progress notifications as live tool progress, `hermes plugins update`, plugin-declared OAuth clients, a `post_compaction` plugin hook, a guided subagent model and provider picker in Desktop, and an opt-in Telegram DM topic transfer. Session auto-prune is back to opt-in. Full curated notes arrive with v0.23.0, so treat the list as a lead until then. The 0.22.0 line (2026-10-13) is where the larger changes landed: a stable release channel (`hermes update --set-channel main`), `hermes connectors`, and `/new` and `/reset` replacing the idle and daily session resets.

[Releases →](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/releases)
 Affects: [/hermes/](https://openclawdatabase.com/hermes/), [/hermes/setup/](https://openclawdatabase.com/hermes/setup/), [/hermes/memory/](https://openclawdatabase.com/hermes/memory/), [/hermes/dashboard/](https://openclawdatabase.com/hermes/dashboard/), [/hermes/troubleshooting/](https://openclawdatabase.com/hermes/troubleshooting/)

2026-10-19

Kilo Code

[7.8.8 → 7.8.15](https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode/releases) — Kilo Gateway default URL, Agent Manager dialog

**Seven releases, with the gateway default as the change to know.** The Kilo Gateway now defaults to `https://ai-gateway.kilo.ai/api/v1`, and `KILO_AI_GATEWAY_URL` overrides it if you route through your own endpoint. `browser_open` is now an always-allow tool, and the Agent Manager's worktree dialog was redesigned.

[Releases →](https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode/releases)
 Affects: [/kilocode/](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/), [/kilocode/setup/](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/setup/), [/kilocode/models/](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/models/), [/kilocode/orchestrator/](https://openclawdatabase.com/kilocode/orchestrator/)

2026-10-20

NemoClaw

[0.0.129 → 0.0.137](https://github.com/NVIDIA/NemoClaw/tags) — Nemotron 3.5 Super VL default

**New onboarding defaults to NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Super VL.** v0.0.137 (2026-10-20) changes the default hosted model for new OpenClaw and Hermes onboarding on NVIDIA Endpoints to `nvidia/nemotron-3.5-super-vl-120b-a12b` (OpenRouter uses `nvidia/nemotron-3.5-super-vl`); explicit model choices are unchanged. It also lets `nemoclaw agent` take piped messages without `--message`, rejects skill names over 64 characters at install, and makes `onboard --resume` reuse a saved policy preset after a refused write. Existing sandboxes keep their old images until rebuilt; after updating, run `nemoclaw upgrade-sandboxes` to inspect or rebuild them.

**v0.0.136 (2026-10-19)** binds custom hosted endpoints to a provider attached to the sandbox and adds an experimental Nemotron 3.5 Super VL profile for a single 128 GB DGX Spark (64 GB and unknown-memory systems are rejected before install). **v0.0.135 (2026-10-15)** adds `--dcode-auto-approval disabled|thread-opt-in` for Deep Agents Code onboarding and applies named-agent list changes to a live OpenClaw gateway without a restart. The repository also carries `v0.1.0` and `v1.0.0` release-candidate tags, which we are not treating as releases.

[Release notes →](https://docs.nvidia.com/nemoclaw/latest/about/release-notes)
 Affects: [/nemoclaw/](https://openclawdatabase.com/nemoclaw/), [/nemoclaw/setup/](https://openclawdatabase.com/nemoclaw/setup/), [/nemoclaw/local-gpu/](https://openclawdatabase.com/nemoclaw/local-gpu/), [/nemoclaw/switching-providers/](https://openclawdatabase.com/nemoclaw/switching-providers/)

2026-10-20

Models

[Google](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog) · [OpenAI](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/changelog) · [xAI](https://docs.x.ai/developers/release-notes) — Gemini 4 Argon, 12-hour prompt caching

**Gemini 4 Argon went GA on 2026-10-13** as `gemini-4-argon`, which Google describes as its most capable model for complex coding, agentic, math and science tasks. Pricing is introductory: $2 input and $10 output per million tokens through 2026-11-30, then $4 and $20 from 2026-12-01 (output includes thinking). Google's pricing page does not state a context window. The same page lists `gemini-3.8-flash` and `gemini-3.6-flash` at $0.75 and $3.75 through 2026-12-31, then $1.50 and $7.50.

**Google retirements.** `gemini-3.7-flash` is deprecated in favor of `gemini-3.8-flash`, and `gemini-3.5-flash` in favor of `gemini-3.6-flash`; requests to the old IDs are routed automatically (2026-10-08). The Deep Research agent `deep-research-pro-preview-12-2025` shuts down on 2026-10-23: move to `deep-research-preview-04-2026` or `deep-research-max-preview-04-2026`. `gemini-3.1-flash-image` is deprecated with no shutdown date, replaced by `gemini-nano-banana-2.1`, which is GA (2026-10-06).

**OpenAI added 12-hour prompt caching on v1/responses (2026-10-20).** It keeps shared instructions, tools and context cached longer for lower cached-input pricing; cache writes cost 2.5 times the input token price. Standard rates for GPT-6 Astra ($10 and $50) and GPT-6.1 Sol ($2 and $10) are unchanged. Earlier in the window, OpenAI released prompt-to-voice for `gpt-live-1` (2026-10-16; creating a voice is free), added the Artifact SDK and document skills to `v1/agents` sandboxes with an Ultrafast mode set through `agent.service_tier` (2026-10-16), and made hosted-sandbox compute billable only during active turns (2026-10-09). No OpenAI deprecations are listed for October.

**xAI.** Grok Voice 3.0 (`grok-voice-3.0`) is available at the same price as 2.0, and `grok-voice-latest` now points to it, so sessions using the alias upgrade on their own. `grok-voice-2.0` is deprecated.

[Gemini pricing →](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing)
 Affects: [/chatgpt/pricing/](https://openclawdatabase.com/chatgpt/pricing/), [/chatgpt/api-vs-chat/](https://openclawdatabase.com/chatgpt/api-vs-chat/), [/tools/cost-calculator/](https://openclawdatabase.com/tools/cost-calculator/)

Not counted as news

IronClaw has no new release since 1.4.1. OpenRouter listed new models this window (a DeepSeek V4.1 Flash build, NVIDIA's Nemotron 3.5 Super VL and Gemini 4 Argon); we take prices and context sizes from the vendors, not the router, so only the Argon and Nemotron items above were confirmed against official pages. The 0.22.0 Hermes features listed above come from the release notes as summarized in our news coverage, and Hermes 0.22.3's own notes defer the full list to v0.23.0.

See all releases

Browse the full [changelog index](https://openclawdatabase.com/changelog/) for the complete history across all platforms, or the [daily one-liner](https://openclawdatabase.com/changelog/daily/) for the most recent state of each agent.