Claude Code 2.1 NEW Update IS HUGE! Sub Agents /skills, Claude Canvas, LSPs, & MORE!

Key Takeaways

Skill hot-reloading eliminates session restarts when adding or editing skills—edit and test in the same session
Forked sub-agents via context: fork enable parallel task execution with isolated contexts that don't pollute the main conversation
Async agents run in the background using the async flag or Ctrl+B, perfect for long-running tasks like monitoring logs or builds
Chrome browser integration lets Claude Code control a real browser—navigate pages, fill forms, interact with web apps, and debug
LSP support brings language server protocol intelligence to the terminal experience
Hooks in skill frontmatter support PreToolUse, PostToolUse, and Stop events scoped to skill lifecycle
Claude Desktop integration provides a GUI experience powered by Claude Code in the desktop app's "code mode"
AskUserQuestion tool enables Claude to ask clarifying questions during coding sessions instead of guessing
Output styles let you configure response verbosity—concise for speed, explanatory for learning
Teleport command transfers sessions between terminal, desktop app, and web

"Instead of just having a single agent loop, you have way more flexibility which is definitely going to increase efficiency."

"You can have one agent that could be coding while the other agent watches a live web flow in Chrome that reports back to the other agent."

Three third-party tools highlighted for enhancing Claude Code:

claude-code-2-1-skills-universal-extension - Deep technical dive into the skill system changes mentioned in this overview, with practical implementation examples
claude-code-skills - Foundation for understanding how skills work before the 2.1 enhancements