Claude Code Ultimate Guide v3.45.0

Guide 3.45.0 collects the work since 3.44.1 (October 6, 2026).

• Claude Code releases tracked through 2.1.316. The release history adds the October 7 to 31 releases. Highlights: permissions.blockWritesOutsideWorkingDirectories (2.1.314), CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_EFFORT (2.1.316), ultrathink at xhigh effort on current models (2.1.311), and the claude_code.safety_event OpenTelemetry event no longer sent (2.1.312). Fast mode for Opus 4.8 is deprecated, with removal scheduled for November 30, 2026.
• Claude plans. Max 20x is now Ultra ($200 a month, 10x Pro usage every week, no 5-hour limit once the account is verified) and Max 5x is now Max ($100). The guide records the monthly API credits included with Max, Ultra and Team plans since October 7, 2026.
• New AI Design Patterns page: 21 classic patterns mapped to the closest Claude Code mechanism, with where each analogy breaks, 8 agent-native patterns, 10 anti-patterns and one infographic per pattern.
• Guide additions: sizing configuration ablations in agent evaluation, several coding-agent sessions on one machine, a worked local inference example, and the "grill me" interview before a spec.
• Ecosystem: prismantis and a "Terminal rendering (mods)" category, agent-native Git forges, git-ai-archaeology v2, and the MCP package 1.3.7 on npm and the official MCP Registry.

Validation: validate-reference-yaml.py --ci reports 0 hard failures, index coverage is 110/110, the public-path check reports 0 offending lines, and the 44 MCP package tests pass.

Known limit: the subscription section of guide/ultimate-guide.md still describes the September plan lineup; the up-to-date plan details are in the LLM market snapshot. The French full guide stays on its 3.44.1 refresh.

Full details: CHANGELOG · Release history