Claude Code v2.1.117 → v2.1.118: Vim visual modes and custom themes

[claude-yolo]

🚀 Major Features

WHY users should care: This release brings vim visual selection (finally!) plus a custom themes system - two highly requested features.

Key Updates

• Vim visual mode () and visual-line mode () with full operator support and visual feedback
• Custom themes system - create/switch named themes via command, stored in
• Unified command - merges old and commands (old ones still work)
• Auto mode improvements - new support to extend rather than replace built-in rules

Developer/Enterprise Features

• MCP hooks can now invoke MCP tools directly via
• WSL Windows settings inheritance via
• Better plugin version constraints and Claude Code plugins are a powerful way to extend functionality with custom skills, agents, hooks, and integrations. Here's what you need to know:

Key Concepts

Plugins are packaged extensions that add capabilities to Claude Code through:

• Custom skills (slash commands)
• Agents (specialized AI assistants)
• Hooks (event handlers)
• MCP/LSP servers (tool/language support)
• Background monitors

Plugin vs Standalone

Use standalone (.claude/ directory) when:

• Customizing a single project
• Personal workflows
• Quick experiments
• You want short names like /hello

Use plugins when:

• Sharing with team/community
• Reusing across projects
• Version control needed
• Distributing via marketplace
• Skills are namespaced like /plugin-name:hello

Quick Start

1. Create plugin directory:

mkdir my-plugin
mkdir my-plugin/.claude-plugin

2. Create manifest (my-plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json):

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "description": "My custom plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

3. Add a skill (my-plugin/skills/hello/SKILL.md):

---
description: Greet the user
---

Greet warmly and ask how you can help.

4. Test locally:

claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin

Then use: /my-plugin:hello

Plugin Structure

my-plugin/
├── .claude-plugin/     # Only plugin.json goes here
│   └── plugin.json
├── skills/            # Custom skills
├── agents/            # Custom agents
├── hooks/             # Event handlers
├── bin/               # Executables
└── settings.json      # Default settings

Common Commands

• /plugin install <marketplace>/<plugin> - Install plugin
• /plugin list - Show installed plugins
• /reload-plugins - Reload after changes
• /help - See available skills

Need more details on a specific aspect like creating skills, hooks, or distributing plugins? for releases

Infrastructure

• Multiple MCP OAuth and credential management fixes
• Auto-update controls with env var

Links

• Release PR: Already merged (commit a82d522b)
• Docs: Updated 47+ Claude Code documentation files

Impact: Major UX improvements for vim users + flexible theming system for users and plugin developers.