Approval prompts slow down a long agent session, but turning them off removes the safety net you wanted in the first place. Auto mode, added this week, sits between the two: it approves routine work and stops for the risky parts. Around it, /compact gives you control over the context window, /diff becomes much more comfortable to read, and terminals that support it can now show what the CLI is doing.
This issue covers October 13-18, 2026, versions 1.3.4 to 1.4.2: 6 releases and 53 changelog entries. Below are the ones that change daily work.
Auto mode: fewer prompts, same guardrails
What it does. Auto mode approves file edits and safe commands without asking. It still prompts before irreversible actions. Commands that would leave the terminal sandbox go through a review by a separate agent first, so the decision about them does not rest on the main agent alone.
How to turn it on. You have three ways to pick it:
- start the CLI with
--mode auto, - choose it under
Agent Modein/config, - press
Shift+Tabto cycle through the modes.
Availability. Auto mode (added in 1.3.5) runs on Linux and macOS. Windows support is coming later, so Windows users have to wait.
What changed in 1.3.6. The sandbox-escape review got three adjustments:
- It is faster and no longer times out without a decision.
- It allows the workspace’s own format, lint and fix commands instead of asking about them.
- It blocks commands that would upload sensitive data.
The second point matters most for daily use. Format and lint commands are the kind of thing that used to trigger a prompt every few minutes, and the review now lets them through. The third point is a block, not a prompt, so you do not get the chance to approve an upload by reflex. (Whether the review draws the line where you would is something to watch in your first sessions.)
Changes for everyday work
Compact the context when you decide to. The new /compact command summarizes the conversation and frees up the context window. /compact alone summarizes and ends the turn. /compact <message> summarizes and then answers your message, which saves you a separate prompt after the summary. While it runs, a Compacting conversation... label shows progress, and Esc cancels it. When it finishes, the CLI reports how many steps were summarized and how much smaller the context became. That report lets you judge whether the compaction was worth it.
Fold and highlight in the /diff file view. Each hunk header now shows how many unchanged lines are hidden above it. Ctrl+O expands or collapses the fold nearest the cursor, and f switches between changes only and the whole file. Both keys work on uncommitted changes when the file on disk still matches the diff. When they cannot be used, the footer tells you why.
Syntax highlighting with sensible colors. The file view now has token colors for each color scheme and a tint on added and removed lines. With the Terminal color scheme the CLI detects whether your terminal background is light or dark and picks matching colors. The color scheme previews in /config and first-run setup show a sample exactly as /diff draws it, so you can judge a scheme before you commit to it.
Large files no longer freeze the view. /diff now renders only the rows on screen, so scrolling, expanding folds and opening the whole file stay responsive. For files over 100,000 lines or 10 MB, expanding folds and showing the whole file are turned off, and the footer says why.
More Claude models with ADC sign-in. Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 are available when you sign in with Application Default Credentials (AGY_ADC_AUTH). Claude models appear in /model only if your Google Cloud project can use them. If a model is missing from the list, check the project first.
Technical notes
Terminal status over OSC 7501 (1.4.0). In supporting terminals, the tab or window shows whether the CLI is working, waiting for your input, done or failed. That is useful when the session runs in a background tab. The CLI checks for support first, so other terminals are unaffected. Three variables control it:
AGY_CLI_OSC7501=offturns it off.AGY_CLI_OSC7501=onforces it for a terminal that supports it but does not answer the check.AGY_CLI_OSC7501_MESSAGES=briefshows only the status, without details such as the pending command or question.
Input and models. alt+m (Option+m on macOS with Option set as Alt) sends a message using the opposite of your Queued Messages setting. In Queue mode it sends immediately, and in Send Immediately mode it queues. --model and /model now accept a base model name without --effort and pick the model’s default thinking level.
Subagent questions. Questions from subagents and workflow agents now surface as <agent> has a question. Ctrl+K, or a in the subagent view, opens a picker to answer.
Diff views. The inline diff preview for agent file edits now renders like /diff, with syntax highlighting, tinted added and removed lines and a line-number gutter. The /diff Commit Tree view counts commits, opens a commit with Enter, fills the terminal height and shows the latest 100 commits with scrolling.
Plugins. agy plugin list gains a --json flag and lists every installed plugin, including marketplace ones, with version and enabled state. agy plugin validate now uses the same rules as the CLI loader and reports errors and warnings with file and line. It also gained --strict and --json. In 1.4.1 it also checks skills, subagents and rules for frontmatter, size limits, duplicate names and misplaced files.
Remote Control. The browser Settings modal now opens for CLI sessions and shows the settings the CLI uses. Sessions started with agy remote-control serve use and save your settings.json.
Reliability and errors. Stalled model connections are now cancelled and retried after 5 minutes without data, and retry waits are capped at 30 seconds. --agent with an unknown name exits with code 1 in headless runs and shows an Agent Not Found warning in interactive sessions. That exit code helps scripts fail loudly.
Telemetry display. For Business accounts, Enable Telemetry in /config now shows off (disabled) with an explanation.
What to take away
Terminal user.
- On Linux or macOS, try
Shift+Tabto switch to Auto mode on a routine task and see how many prompts remain. - Run
/compact <message>when a long session fills the context, and read the report on how much it shrank. - Open
/diffon a large change and useCtrl+Oandfto move through it. - If your terminal supports OSC 7501, check that the tab status appears. Set
AGY_CLI_OSC7501_MESSAGES=briefif you do not want the pending command shown there.
User of parallel sessions.
- The tab status (working, waiting, done, failed) tells you which session needs attention without switching to it.
- Answer subagent questions with
Ctrl+Korain the subagent view. - Try
alt+mto send a message the opposite way from yourQueued Messagessetting.
Admin of integrations and company deployments.
- Auto mode is not available on Windows yet, so mixed fleets will behave differently depending on the platform.
- Run
agy plugin validate --strict --jsonon your plugins. Since 1.4.1 it also checks skills, subagents and rules, so earlier clean results may change. - Check your Google Cloud project if Claude Opus 5.5 or Sonnet 5.5 do not show up in
/modelunder ADC sign-in. - On Business accounts, the telemetry setting now shows as
off (disabled)in/config, with an explanation.
Sources: Antigravity CLI changelog, versions 1.3.4 to 1.4.2, October 13-18, 2026, and the tool documentation. Availability of features may change.