Latest Updates

The AI development landscape changes weekly. New models drop, pricing shifts, and features land across all three tools. This page tracks the updates that matter so you can stay current without watching every changelog.

April 2026

Cursor 3.0 — Agents Window and Design Mode

A fundamental shift from the VS Code fork to a purpose-built agent workspace:

Agents Window

New multi-repo interface for running parallel agents across environments — local, worktrees, cloud, and remote SSH. Centralized sidebar shows all agents. Toggle via Cmd+Shift+P → Agents Window.

Design Mode

Browser-based UI annotation for precise visual feedback. Use ⌘+Shift+D to toggle, Shift+drag to select areas, ⌘+L to add elements to chat, ⌥+click to add to input.

Agent Tabs & Worktrees

View multiple chats side-by-side or in a grid. New /worktree command creates isolated git worktrees. /best-of-n runs tasks across multiple models in parallel and compares outcomes.

Plugins & Enterprise

MCP Apps support structured content for richer outputs. Third-party plugins default to off for Enterprises. Directory group names in audit logs. Self-hosted cloud agent secret management.

Claude Code v2.1.84–92

Major feature additions across multiple rapid releases:

PowerShell tool (Windows): Native Windows development without WSL — opt-in preview for PowerShell as a first-class tool
Bedrock setup wizard: Interactive guided setup from login screen — AWS authentication, region configuration, credential verification, and model pinning
/powerup command: Interactive lessons with animated demos teaching Claude Code features
Per-model cost breakdown: /cost shows per-model and cache-hit breakdown for subscription users
Deferred hook permissions: "defer" decision in PreToolUse hooks for headless sessions, plus PermissionDenied hook firing after auto mode denials
Write tool 60% faster: Improved diff computation on large files
Named subagents: Subagents appear in @ mention typeahead with declarable initialPrompt frontmatter
Conditional hooks: if field for hooks using permission rule syntax
Transcript search: Press / in Ctrl+O mode, n/N to step through results

Codex App & CLI Updates

Codex app and CLI improvements across April releases:

Thread search: Search past threads with sidebar shortcut and keyboard shortcuts for jumping to recent threads
Theming: Choose a base theme and adjust accent, background, foreground colors and fonts
Revamped automations: Choose local or worktree execution, custom reasoning levels, and reusable templates
Windows sandbox: Proxy-only networking with OS-level egress rules for the Windows app
Plugins first-class: Sync product-scoped plugins at startup, browse in /plugins, clearer install/remove handling
Sub-agents: Path-based addressing (/root/agent_a) with structured inter-agent messaging and listing

March 2026

GPT-5.4 Released

The first general-purpose model with native computer-use capabilities, now the default across all OpenAI surfaces:

Native Computer Use

First general-purpose model with state-of-the-art computer-use capabilities — 75% on OSWorld. Agents can operate computers and carry out complex workflows across applications.

1M Token Context

Supports up to 1M tokens of context. Incorporates the industry-leading coding capabilities of GPT-5.3-Codex while improving tool use across software environments.

Top Benchmarks

57.7% on SWE-bench Pro (coding), 83% on GDPval (knowledge work). Significant improvements across professional tasks involving spreadsheets, presentations, and documents.

Available Everywhere

Rolling out across ChatGPT, Codex, and the API as the default model. GPT-5.4 Pro variant available for maximum performance on complex tasks.

Codex Security (Research Preview)

OpenAI launched Codex Security — an application security agent available to Enterprise, Business, and education customers:

Threat modeling: Builds project-specific threat models capturing system structure, trust boundaries, and exposure points
Deep vulnerability detection: Identifies complex vulnerabilities that static analysis tools miss, categorized by real-world impact
Proven at scale: Scanned 1.2M+ commits in beta, found 792 critical findings including GnuTLS heap overflows and 2FA bypasses
Editable threat models: Teams can edit generated threat models to keep the agent aligned with their security requirements

Cursor Automations

Always-on agents that run on schedules or respond to events:

Event triggers: Slack, Linear, GitHub, PagerDuty, and webhooks — agents spin up cloud sandboxes with configured MCPs and models
Memory tool: Agents learn from past runs and improve with repetition across recurring tasks
Security templates: Reviewing 3,000+ internal PRs per week, catching 200+ vulnerabilities with dedicated security audit agents
Incident pipeline: PagerDuty alerts → Datadog log analysis → Slack summaries with proposed fixes, fully automated

Cursor Composer 2

Cursor’s frontier coding model built in-house:

Architecture: Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) built on Kimi K2.5, enhanced with Cursor’s own continued pretraining and reinforcement learning
Benchmarks: 61.3 CursorBench, 61.7 Terminal-Bench 2.0, 73.7 SWE-bench Multilingual — beats Claude Opus 4.6 on Terminal-Bench
Pricing: $0.50/$2.50 per 1M tokens (standard), $1.50/$7.50 (fast variant with same intelligence)
200K context: Optimized for multi-file edits, code generation, refactoring, and long task chains across hundreds of actions

Cursor Self-Hosted Cloud Agents

Enterprise feature for running cloud agents within customer infrastructure:

Codebase, tool execution, build outputs, and secrets never leave the customer network
Same capabilities as Cursor-hosted agents: isolated VMs, full dev environments, multi-model harnesses, plugins
Up to 10 workers per user, 50 per team
Used by Brex, Money Forward, and Notion

Codex App for Windows + CLI 0.117–0.118

Codex expanded platform reach and CLI capabilities:

Windows app (March 4): Native PowerShell support and Windows-native agent sandbox with OS-level restricted tokens and filesystem ACLs
CLI 0.117: Plugins as first-class workflow with product-scoped sync, sub-agents with path-based addressing, terminal title configuration via /title
CLI 0.118: Windows sandbox proxy-only networking, ChatGPT device-code sign-in, prompt+stdin for codex exec, dynamic bearer tokens for custom model providers

Claude Code v2.1.81–86

Steady stream of improvements and platform hardening:

--bare flag: Scripted -p mode skipping hooks, LSP, and plugins for clean automation
--channels: Permission relay for phone forwarding to Cursor-like mobile experiences
Managed-settings drop-in: managed-settings.d/ directory for enterprise config composition
Transcript search: Press / in Ctrl+O mode, n/N to step through matches
Ctrl+X Ctrl+E: Open external editor for prompt composition
Pasted images: Insert [Image #N] chip for reference in prompts

February 2026

Claude Opus 4.6 Released

The newest Claude model and the new default recommendation for all complex coding tasks:

Top SWE-Bench Scores

Best performance on SWE-Bench Verified among all available models. Superior agentic behavior and sustained reasoning over long tasks.

Enhanced Agentic Performance

Improved tool use across hundreds of tools. Better prompt injection resistance. More reliable multi-step task execution.

200K Context Window

200K token context with 64K output limit. Effort parameter for adjustable reasoning depth. Memory improvements for complex tasks.

Available Everywhere

Available in Claude Code, Cursor (via model picker), and via Anthropic API. Recommended with Max/Ultra subscription plans for full access.

Claude Code v2.1.30

Latest Claude Code improvements:

PDF page ranges: Specify exact pages when reading PDFs (e.g., @file.pdf:1-5)
Token metrics: New /usage command with detailed input/output token breakdown
OAuth improvements: Better error handling and refresh token management
MCP health checks: Automatic restart for failing MCP servers

Cursor v2.4 — Subagents and Skills

Major agent experience update:

Subagents: Specialized subagents for testing, docs, refactoring. Define custom subagents in .cursor/agents/
Skills (SKILL.md): Reusable skill definitions with SKILL.md manifests. Share across projects and teams
40x faster hooks: Near-instant hook execution
Cursor Blame: AI-powered git blame with context
Agent clarification: Agents ask clarifying questions before complex tasks
CLI Plan/Ask modes: cursor --plan and cursor --ask for offline usage
Cloud handoff: Use & suffix to hand tasks to cloud agents

GPT-5.3-Codex Released

The latest model powering all Codex surfaces:

Improved coding performance across all languages
Better long-context handling with automatic compaction
Enhanced tool use for MCP integrations
Available in Codex App, CLI, IDE extensions, and Cloud

January 2026

Claude Code v2.1.17-25

SKILL.md support: Define custom skills in .claude/skills/
Session forking: Create branches from any conversation point
--from-pr flag: Start with context from a GitHub pull request
Arrow key history: Navigate prompt history with up/down arrows
Cloud handoff: Use & suffix to hand off tasks to cloud agents

Cursor v2.3

Layout customization: Drag-and-drop panel arrangement
Multi-monitor support: Layout sync across displays
25% memory reduction: Better handling of large files
Improved crash recovery: Enhanced stability for long sessions

Codex Automations General Availability

Codex automations moved from beta to GA:

GitHub issue assignment to @codex
Slack integration for team channels
Linear ticket automation
Scheduled cron-based tasks
All automations run as sandboxed cloud agents

December 2025

Cursor v2.2 — Debug Mode and Visual Editing

Debug Mode

Runtime log instrumentation for automatic root cause analysis. Works across multiple tech stacks and languages.

Visual Style Editor

Real-time visual design in Cursor Browser. Modify elements and colors directly in a live preview.

Multi-Agent Judging

Run parallel agents on the same task, then automatic evaluation picks the best solution.

Pinned Chats

Pin important conversations in the agent sidebar for quick reference.

Claude Code v2.0.x — Background Agents

Background agents: Run tasks while you continue working
Named sessions: /rename to name, /resume <name> to resume
.claude/rules/ directory: Support for rules alongside CLAUDE.md
Prompt suggestions: Claude suggests follow-up prompts (Tab to accept)
Model switching (Alt+P): Switch models while composing a prompt

Codex Cloud Launch

OpenAI launched Codex Cloud — background agents running on OpenAI infrastructure:

Git worktree isolation for every task
Parallel task execution (up to 10 concurrent)
GitHub PR creation on completion
Slack and Linear notification integrations

November 2025

Claude Opus 4.5 Released

First model to break 80% on SWE-Bench Verified
Claude Code Desktop app launched (native experience with all CLI features)
Pro users gained access to Opus 4.5
Enhanced prompt injection resistance and agent capabilities

Cursor v2.0 — Multi-Agent Era

8 parallel agents: Run up to 8 agents simultaneously
Cursor Composer 1: 4x faster model (250 tokens/sec)
Sandboxed terminals: Secure execution environments (macOS)
Voice mode: Speech-to-text agent control

GPT-5.2 Codex Released

Replaced GPT-5.1-Codex-Max
Specialized for bug fixing and UI generation
24+ hour task endurance via compaction
Available in Cursor and GitHub Copilot

October 2025

Cursor v2.1 — AI Code Reviews

In-editor bug detection examining your changes
Instant Grep (beta) for all agent grep commands
Improved Plan Mode with interactive clarifying questions

Codex CLI Open-Source Release

OpenAI open-sourced the Codex CLI:

Full source available on GitHub
Community contributions accepted
Plugin architecture for extensions
Cross-platform support (macOS, Linux, Windows)

Model Updates (April 2026)

Current Recommended Models

Model	Provider	Context	Best For	Pricing (per 1M tokens)
Claude Opus 4.6	Anthropic	200K	Default for all complex tasks	$5 / $25
Claude Sonnet 4.5	Anthropic	1M	Budget-conscious, large context	$3 / $15
GPT-5.4	OpenAI	1M	Default across all Codex/ChatGPT surfaces	$2.50 / $10
GPT-5.2	OpenAI	200K+	Bug fixing, UI generation (Cursor)	$1.25 / $10
Cursor Composer 2	Cursor	200K	Fast local iteration in Cursor	$0.50 / $2.50
Gemini 3 Pro	Google	1M	Multimodal, extreme context	$2 / $12

Deprecated Models

GPT-4, GPT-4.1, GPT-4o (replaced by GPT-5.x series)
GPT-5.1-Codex-Max (replaced by GPT-5.2 and GPT-5.3-Codex)
GPT-5.3-Codex (replaced by GPT-5.4 as default)
Cursor Composer 1 (replaced by Composer 2)
Claude 3.x series (fully replaced by 4.5+ series)
o1-preview, o1-mini (obsolete)

MCP Ecosystem Growth

Recent Official MCP Servers

Atlassian MCP — Jira and Confluence integration
Cloudflare MCP — Workers, R2, and D1 management
Vercel MCP — Deployment automation
Supabase MCP — Database and auth operations
Linear MCP — Issue tracking integration
Stripe MCP — Payment processing automation

Skills Ecosystem

The Agent Skills ecosystem has expanded significantly:

Skills.sh marketplace now hosts 200+ skills
Universal CLI: npx skills add <owner/repo> works across 35+ agents
Popular skills: Cloudflare deployment, code review, Atlassian integration, API documentation generation

Security and Compliance

Enterprise Updates

SOC 2 Type II

Cursor and Claude Code Enterprise maintain SOC 2 Type II certification. Codex Enterprise in progress.

Enhanced Privacy

All three tools guarantee no code training at paid tiers. Enterprise plans add data residency options.

Audit Logging

Comprehensive audit trails for all AI interactions. Available on enterprise plans for all three tools.

GDPR Compliance

Full GDPR compliance with EU data residency for Cursor and Claude Code Enterprise.

How to Stay Updated

Automatic Updates

Settings > Update > Auto-update. Choose “Stable” or “Beta” channel.

claude update                 # update to latest
claude --version              # check current version

npm update -g @openai/codex   # update CLI
codex --version               # check current version

News Sources

Changelogs: Cursor | Claude Code | Codex
Blogs: Cursor | Anthropic | OpenAI
Social: Follow @cursor_ai, @AnthropicAI, @OpenAI on X/Twitter
Community: Join the Discord servers for real-time announcements

Breaking Changes

Recent Changes Requiring Action

Cursor 3.0: New Agents Window interface replaces old layout — cloud agents removed from Editor
GPT-5.4: New default model for Codex and ChatGPT, replaces GPT-5.3-Codex
Cursor Composer 2: New default coding model in Cursor, replaces Composer 1
Claude Code v2.1.84+: /tag and /vim commands removed (use /config → Editor mode instead)
Claude Code v2.1+: SKILL.md support requires v2.1.17+
API key rotation: Rotate keys older than 6 months as a security best practice

Deprecation Notices

Item	Deprecated	Replacement	End of Support
Cursor v2.x Editor cloud agents	April 2026	Agents Window	April 2026
GPT-5.3-Codex	March 2026	GPT-5.4	March 2026
Cursor Composer 1	March 2026	Composer 2	March 2026
Cursor v1.x	February 2026	v3.0+	February 2026
Claude Code WSL-only	August 2025	Native Windows	August 2025
MCP v1 protocol	October 2025	MCP v2.1	October 2025

Last updated: April 5, 2026