~/.claude/commands/ no longer recognized in v2.1.89 — breaking change without migration path

Summary

Custom slash commands placed in ~/.claude/commands/*.md are no longer recognized as of v2.1.89. They were working in prior versions (confirmed working on 2026-03-30). The only error shown is Unknown skill: <name> with no guidance on what changed or how to migrate.

Steps to reproduce

1. Place a valid .md file with frontmatter (allowed-tools, description) in ~/.claude/commands/
2. Start a Claude Code session (v2.1.89)
3. Try to invoke it via /<command-name>
4. Result: Unknown skill: <command-name>

Expected behavior

Per the documentation:

Custom commands have been merged into skills. A file at .claude/commands/deploy.md and a skill at .claude/skills/deploy/SKILL.md both create /deploy and work the same way. Your existing .claude/commands/ files keep working.

Commands should either still work, or there should be a clear deprecation notice and migration guide.

Workaround

Move files manually:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/<name>
cp ~/.claude/commands/<name>.md ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md

Concerns

• Breaking change with no warning: Users who relied on commands/ have their skills silently broken.
• Misleading error message: Unknown skill gives no hint that the file still exists but is being ignored due to a path change.
• Data loss risk: Users unaware of the path change may delete their command files thinking they are corrupted, with no way to recover if not version-controlled.

Environment

• Claude Code: v2.1.89
• OS: macOS (Darwin 25.4.0, arm64)
• Install method: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code