Settings Reference

Claude Code provides a layered configuration system through settings files, environment variables, and command-line arguments.

Configuration Scopes

Scope	Location	Affects	Shared?
Managed	System `managed-settings.json`	All users on machine	IT deployed
User	`~/.claude/` directory	You, across all projects	No
Project	`.claude/` in repository	All collaborators	Yes (git)
Local	`.claude/.local.` files	You, in this repo only	No (gitignored)

Precedence (High to Low)

Managed settings (cannot be overridden)
Command line arguments
Local project settings
Shared project settings
User settings

Settings File Locations

Feature	User	Project	Local
Settings	`~/.claude/settings.json`	`.claude/settings.json`	`.claude/settings.local.json`
Subagents	`~/.claude/agents/`	`.claude/agents/`	—
MCP	`~/.claude.json`	`.mcp.json`	`~/.claude.json` (per-project)
Memory	`~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`	`CLAUDE.md`	`CLAUDE.local.md`

settings.json Options

Core Settings

Key	Description	Example
`model`	Override default model	`"claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"`
`language`	Response language	`"japanese"`
`cleanupPeriodDays`	Session cleanup (days)	`20`
`alwaysThinkingEnabled`	Enable extended thinking	`true`

Permission Configuration

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Bash(npm run lint)",
      "Bash(npm run test:*)"
    ],
    "deny": [
      "Bash(curl:*)",
      "Read(./.env)",
      "Read(./secrets/**)"
    ],
    "additionalDirectories": ["../docs/"],
    "defaultMode": "default"
  }
}

Sandbox Configuration

{
  "sandbox": {
    "enabled": true,
    "autoAllowBashIfSandboxed": true,
    "excludedCommands": ["docker", "git"],
    "network": {
      "allowUnixSockets": ["/var/run/docker.sock"],
      "allowLocalBinding": true
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

Authentication

Variable	Description
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	API key
`ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN`	Custom Authorization header
`ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS`	Custom request headers

Model Configuration

Variable	Description
`ANTHROPIC_MODEL`	Primary model name
`ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL`	Sonnet model
`ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL`	Opus model
`CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL`	Subagent model

Cloud Providers

Variable	Description
`CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK`	Use AWS Bedrock
`CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX`	Use Google Vertex AI
`CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY`	Use Microsoft Foundry

Other Controls

Variable	Description
`DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER`	Disable auto-updates
`DISABLE_TELEMETRY`	Disable telemetry
`MAX_THINKING_TOKENS`	Extended thinking budget
`HTTP_PROXY` / `HTTPS_PROXY`	Proxy server

Available Tools

Tool	Description	Permission
`AskUserQuestion`	Multi-choice questions	No
`Bash`	Execute shell commands	Yes
`Edit`	Precise file edits	Yes
`Glob`	File pattern matching	No
`Grep`	Content search	No
`Read`	Read files	No
`Write`	Create/overwrite files	Yes
`WebFetch`	Fetch URL content	Yes
`WebSearch`	Web search	Yes
`Task`	Run subagent	No
`Skill`	Execute Skill	Yes

Permission Modes

Mode	Description
`default`	Standard checks, confirm each operation
`acceptEdits`	Auto-accept file edits
`plan`	Plan mode (read-only)
`dontAsk`	Auto-reject permission prompts
`bypassPermissions`	Skip all permissions (dangerous)

Toggle: Press Shift+Tab or claude --permission-mode <mode>

Managed Settings Locations

System	Path
macOS	`/Library/Application Support/ClaudeCode/`
Linux/WSL	`/etc/claude-code/`
Windows	`C:\Program Files\ClaudeCode\`

CLI Reference