Settings & Preferences

1 min read

Configure Claude Code settings for your optimal workflow

title: Settings & Preferences description: Configure Claude Code settings for your optimal workflow

Claude Code provides various settings to customize its behavior. These range from model selection to safety preferences and output formatting.

Accessing Settings

Via Command Line

Bash

# View current settings
claude config list

# Set a specific option
claude config set <key> <value>

# Reset to defaults
claude config reset

Via Settings File

Settings are stored in ~/.claude/settings.json:

JSON

{
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
  "theme": "dark",
  "autoApprove": false,
  "maxTokens": 4096
}

Available Settings

Model Selection

Choose which Claude model to use:

| Model | Best For | |-------|----------| | claude-opus-4-5-20251101 | Complex reasoning, research | | claude-sonnet-4-20250514 | Balanced performance (default) | | claude-haiku-3-5-20241022 | Fast, simple tasks |

Bash

claude config set model claude-opus-4-5-20251101

Safety Settings

Control how Claude handles file modifications:

Bash

# Require approval for all file changes (safest)
claude config set autoApprove false

# Auto-approve non-destructive changes
claude config set autoApprove safe

# Auto-approve all changes (use with caution)
claude config set autoApprove true

Output Formatting

Customize how responses are displayed:

Bash

# Enable/disable syntax highlighting
claude config set syntaxHighlight true

# Set output width
claude config set outputWidth 120

# Enable/disable markdown rendering
claude config set renderMarkdown true

Context Settings

Configure how Claude handles context:

Bash

# Maximum context window size
claude config set maxContext 100000

# Include git diff in context
claude config set includeGitDiff true

# Auto-read CLAUDE.md files
claude config set readClaudeMd true

Environment Variables

Override settings via environment variables:

| Variable | Description | Example | |----------|-------------|---------| | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | API authentication | sk-ant-... | | CLAUDE_MODEL | Override default model | claude-opus-4-5-20251101 | | CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR | Custom config location | ~/.config/claude | | CLAUDE_MAX_TOKENS | Response length limit | 8192 | | NO_COLOR | Disable colored output | 1 |

Setting Environment Variables

Bash

# Bash/Zsh (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-your-key-here"
export CLAUDE_MODEL="claude-sonnet-4-20250514"

# Fish
set -x ANTHROPIC_API_KEY "sk-ant-your-key-here"

Configuration Profiles

Create different configurations for different contexts:

Work Profile

JSON

// ~/.claude/profiles/work.json
{
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
  "autoApprove": false,
  "includeGitDiff": true,
  "systemPrompt": "Follow company coding standards strictly."
}

Personal Profile

JSON

// ~/.claude/profiles/personal.json
{
  "model": "claude-haiku-3-5-20241022",
  "autoApprove": "safe",
  "systemPrompt": "Be concise and practical."
}

Switching Profiles

Bash

claude --profile work
claude --profile personal

Project-Level Settings

Override global settings per project with .claude/config.json:

JSON

{
  "model": "claude-opus-4-5-20251101",
  "includePaths": ["src/**", "tests/**"],
  "excludePaths": ["node_modules/**", "dist/**"],
  "customInstructions": "This is a TypeScript project. Always use strict types."
}

Advanced Configuration

Custom System Prompts

Add persistent instructions:

Bash

claude config set systemPrompt "Always explain your reasoning step by step."

File Ignore Patterns

Prevent Claude from reading certain files:

JSON

{
  "ignorePatterns": [
    "*.log",
    "*.env*",
    "node_modules/**",
    ".git/**",
    "**/*.min.js"
  ]
}

Token Limits

Configure token usage:

JSON

{
  "maxTokens": 4096,
  "maxContextTokens": 100000,
  "reserveTokens": 1000
}

Troubleshooting

Settings Not Applying

Check file permissions: ls -la ~/.claude/settings.json
Validate JSON syntax: cat ~/.claude/settings.json | jq .
Restart Claude Code after changes

Environment Variables Not Working

Bash

# Verify variable is set
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

# Check if exported
env | grep ANTHROPIC

Reset All Settings

Bash

# Backup current settings
cp ~/.claude/settings.json ~/.claude/settings.backup.json

# Reset to defaults
claude config reset

# Or manually delete
rm ~/.claude/settings.json

Recommended Settings

For Development

JSON

{
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
  "autoApprove": "safe",
  "includeGitDiff": true,
  "syntaxHighlight": true,
  "outputWidth": 120
}

For Code Review

JSON

{
  "model": "claude-opus-4-5-20251101",
  "autoApprove": false,
  "maxContext": 200000,
  "systemPrompt": "Focus on code quality, security, and best practices."
}

For Learning

JSON

{
  "model": "claude-opus-4-5-20251101",
  "systemPrompt": "Explain concepts thoroughly with examples. Be patient and educational."
}

Next Steps

Sources

Generated with AI using Claude AI by Anthropic

Model: Claude Opus 4.5 · Generated: 2025-12-09 · Build: v0.9.0-b4563d6

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