claude-code-system-prompts/system-prompts/skill-update-config-settings-file-locations.md

Settings File Locations

Choose the appropriate file based on scope:

File	Scope	Git	Use For
~/.claude/settings.json	Global	N/A	Personal preferences for all projects
.claude/settings.json	Project	Commit	Team-wide hooks, permissions, plugins
.claude/settings.local.json	Project	Gitignore	Personal overrides for this project

Settings load in order: user → project → local (later overrides earlier).

Settings Schema Reference

Permissions

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": ["Bash(npm *)", "Edit(.claude)", "Read"],
    "deny": ["Bash(rm -rf *)"],
    "ask": ["Write(/etc/*)"],
    "defaultMode": "default" | "plan" | "acceptEdits" | "dontAsk",
    "additionalDirectories": ["/extra/dir"]
  }
}

Permission Rule Syntax:

• Exact match: "Bash(npm run test)"
• Prefix wildcard: "Bash(git *)" - matches git, git status, git commit, etc.
• Tool only: "Read" - allows all Read operations

Environment Variables

{
  "env": {
    "DEBUG": "true",
    "MY_API_KEY": "value"
  }
}

Model & Agent

{
  "model": "sonnet",  // or "fable", "opus", "haiku", full model ID
  "agent": "agent-name",
  "alwaysThinkingEnabled": true
}

Attribution (Commits & PRs)

{
  "attribution": {
    "commit": "Custom commit trailer text",
    "pr": "Custom PR description text"
  }
}

Set commit or pr to empty string "" to hide that attribution.

MCP Server Management

{
  "enableAllProjectMcpServers": true,
  "enabledMcpjsonServers": ["server1", "server2"],
  "disabledMcpjsonServers": ["blocked-server"]
}

Plugins

{
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "formatter@anthropic-tools": true
  }
}

Plugin syntax: plugin-name@source where source is claude-code-marketplace, claude-plugins-official, or builtin.

Other Settings

• language: Preferred response language (e.g., "japanese")
• cleanupPeriodDays: Days to keep transcripts before automatic cleanup (default: 30; minimum 1)
• respectGitignore: Whether to respect .gitignore (default: true)
• spinnerTipsEnabled: Show tips in spinner
• spinnerVerbs: Customize spinner verbs ({ "mode": "append" | "replace", "verbs": [...] })
• spinnerTipsOverride: Override spinner tips ({ "excludeDefault": true, "tips": ["Custom tip"] })
• syntaxHighlightingDisabled: Disable diff highlighting