Settings Management

Configuration Meta Skill

🚨 MANDATORY: Invoke docs-management First

STOP - Before providing ANY response about Claude Code configuration or settings:

1. INVOKE docs-management skill
2. QUERY for the user's specific topic
3. BASE all responses EXCLUSIVELY on official documentation loaded

Skipping this step results in outdated or incorrect information.

Verification Checkpoint

Before responding, verify:

• Did I invoke docs-management skill?
• Did official documentation load?
• Is my response based EXCLUSIVELY on official docs?

If ANY checkbox is unchecked, STOP and invoke docs-management first.

Overview

Central authority for Claude Code configuration and settings. This skill uses 100% delegation to docs-management - it contains NO duplicated official documentation.

Architecture: Pure delegation with keyword registry. All official documentation is accessed via docs-management skill queries.

When to Use This Skill

Keywords: settings, configuration, settings.json, environment variables, permissions, sandbox, enterprise settings, managed-settings.json, user settings, project settings, local settings, tools, hooks configuration, model configuration, plugin settings, precedence

Use this skill when:

• Configuring settings.json files
• Understanding settings hierarchy and precedence
• Setting up permission rules (allow, deny, ask)
• Configuring sandbox settings
• Managing enterprise policies
• Setting environment variables
• Understanding available tools
• Configuring plugin settings
• Troubleshooting configuration issues

Keyword Registry for docs-management Queries

Use these keywords when querying docs-management skill for official documentation:

Settings Files

Available Settings

Permissions

Sandbox

Precedence

Environment Variables

Plugins

JSON Schema

Tools

Quick Decision Tree

What do you want to do?

1. Configure settings file -> Query docs-management: "settings.json", "available settings"
2. Set up permissions -> Query docs-management: "permission settings", "allow deny rules"
3. Configure sandbox -> Query docs-management: "sandbox settings", "bash sandboxing"
4. Understand precedence -> Query docs-management: "settings precedence", "configuration hierarchy"
5. Set environment variables -> Query docs-management: "environment variables", specific variable name
6. Configure enterprise policy -> Query docs-management: "managed-settings.json", "enterprise managed policy"
7. Set up plugin settings -> Query docs-management: "plugin configuration", "enabledPlugins"
8. Understand available tools -> Query docs-management: "tools available to Claude"
9. Exclude sensitive files -> Query docs-management: "excluding sensitive files", "deny rules"
10. Configure model -> Query docs-management: "model setting", "ANTHROPIC_MODEL"
11. Troubleshoot config issues -> Query docs-management: "configuration troubleshooting" + specific issue

Topic Coverage

⚠️ STALENESS WARNING: The lists below are for navigation reference only. ALWAYS query docs-management for the authoritative, current list of settings fields, environment variables, and configuration options. These change with Claude Code releases.

Settings File Types

Query Pattern: docs-management: "settings.md file types locations"

• User settings, project settings, local settings
• Enterprise policies (managed settings)
• Platform-specific paths

Key Settings Options

Query Pattern: docs-management: "settings.md available settings table"

Categories include: authentication helpers, cleanup, announcements, environment, permissions, hooks, model, output styling, status line. Query docs-management for the complete list of current settings fields.

Permission Settings

Query Pattern: docs-management: "settings.md permission settings allow deny ask"

Covers: allow/deny/ask rules, additional directories, default mode, bypass mode controls.

Sandbox Settings

Query Pattern: docs-management: "settings.md sandbox settings network"

Covers: enabled flag, auto-allow behavior, excluded commands, network settings (sockets, binding, proxies).

Settings Precedence

Query Pattern: docs-management: "settings.md precedence hierarchy"

Order (query docs-management for current precedence rules).

Environment Variable Categories

Query Pattern: docs-management: "settings.md environment variables"

Categories: authentication, model config, provider settings, proxy, telemetry, tool behavior.

Plugin Configuration

Query Pattern: docs-management: "settings.md plugin configuration enabledPlugins"

Covers: enabled plugins map, marketplace sources.

Tools Available to Claude

Query Pattern: docs-management: "interactive-mode.md tools available to Claude"

Categories: file operations, execution, user interaction, specialized tools, notebook editing.

Delegation Patterns

Standard Query Pattern

User asks: "How do I configure permissions?"

1. Invoke docs-management skill
2. Use keywords: "permission settings", "allow deny rules"
3. Load official documentation
4. Provide guidance based EXCLUSIVELY on official docs

Multi-Topic Query Pattern

User asks: "I want enterprise settings with sandbox and restricted permissions"

1. Invoke docs-management skill with multiple queries:
   - "managed-settings.json", "enterprise managed policy"
   - "sandbox settings", "bash sandboxing"
   - "permission settings", "deny rules"
2. Synthesize guidance from official documentation

Troubleshooting Pattern

User reports: "My settings aren't taking effect"

1. Invoke docs-management skill
2. Use keywords: "settings precedence", "configuration hierarchy"
3. Guide user through precedence rules from official docs

Troubleshooting Quick Reference

Repository-Specific Notes

This repository has project-level settings in .claude/settings.json including:

• Custom hooks configuration
• Permission rules
• Model settings

When modifying this repository's settings, ensure changes align with the hook-management skill guidance for hook configurations.

Auditing Settings

This skill provides the validation criteria used by the settings-auditor agent for formal audits.

Audit Resources

Scoring Categories

Thresholds: 85+ = PASS, 70-84 = PASS WITH WARNINGS, <70 = FAIL

Related Agent

The settings-auditor agent (Haiku model) performs formal audits using this skill:

• Auto-loads this skill via skills: settings-management
• Uses audit framework and docs-management for rules
• Generates structured audit reports
• Invoked by /audit-settings command

External Technology Validation

When auditing settings that reference external technologies (scripts, packages, runtimes), the auditor MUST validate claims using MCP servers before flagging findings.

Technologies Requiring MCP Validation:

• .NET/C# scripts: Validate with microsoft-learn + perplexity
• Node.js/npm packages: Validate with context7 + perplexity
• Python scripts/packages: Validate with context7 + perplexity
• Shell scripts: Validate with perplexity
• Any version-specific claims: ALWAYS validate with perplexity

Validation Rule:

Never flag a technology usage as incorrect without first:

1. Querying appropriate MCP server(s) for current documentation
2. Verifying with perplexity for recent changes (especially .NET 10+)
3. Documenting MCP sources in the finding

Stale Data Warning:

• microsoft-learn can return cached/outdated documentation
• ALWAYS pair microsoft-learn with perplexity for version verification
• Trust perplexity for version numbers and recently-released features

VS Code Integration

This plugin provides an extended JSON Schema for Claude Code settings that enables IntelliSense in VS Code.

Schema Association Options

Option 1: Workspace Settings (Recommended)

Add to .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "json.schemas": [
    {
      "fileMatch": ["**/.claude/settings.json", "**/.claude/settings.local.json"],
      "url": "./plugins/claude-ecosystem/skills/settings-management/references/claude-code-settings.schema.json"
    }
  ]
}

Option 2: In-File Schema Reference

Add at the top of your settings.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/melodic/claude-code-plugins/main/plugins/claude-ecosystem/skills/settings-management/references/claude-code-settings.schema.json"
}

Note: In-file $schema references override workspace settings. Use workspace settings for flexibility.

Environment Variable IntelliSense

The schema includes 68+ environment variables with:

• Full autocomplete for all official env var names
• Descriptions and categories for each variable
• enum: ["0", "1"] for boolean flags (type safety)
• Deprecation markers for obsolete variables

Try it: In your settings.json, type "env": { "A and VS Code will autocomplete ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_MODEL, etc.

Schema Version

The schema tracks Claude Code versions and includes version history:

Keeping Schema Updated

Run /update-settings-schema to sync the schema with latest canonical documentation. This extracts new env vars and settings from the official docs.

References

Official Documentation (via docs-management skill):

• Primary: "settings" documentation
• Related: "iam", "hooks", "sandboxing", "model-config", "network-config"

Repository-Specific:

• Project settings: .claude/settings.json
• Hooks configuration: .claude/hooks/

Version History

• v1.1.0 (2026-01-16): Added v2.1.4-v2.1.9 keyword registry entries

  • Added keybindings.json setting keywords (v2.1.7)
  • Added plansDirectory setting keywords (v2.1.9)
  • Added showTurnDuration setting keywords (v2.1.7)
  • Added CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR env var keywords (v2.1.5)
  • Added CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_BACKGROUND_TASKS env var keywords (v2.1.4)

• v1.0.0 (2025-11-26): Initial release

  • Pure delegation architecture
  • Comprehensive keyword registry
  • Quick decision tree
  • Topic coverage for all configuration features
  • Troubleshooting quick reference

Last Updated

Date: 2026-01-16 Model: claude-opus-4-5-20251101

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