# Settings Management

> View and configure settings for coding agents (Claude Code, Codex CLI, and others). Covers JSON settings for Claude Code and TOML config for Codex CLI, including permissions, sandbox, model selection, and profiles. Use when this capability is needed.

- Skill: `tomevault-io/settings-management-2` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/settings-management-2`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/settings-management-2/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/settings-management-2

---


# Settings Management

Manage configuration for coding agents.

**IMPORTANT**: After modifying settings, always inform the user that they need to **restart the agent** for changes to take effect. Most settings are only loaded at startup.

## Settings File Locations

| Scope | Location | Shared with team? |
|-------|----------|-------------------|
| **User** | `~/.claude/settings.json` | No |
| **Project** | `.claude/settings.json` | Yes (committed) |
| **Local** | `.claude/settings.local.json` | No (gitignored) |
| **Managed** | System-level `managed-settings.json` | IT-deployed |

**Precedence** (highest to lowest): Managed → Command line → Local → Project → User

## Quick Actions

### View Current Settings

```bash
cat ~/.claude/settings.json 2>/dev/null || echo "No user settings"
cat .claude/settings.json 2>/dev/null || echo "No project settings"
cat .claude/settings.local.json 2>/dev/null || echo "No local settings"
```

### Create/Edit Settings

Use the Edit or Write tool to modify settings files. Always read existing content first to merge changes.

## Common Configuration Tasks

### Set Default Model

```json
{
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"
}
```

### Configure Permissions

```json
{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": ["Bash(npm run:*)", "Bash(git:*)"],
    "deny": ["Read(.env)", "Read(.env.*)", "WebFetch"],
    "defaultMode": "allowEdits"
  }
}
```

### Add Environment Variables

```json
{
  "env": {
    "MY_VAR": "value",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_TELEMETRY": "1"
  }
}
```

### Enable Extended Thinking

```json
{
  "alwaysThinkingEnabled": true
}
```

### Configure Attribution

```json
{
  "attribution": {
    "commit": "Generated with AI\n\nCo-Authored-By: AI <ai@example.com>",
    "pr": ""
  }
}
```

### Configure Sandbox

```json
{
  "sandbox": {
    "enabled": true,
    "autoAllowBashIfSandboxed": true,
    "excludedCommands": ["docker", "git"]
  }
}
```

### Configure Hooks

```json
{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": {
      "Bash": "echo 'Running command...'"
    }
  }
}
```

## Scope Selection Guide

- **User settings** (`~/.claude/settings.json`): Personal preferences across all projects
- **Project settings** (`.claude/settings.json`): Team-shared settings, commit to git
- **Local settings** (`.claude/settings.local.json`): Personal project overrides, not committed

## Workflow

1. **Determine scope**: Ask user which scope (user/project/local) if not specified
2. **Read existing settings**: Always read current file before modifying
3. **Merge changes**: Preserve existing settings, only modify requested keys
4. **Validate JSON**: Ensure valid JSON before writing
5. **Confirm changes**: Show user the final settings
6. **Remind to restart**: Tell user to restart Claude Code for changes to take effect

## Codex CLI Settings

Codex uses TOML format in `~/.codex/config.toml` (user) and `.codex/config.toml` (project).

```toml
model = "gpt-5.2-codex"
approval_policy = "on-request"    # untrusted | on-failure | on-request | never
sandbox_mode = "workspace-write"  # read-only | workspace-write | danger-full-access
```

Key differences from Claude Code:
- TOML format instead of JSON
- Starlark rules for command policies (`.codex/rules/`)
- Named profiles for different workflows
- Feature flags system (`codex features list`)

See [references/codex-settings.md](references/codex-settings.md) for full Codex config reference.

## Reference

- **Claude Code settings**: [references/claude-settings.md](references/claude-settings.md)
- **Codex CLI settings**: [references/codex-settings.md](references/codex-settings.md)

---
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<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-04-11 -->