# Settings Presetsconfigure Attribution > This skill should be used when the user asks to "change the commit attribution", "remove the co-authored by", "stop adding the co-authored by", "change Claude's name", "configure the PR attribution", "update attribution settings", "show that Claude is helping write commits", or "reset co-authored by settings". Manages git commit and pull request attribution in Claude Code settings. Use when this capability is needed. - Skill: `tomevault-io/settings-presetsconfigure-attribution` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/settings-presetsconfigure-attribution` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/settings-presetsconfigure-attribution/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector WARNING) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/settings-presetsconfigure-attribution --- # Configure Attribution Settings ## Purpose Manage Claude Code's attribution settings for git commits and pull requests. Configure the `Co-Authored-By` git trailer and PR description attribution in `.claude/settings.local.json`. Handle customization of Claude's name, model information, and complete removal of attribution while preserving other settings. ## When to Use Activate when users want to: - Change Claude's name in commit attribution - Add or remove model information from attribution - Customize PR description attribution - Remove attribution entirely - Reset attribution to defaults ## Configuration Workflow Follow this safe, confirmable workflow for all attribution changes: ### 1. Understand User Intent Parse the user's request to determine: - **Name changes**: "Change Claude's name to X" → Update name in attribution - **Remove attribution**: "Remove co-authored by", "stop adding attribution" → Clear attribution - **PR attribution**: "Change PR attribution to X" → Update PR description - **Model information**: Mentions of model version → Ask if they want to include/exclude it - **Partial updates**: Only commit or only PR mentioned → Preserve the other ### 2. Read Existing Configuration Always check current settings before making changes: ```bash # Check if .claude directory exists if [ ! -d ".claude" ]; then mkdir -p .claude fi # Read existing settings if present if [ -f ".claude/settings.local.json" ]; then cat .claude/settings.local.json fi ``` Extract current attribution values if they exist: ```bash # Get current commit attribution CURRENT_COMMIT=$(jq -r '.attribution.commit // empty' .claude/settings.local.json 2>/dev/null) # Get current PR attribution CURRENT_PR=$(jq -r '.attribution.pr // empty' .claude/settings.local.json 2>/dev/null) ``` ### 3. Create Backup Before any modifications, create backup with `.backup` extension: ```bash if [ -f ".claude/settings.local.json" ]; then cp .claude/settings.local.json .claude/settings.local.json.backup fi ``` ### 4. Validate Existing File If settings file exists, verify it contains valid JSON: ```bash if [ -f ".claude/settings.local.json" ]; then if ! jq empty .claude/settings.local.json 2>/dev/null; then echo "ERROR: .claude/settings.local.json contains invalid JSON" exit 1 fi fi ``` **On validation failure**: Abort and ask user to fix the malformed JSON before proceeding. ### 5. Handle Name Changes When user requests name changes, determine model handling: **User says:** "Change Claude's name to Big Dawg" **Ask user:** ``` I'll update Claude's name to "Big Dawg" in the commit attribution. Do you want to: 1. Keep the model name (e.g., "Big Dawg Sonnet 4.5") 2. Remove the model name (e.g., "Big Dawg") What would you prefer? ``` **Parse existing format** to understand current structure: ``` Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 [NAME] [MODEL] [EMAIL] ``` **Preserve email address** unless user explicitly requests changing it. ### 6. Handle Removal Requests When user requests removing attribution, confirm scope: **User says:** "Remove the co-authored by" **If user specified only commit attribution:** ``` I'll remove the commit attribution. Do you also want me to remove the PR attribution? Current PR attribution: "🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)" ``` **Wait for user response** before proceeding. **If user says remove both or confirms:** - Set `commit` to `""` - Set `pr` to `""` **If user says keep PR attribution:** - Set `commit` to `""` - Preserve existing `pr` value ### 7. Build New Configuration Create the new attribution configuration based on user request: **Preserve other settings**: Only modify the `attribution` object, preserve everything else. **Example merge logic:** ```bash # Read existing settings or create empty object EXISTING=$(cat .claude/settings.local.json 2>/dev/null || echo '{}') # Merge with new attribution (example: change name) echo "$EXISTING" | jq '. + { "attribution": { "commit": "Co-Authored-By: Big Dawg Sonnet 4.5 ", "pr": (.attribution.pr // "🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)") } }' > .claude/settings.local.json ``` **Critical**: When updating one field (commit or pr), explicitly preserve the other using `(.attribution.commit // "default")` or `(.attribution.pr // "default")`. ### 8. Write New Configuration Write the updated `.claude/settings.local.json`: ```bash # If settings doesn't exist, create it if [ ! -f ".claude/settings.local.json" ]; then echo '{}' > .claude/settings.local.json fi # Use jq to merge attribution settings jq '. + { "attribution": { "commit": "...", "pr": "..." } }' .claude/settings.local.json > .claude/settings.local.json.tmp mv .claude/settings.local.json.tmp .claude/settings.local.json ``` ### 9. Confirm with User After writing new configuration, show what changed: ``` I've updated your attribution settings: Commit attribution: OLD: Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 NEW: Co-Authored-By: Big Dawg PR attribution: (unchanged) 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) Do the changes work as expected? ``` ### 10. Cleanup Based on Response **If user confirms changes work:** ```bash rm -f .claude/settings.local.json.backup ``` **If user says changes don't work or wants to revert:** ```bash if [ -f ".claude/settings.local.json.backup" ]; then mv .claude/settings.local.json.backup .claude/settings.local.json fi rm -f .claude/settings.local.json.backup ``` **Always ensure backup file is removed** regardless of outcome. ## Attribution Format Reference ### Commit Attribution Git commit attribution uses git trailers format: **Standard format:** ``` Co-Authored-By: Name ``` **With model:** ``` Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 ``` **Custom name:** ``` Co-Authored-By: Big Dawg ``` **With custom message:** ``` Generated with AI Co-Authored-By: AI Assistant ``` **Empty (no attribution):** ``` "" ``` **Notes:** - Can include multiple lines - First lines can be custom text - Trailer lines follow git-interpret-trailers format - Empty string hides commit attribution entirely ### PR Attribution Pull request attribution is plain text in PR descriptions: **Standard format:** ``` 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) ``` **Custom message:** ``` 🤖 Generated with ✨ Style ✨ and [Big Dawg](https://claude.com/claude-code) ``` **Simple text:** ``` Created with Claude Code ``` **Empty (no attribution):** ``` "" ``` **Notes:** - Supports markdown formatting - Can include emojis, links, etc. - Empty string hides PR attribution entirely ## Parsing User Requests ### Common Request Patterns **Name changes:** - "Change Claude's name to Big Dawg" → Update name, ask about model - "Remove the model from Co-Authored-By" → Keep name, remove model portion - "Change Claude's name to match the commit attribution" → Extract name from commit, use in PR **Attribution removal:** - "Remove co-authored by" → Confirm if both commit and PR should be removed - "Stop adding the co-authored by" → Same as above - "Remove commit attribution" → Clear commit, confirm about PR - "Remove PR attribution" → Clear PR, preserve commit **Customization:** - "Change the PR attribution to say it's generated with style" → Update PR text - "Update Claude's name to Big Dawg in the Co-Authored-By" → Name change with model question - "Show that Claude is helping write these commits" → Ensure attribution is visible **Partial updates:** - If user only mentions commit → Preserve PR attribution - If user only mentions PR → Preserve commit attribution - Always confirm scope when removing attribution ### Validation Logic Before writing configuration, validate: 1. **Email format**: If custom email provided, verify it's valid format 2. **Trailer format**: Commit attribution with trailers must follow git format 3. **JSON validity**: Ensure resulting JSON is valid 4. **Preservation check**: Verify other settings aren't accidentally removed **On validation failure**: Inform user of issue and suggest corrections. ## Preserving Existing Settings Critical principle: **Only modify attribution object, preserve everything else.** ### Settings.local.json Preservation When updating `.claude/settings.local.json`: - Only modify the `attribution` object - Preserve all other keys (`statusLine`, `model`, `hooks`, etc.) - When updating only `commit`, preserve existing `pr` - When updating only `pr`, preserve existing `commit` - Use jq to merge rather than overwrite **Example merging logic (update commit only):** ```bash jq --arg newCommit "Co-Authored-By: Big Dawg " \ '. + { "attribution": { "commit": $newCommit, "pr": (.attribution.pr // "🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)") } }' .claude/settings.local.json ``` ### Attribution Field Preservation When user updates one field: - Updating commit → Preserve PR (use existing value or default) - Updating PR → Preserve commit (use existing value or default) - Both specified → Update both **Default values if field doesn't exist:** - Commit: `"Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 "` - PR: `"🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)"` ## Examples See `examples/` directory for complete working examples: - **`examples/name-change.json`** - Changing Claude's name - **`examples/remove-model.json`** - Removing model from attribution - **`examples/custom-pr.json`** - Custom PR attribution - **`examples/remove-all.json`** - Removing all attribution - **`examples/partial-update.json`** - Updating only one field ## Additional Resources ### Reference Files For detailed information: - **`references/attribution-formats.md`** - Complete attribution format guide ## Error Handling ### Directory Creation If `.claude/` doesn't exist, create it automatically: ```bash mkdir -p .claude ``` ### File Creation If settings file doesn't exist, create with empty object: ```bash echo '{}' > .claude/settings.local.json ``` ### Malformed JSON If existing file contains invalid JSON: 1. Detect using `jq empty` 2. Abort the operation 3. Ask user to fix JSON manually before proceeding 4. Do NOT attempt automatic fixes ### Backup Recovery If user wants to revert: 1. Restore from backup 2. Remove backup file 3. Confirm restoration complete ### User Confirmation When removing attribution: 1. Always confirm scope (commit only, PR only, or both) 2. Show current values being removed 3. Wait for explicit confirmation before proceeding ## Notes - Attribution settings take effect on next commit or PR creation - Empty strings (`""`) completely hide attribution - Git trailers appear at end of commit message - PR attribution appears in PR description - Use jq for all JSON operations to ensure validity - Always preserve settings the user didn't explicitly request to change - When in doubt about model inclusion, ask the user - Backup workflow provides safety without cluttering workspace --- > Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/aaronbassett) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.