CLAUDE_BG_GATEWAY_WITHHELD

Updated October 18, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

CLAUDE_BG_GATEWAY_WITHHELD is a Claude Code environment variable: Carries the path of an LLM gateway that was set in your shell but not passed through to a background session opened from another folder. It backs the clearer no-gateway message this release ships in place of a generic "Not logged in". First appears in v2.1.302. Added between v2.1.301 and v2.1.303 and still present in v2.1.303. It is not in the official reference.

How to set it

For one session, export it in the shell that starts Claude Code:

export CLAUDE_BG_GATEWAY_WITHHELD=<value>
claude

To apply it to every session, add it to the env object of a settings file:

// ~/.claude/settings.json
{
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_BG_GATEWAY_WITHHELD": "<value>"
  }
}

Release notes that mention it

• Claude Code Version Tracker: Undocumented Env Vars, Feature Gates & Models
• claude-code-env-vars-v2-1-303

Related variables

• CLAUDE_AUTO_BACKGROUND_TASKS: Enable automatic background task execution.
• CLAUDE_BG_BACKEND: Set to "daemon" to route background work through a daemon backend.
• CLAUDE_BG_ISOLATION: Isolation mode for background agent processes — controls how separated the daemon's process space is from the foreground session.
• CLAUDE_BG_RENDEZVOUS_SOCK: Socket path for the IPC channel between a foreground Claude session and the background daemon.
• CLAUDE_BG_SOURCE: Tags where a background job originated: CLI, SDK, Remote Control, another agent.
• CLAUDE_BG_STARTUP_WEDGE_MS: Startup jitter for background sessions.
• CLAUDE_BG_TCC_DISCLAIMED: macOS TCC (Transparency, Consent, and Control) permission disclaimer state for background sessions.
• CLAUDE_BRIDGE_REATTACH_SEQ: Sequence number for the bridge reconnection protocol.

Frequently asked questions

All variables, searchable: Claude Code environment variables.