CLAUDE_BG_STARTUP_WEDGE_MS

Updated October 13, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

CLAUDE_BG_STARTUP_WEDGE_MS is a Claude Code environment variable: Startup jitter for background sessions. When you spawn many agents simultaneously, they can race for the same auth or daemon connections. This introduces a small configurable delay to stagger launches. Set it if you see authentication conflicts on mass concurrent spawns. Added between v2.1.128 and v2.1.138 and still present in v2.1.294. 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_STARTUP_WEDGE_MS=<value>
claude

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

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

Release notes that mention it

• Claude Code v2.1.143 — 27 New Env Vars, /goal, Agent View, and a Free Model Upgrade
• Claude Code Version Tracker: Undocumented Env Vars, Feature Gates & Models

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_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.
• CLAUDE_BRIDGE_REATTACH_SESSION: Session identity used during bridge reconnection.

Frequently asked questions

All variables, searchable: Claude Code environment variables.