CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_WORKING_SYNC_WATCH

Updated October 31, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_WORKING_SYNC_WATCH is a Claude Code environment variable: On Linux, set to disable the working-sync file watcher; without it the watcher is used. Added in v2.1.311 and still present in v2.1.315. 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_CODE_DISABLE_WORKING_SYNC_WATCH=<value>
claude

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

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

Related variables

• CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_WORKING_SYNC: Set to stop the synced file syncer from starting in remote sessions; read until v2.1.310.
• CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_DIR_SYNC: Turns off the background directory-sync worker on a remote session.
• CLAUDE_CODE_DIR_SYNC_DISABLE_ANCHORING
• CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ADMIN_ENV_UNION: When set to true, uses only the leading admin tier's environment settings instead of merging (unioning) the environment across all admin tiers.
• CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ARTIFACT
• CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ATTACHMENTS: File/image attachments.
• CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_AWAITING_USER_IDLE: When set, stops the session from being treated as idle while it waits for user input, so time parked on the user is not counted as idle.
• CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_CFC_PROMPT

Frequently asked questions

All variables, searchable: Claude Code environment variables.