CLAUDE_CODE_HOST_GUARDS_ARTIFACTS_MCP

Updated October 31, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

CLAUDE_CODE_HOST_GUARDS_ARTIFACTS_MCP is a Claude Code environment variable: On a desktop host, the artifacts MCP entry is skipped unless this is set to true, which keeps that entry enabled. Added in v2.1.312 and still present in v2.1.315. It is not in the official reference.

Status	Present in v2.1.315
Added	Added in v2.1.312
Category	MCP
Official docs	Not listed

How to set it

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

export CLAUDE_CODE_HOST_GUARDS_ARTIFACTS_MCP=<value>
claude

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

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

Related variables

CLAUDE_CODE_MCP_APPS_HOST: Set to true to declare support for MCP app UI extensions, advertising HTML (text/html;profile=mcp-app) surfaces in the client capabilities.
CLAUDE_CODE_ARTIFACT_MCP: Enables MCP runtime-capability support for artifacts; on by default.
CLAUDE_CODE_CHROME_LATE_MCP_SERVER: When true, loads the alternate late Claude-in-Chrome MCP server module and skips installing the Chrome native host early.
CLAUDE_CODE_CHROME_MCP_ORG_DENIED: When set, forces Claude-in-Chrome to be treated as denied by organization policy, with the cause reported as parent_org_policy.
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_MCP_TASK_BACKGROUND: Turns off automatic backgrounding of MCP tool tasks.
CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_REFRESH_MCP_TOOLS: Enables an on-demand MCP-tool refresh capability, grouped with CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_TASKS and CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_REMOTE_RECAP.
CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_MCP_DESCRIPTION_LENGTH
CLAUDE_CODE_MCP_ALLOWLIST_ENV: Specifies an allowlist of environment variables that MCP servers can access.

Frequently asked questions

What does CLAUDE_CODE_HOST_GUARDS_ARTIFACTS_MCP do?

On a desktop host, the artifacts MCP entry is skipped unless this is set to true, which keeps that entry enabled.

Which Claude Code version has CLAUDE_CODE_HOST_GUARDS_ARTIFACTS_MCP?

Added in v2.1.312 and still present in v2.1.315.

How do I set CLAUDE_CODE_HOST_GUARDS_ARTIFACTS_MCP?

Export it before starting Claude Code (export CLAUDE_CODE_HOST_GUARDS_ARTIFACTS_MCP=value), or add it to the "env" object in ~/.claude/settings.json to apply it to every session.

All variables, searchable: Claude Code environment variables.