CLAUDE_CODE_REPLY_GATE_POLICY

Updated November 3, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

CLAUDE_CODE_REPLY_GATE_POLICY is a Claude Code environment variable: Carries a reply-gate policy into agent-loop sessions: a list of terminal tools and caps on how many times Claude asks after a person's message, after its own task or a server event, and otherwise. Added in v2.1.318 and still present in v2.1.318. 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_REPLY_GATE_POLICY=<value>
claude

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

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

Release notes that mention it

• claude-code-env-vars-v2-1-318

Related variables

• CLAUDE_CODE_JIT_POLICY_AFTER_STARTUP: Sets the Bun JIT policy applied shortly after startup; the number is passed to the runtime and defaults to 1.
• CLAUDE_CODE_MAIN_REPLY_HOLD_MS: Number of milliseconds to hold back the main reply stream before handing pieces on; applies only when the relevant transport is active and defaults to 0.
• CLAUDE_CODE_UNWATCHED_REPLY_HOLD_MS: Number of milliseconds to hold streamed replies for unwatched contexts (subagent, auxiliary, compaction); defaults to 0, meaning no hold.
• CLAUDE_CODE_CCR_EVENT_FLUSH_POLICY
• CLAUDE_CODE_POLICY_HELPER_PS1_PATH
• CLAUDE_CODE_POLICY_HELPER_PSMODULEPATH
• ANTHROPIC_BETAS: Comma-separated beta feature headers.
• ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS: Custom HTTP headers (newline-separated Key: Value).

Frequently asked questions

All variables, searchable: Claude Code environment variables.