CLAUDE_CODE_RESTRICT_PERSONAL_CONFIG

Updated October 14, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

CLAUDE_CODE_RESTRICT_PERSONAL_CONFIG is a Claude Code environment variable: Limits what a session's own Claude Code files may do. With it set, a user's own agents cannot define their own MCP servers or widen their permission mode, the user's own hooks must succeed, and launching a cloud agent is refused because a cloud session would not carry the limits (it points to isolation worktree…. Added in v2.1.295 and still present in v2.1.296. 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_RESTRICT_PERSONAL_CONFIG=<value>
claude

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

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

Release notes that mention it

• Claude Code Version Tracker: Undocumented Env Vars, Feature Gates & Models
• claude-code-env-vars-v2-1-295

Related variables

• CLAUDE_CODE_MANAGED_CONFIG_PREFETCH: Turns on a hedged prefetch of the organization's managed settings during startup, so the first managed-settings fetch runs earlier in the launch sequence.
• CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR: Custom config directory.
• GIT_CONFIG_COUNT
• CLAUDE_CODE_CONFIG_PROBE
• CLAUDE_CODE_CONFIG_WATCH_EVENTS
• CLAUDE_SECURESTORAGE_CONFIG_DIR
• 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.