Quartet / Quintet

The 71 settings keys that do nothing in a project .claude/settings.json

Some settings keys only take effect from a particular file.

The awkward part is that putting one in the wrong file is not an error. The JSON is valid, startup prints no warning, --debug says nothing. It just does not apply.

Counting the scope column of the official settings table, 71 keys are in this position.

Scope Applies from Count
Managed Managed settings only — the file an organisation deploys 39
User or managed The user's own ~/.claude/settings.json, or managed settings 23
User, local, or managed User settings, settings.local.json, or managed settings (this one does apply from settings.local.json) 3
Global config ~/.claude.json only 6

Any file (152 keys) applies everywhere and is not listed here.

Checking it

This is not a table to read down by hand. Let a tool do it.

npx @quintetkit/ccheck

warn  .claude/settings.json:63
      `autoMode` applies from user or managed settings only. It has no effect from this file.

Two things worth knowing

~/.claude/settings.json is the user scope. Its path looks the same as a project settings file, but a User or managed key written there is correct.

Nested keys are decided by their full dotted name. sandbox.network.strictAllowlist is written under sandbox, but the scope belongs to the complete name. sandbox itself is not restricted.

Managed — 39 keys

Managed settings only — the file an organisation deploys.

Key
allowAllClaudeAiMcps
allowManagedHooksOnly
allowManagedMcpServersOnly
allowManagedPermissionRulesOnly
allowedChannelPlugins
blockedMarketplaces
browserExternalPageTools
channelsEnabled
claudeMd
disableBrowserExternalNavigation
disableCommandPluginSources
disableDesktopLocalSessions
disableMobileSimulatorTools
disableSideloadFlags
forceLoginGatewayUrl
forceRemoteSettingsRefresh
managedSourcesBehavior
modelPricing
parentSettingsBehavior
pluginSuggestionMarketplaces
pluginTrustMessage
policyHelper
policyHelper.path
policyHelper.refreshIntervalMs
policyHelper.timeoutMs
requiredMaximumVersion
requiredMinimumVersion
sandbox.bwrapPath
sandbox.filesystem.allowManagedReadPathsOnly
sandbox.network.allowManagedDomainsOnly
sandbox.socatPath
sshHostAllowlist
strictKnownMarketplaces
strictPluginOnlyCustomization
strictPluginOnlyCustomization.agents
strictPluginOnlyCustomization.hooks
strictPluginOnlyCustomization.mcp
strictPluginOnlyCustomization.skills
wslInheritsWindowsSettings

User or managed — 23 keys

The user's own ~/.claude/settings.json, or managed settings.

Key
askUserQuestionTimeout
autoContinueAtUsageLimit
autoMode
autoMode.classifyAllShell
desktopSessionCleanupPeriodDays
dialogExpiry
feedbackDrafts
footerLinksRegexes
modelPicker
pluginConfigs
processWrapper
sandbox.allowAppleEvents
sandbox.credentials.allowPlaintextInject
sandbox.credentials.awsPairs
sandbox.credentials.sigv4
sandbox.filesystem.disabled
sandbox.network.strictAllowlist
sandbox.network.tlsTerminate
sandbox.ripgrep
skipAutoPermissionPrompt
spellcheck
sshConfigs
vimInsertModeRemaps

User, local, or managed — 3 keys

User settings, settings.local.json, or managed settings (this one does apply from settings.local.json).

Key
skipDangerousModePermissionPrompt
syncClaudeAiSkills
useAutoModeDuringPlan

Global config — 6 keys

~/.claude.json only.

Key
autoConnectIde
autoInstallIdeExtension
diffTool
externalEditorContext
permissionExplainerEnabled
teammateDefaultModel

Source

The scope column of the official settings reference table.

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/settings-reference

Extracted mechanically from a snapshot taken 2026-09-04. When this was copied by hand, 51 of the 71 were missing. At this size, it should not be a list a person maintains.

The workflow itself is available

Quartet, the four-persona version, is published free under MIT. Quintet adds a UI Designer persona, review criteria, a per-Issue parallel execution script, and a 10-chapter guide.

See the free version Product page