Deploy managed settings changedmanaged-settings
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#### Keep Cowork folder access when only managed rules apply
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7878A deployed policy reaches the developer's sessions as follows:
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80* **Surfaces**: every surface that runs Claude Code on the machine reads these sources: the terminal, the VS Code and JetBrains extensions, the desktop app, and [Agent SDK](/docs/en/agent-sdk/typescript) sessions, which load managed settings even when `settingSources` excludes the user, project, and local files.
80* **Surfaces**: on the developer's machine, the terminal, the VS Code and JetBrains extensions, the desktop app's Code tab, and [Agent SDK](/docs/en/agent-sdk/typescript) sessions read all of these sources. Agent SDK sessions load managed settings even when `settingSources` excludes the user, project, and local files.
8181* **Cloud sessions**: a session in an Anthropic-hosted environment doesn't read a device's MDM profile or file, so policy for it has to come from server-managed settings. A session in a [self-hosted environment](/docs/en/self-hosted-environments) reads the managed settings file in its runner image only when server-managed settings deliver no keys, apart from the [keys Claude Code reads from every admin source](#keys-read-from-every-admin-source).
82* **Cowork sessions**: [Cowork](https://claude.com/docs/cowork/overview) in the Claude Desktop app runs its sessions on Claude Code. In a Cowork session, Claude Code never fetches server-managed settings from the claude.ai admin console, even when the user signs in with a Team or Enterprise account, so which policy applies depends on where the session runs:
83
84 * **On the user's machine**: by default, Claude Code in a Cowork session reads the MDM or OS-level policy and the managed settings file on that device, so deploy policy there.
85 * **In a full VM sandbox**: when your Claude Desktop managed configuration sets [`requireCoworkFullVmSandbox`](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#requirecoworkfullvmsandbox), Claude Code runs inside a virtual machine where the device's MDM policy and managed settings file aren't present.
86 * **Remote Cowork sessions**: these run on Anthropic-managed VMs, where Claude Code has no device policy to read.
87
88 The [surface coverage](/docs/en/model-config#surface-coverage) table compares Cowork with the other surfaces.
8289* **Running sessions**: a session picks up most changes on the schedule in the table without a restart. Claude Code reads [`forceRemoteSettingsRefresh`](/docs/en/settings-reference#forceremotesettingsrefresh) and [`requiredMinimumVersion`](/docs/en/settings-reference#requiredminimumversion) only at session start, arms a new or changed [`policyHelper`](/docs/en/settings-reference#policyhelper) entry at the next launch, and reads [some user-editable keys once at session start](/docs/en/settings#when-edits-take-effect).
8390* **Changes that need approval**: apart from the [updates that wait for the next launch](/docs/en/server-managed-settings#fetch-and-caching-behavior), a server-managed change to a setting that [needs approval](/docs/en/server-managed-settings#security-approval-dialogs), such as a hook or an `env` variable, waits for the developer to accept the dialog in an interactive session, and applies for the current run in a session an IDE extension or the Agent SDK hosts. Other server-managed changes apply on the next poll.
8491* **Long-lived sessions**: a session left open for weeks can still lag a rollout. [`requiredMinimumVersion`](/docs/en/settings-reference#requiredminimumversion) blocks an outdated binary from starting and doesn't end a session that's already running.
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185192* When any admin source sets `allowManagedPermissionRulesOnly`, Claude Code drops [parent-supplied](/docs/en/claude-apps-gateway#restrict-parent-settings) permission allow rules and `additionalDirectories` as it reads them, even when a higher-priority source leaves the key unset. The key's effect on your own permission rules still comes only from the selected source, or from parent settings you've chosen to merge
186193* A `forceLoginOrgUUID` or `allowedMcpServers` value in the highest-priority admin source blocks a parent-supplied one, and Claude Code enforces the admin value. A value in an admin source that isn't the highest-priority one neither applies nor blocks the parent's. Before v2.1.223, a value in any admin source blocked the parent's
187194* An `availableModels` value follows the same rule as `forceLoginOrgUUID` and `allowedMcpServers`
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196#### Keep Cowork folder access when only managed rules apply
197
198[Cowork](https://claude.com/docs/cowork/overview) in the Claude Desktop app runs its sessions on Claude Code and grants each session access to its working folders, such as the folder the user connects, through allow rules it supplies when it launches the session. When your managed policy sets [`allowManagedPermissionRulesOnly`](/docs/en/settings-reference#allowmanagedpermissionrulesonly), Claude Code keeps only the allow rules in the managed policy: it drops allow rules a host supplies as parent settings, as `--allowedTools`, or in a settings file, so writes to those folders lose their pre-approval. In a Cowork session that asks before edits, Cowork can't show the prompt, and Claude reports each write as blocked because the path resolves to a protected location or a path outside the connected folder.
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200To restore the writes, add allow rules for those folders to the managed source Claude Code [selects](#precedence-within-the-managed-tier) on those machines: on an MDM-managed fleet, that's the MDM policy rather than a separate managed settings file. This example uses the file form, and an MDM policy takes the same keys. It keeps `allowManagedPermissionRulesOnly` set and allows edits under a `CoworkProjects` folder in each user's home directory; replace the path with the folders your users connect:
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202```json managed-settings.json theme={null}
203{
204 "allowManagedPermissionRulesOnly": true,
205 "permissions": {
206 "allow": [
207 "Edit(~/CoworkProjects/**)"
208 ]
209 }
210}
211```
212
213After you deploy the policy, Claude can save files under that folder in a new Cowork session. [Read and Edit rules](/docs/en/permissions#read-and-edit) cover the path syntax, including the `//` form for absolute paths.
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189215### What a developer can change
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