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5252The file in the steps above is one of four ways to get managed settings onto a machine. Every mechanism carries the same policy keys as a `settings.json` file, so the [settings reference](/docs/en/settings-reference) applies to all of them. A few keys are tied to particular sources, and each entry's Scope line says which:
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5454* **Delivery controls**: [`policyHelper`](/docs/en/settings-reference#policyhelper), [`wslInheritsWindowsSettings`](/docs/en/settings-reference#wslinheritswindowssettings), and [`managedSourcesBehavior`](/docs/en/settings-reference#managedsourcesbehavior)
55* **Gateway login keys**: [`forceLoginGatewayUrl`](/docs/en/settings-reference#forcelogingatewayurl) and the `"gateway"` value of [`forceLoginMethod`](/docs/en/settings-reference#forceloginmethod)
55* **Gateway login keys**: [`forceLoginGatewayUrl`](/docs/en/settings-reference#forcelogingatewayurl), [`gatewayInternalNetworks`](/docs/en/settings-reference#gatewayinternalnetworks), and the `"gateway"` value of [`forceLoginMethod`](/docs/en/settings-reference#forceloginmethod)
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5757A managed settings file, an MDM profile, or the claude.ai console applies one policy to everyone it reaches. To give one group of developers a different policy, deploy a different file or profile to that group; the claude.ai console [can't target a group yet](/docs/en/server-managed-settings#current-limitations), while a self-hosted [Claude apps gateway](/docs/en/claude-apps-gateway) delivers managed settings per IdP group.
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130130* **`"first-wins"`, the default**: Claude Code uses the highest-ranked source that delivers at least one policy key and ignores the rest rather than merging them, apart from the keys in [Keys read from every admin source](#keys-read-from-every-admin-source). Claude Code shows no warning for the sources it skips; `/status` [names the source it used and the ones it skipped](#read-the-source-in-/status).
131131* **`"merge"`**: Claude Code applies every admin source that delivers a policy key and combines them by kind of key: on most keys the higher-ranked source's value applies, lists union, and locks take the strictest value. [Compose every managed source](#compose-every-managed-source) says where to set the key and how each kind of key combines. Requires Claude Code v2.1.242 or later.
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133Both settings rank the sources the same way. Two terms recur in this section:
133Both settings rank the sources the same way. These terms recur in this section:
134134
135135* **Policy key**: any settings key other than the two control keys, [`wslInheritsWindowsSettings`](/docs/en/settings-reference#wslinheritswindowssettings) and [`managedSourcesBehavior`](/docs/en/settings-reference#managedsourcesbehavior). A managed settings file or MDM policy that contains only those doesn't count, and Claude Code moves on to the next source.
136136* **Admin source**: one of the first three sources below. The HKCU registry is user-writable and isn't one.
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168168* [`forceRemoteSettingsRefresh`](/docs/en/server-managed-settings)
169169* `env`, merged per variable across the admin sources: each variable comes from the highest-priority source that defines it, so lower sources fill in variables the higher ones leave unset. A few variables follow their own rules; [Per-key exceptions across managed sources](/docs/en/server-managed-settings#per-key-exceptions-across-managed-sources) names each one. Requires Claude Code v2.1.223 or later. Before v2.1.223, Claude Code applied the selected source's whole `env` block only
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171The [gateway login keys](#choose-a-delivery-mechanism), [`forceLoginGatewayUrl`](/docs/en/settings-reference#forcelogingatewayurl) and the `"gateway"` value of [`forceLoginMethod`](/docs/en/settings-reference#forceloginmethod), follow a separate rule. Claude Code never reads them from server-managed settings, so while server-managed settings are the selected source, the highest-ranked admin source on the machine that carries a policy key still supplies them. A value in an admin source ranked below that one, or in the HKCU registry, is ignored.
171The [gateway login keys](#choose-a-delivery-mechanism) follow a separate rule. Claude Code never reads them from server-managed settings, so while server-managed settings are the selected source, the highest-ranked admin source on the machine that carries a policy key still supplies them. A value in an admin source ranked below that one, or in the HKCU registry, is ignored.
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173173### Compose every managed source
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244244
245245### What a developer can change
246246
247A developer's own settings files, `--settings` values, and project files never override a managed value; the [exceptions](/docs/en/settings#exceptions-to-managed-settings-precedence) only let a stricter lower-level value count. Four things sit outside that rule:
247A developer's own settings files, `--settings` values, and project files never override a managed value; the [exceptions](/docs/en/settings#exceptions-to-managed-settings-precedence) only let a stricter lower-level value count. These cases sit outside that rule:
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249249* **The model for a session**: a managed `model` is a default, not a lock. `--model` and `ANTHROPIC_MODEL` still pick the model for that session, so deploy [`availableModels`](/docs/en/settings-reference#availablemodels) to restrict the choice.
250250* **Local admin rights**: a developer who is an administrator on the machine can edit the managed source itself, which is why MDM tooling can redeploy the profile or file on a schedule and why the HKLM registry and the macOS managed preferences domain exist.
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326326| `availableModels` | Enforced as an empty allowlist until fixed, so only the Default model is available; a non-string entry is stripped and the valid subset enforced. |
327327| `enforceAvailableModels` | Treated as `true`. |
328328| `forceLoginOrgUUID` | No organization is permitted to log in until the value is fixed. |
329| `gatewayInternalNetworks` | When the invalid value comes from the highest managed source on the machine, `/login` refuses every new [cloud gateway](/docs/en/claude-apps-gateway#allow-a-gateway-on-public-address-space-you-own) sign-in on that machine until the value is fixed. |
329330| `crossSessionInbound` | Treated as `refuse`, the most restrictive value, so inbound [cross-session messages](/docs/en/cross-session-messaging#control-inbound-messages) are refused until the value is fixed. The developer sees [a warning](/docs/en/errors#crosssessioninbound-must-be-one-of-accept-hold-refuse). |
330331| `deniedMcpServers` | An individual invalid entry is stripped and the valid subset is enforced. A wholly invalid value is dropped with a warning, since denying every server would block servers the policy never named. |
331332| `sandbox.credentials` | A recoverable invalid entry is degraded to `mode: "deny"` with a warning; an unrecoverable one is stripped; valid entries stay enforced. See [invalid credential entries](/docs/en/settings-reference#invalid-credential-entries-in-managed-settings) |