--setting-sources
A Claude Code CLI flag, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.138, including the newest one read.
Comma-separated list of setting sources to load (user, project, local). See agent view and agent teams for the sessions you start from this one that inherit the list
Anthropic's own wording. Read off CLI reference, captured 2026-09-26.
In the changelogs
18Releases whose published page names --setting-sources.
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v2.1.290
Your home Claude settings can be sent to cloud sessions
If you opt in, Claude Code can upload your personal CLAUDE.md, rules, output styles and settings to a cloud session you start
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.287
plugin install --replaceexplains that it needs a full plugin idRunning
plugin install --replacewithout a name@marketplace id now says that id is needed and that nothing was installedfound in this entry's text
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v2.1.282
CLAUDE.md search skips project folders when project and local settings are off
Claude Code no longer walks up your project folders looking for CLAUDE.md files when both project and local setting sources are turned off
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.282
Sandbox exclusions now fail clearly when user settings are turned off
Adding a sandbox command exclusion now fails with an explanation when user settings are off, instead of reporting a success that did nothing
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.281
Hidden --managed-settings flag added to
claude agentsand forwarded to dispatched sessionsclaude agentsgains a hidden--managed-settings <json>option that is passed on to sessions it startsfound in this entry's text
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v2.1.281
--tmux worktree relaunch absolutizes path arguments
When --tmux relaunches Claude Code for a worktree, relative file paths in flags are now turned into full paths
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.281
claude agentsview now honours --settings, --managed-settings and setting sourcesclaude agentsnow applies--settings,--managed-settingsand--setting-sourcesfound in this entry's text
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v2.1.281
--setting-sources forwarded to child processes
Claude Code can now turn its active setting sources back into a
--setting-sources=argumentfound in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.281
--managed-settingsis carried through to spawned sessions;--setting-sourcesis accepted and discarded by one argument parser--managed-settings is now passed on to sessions Claude Code starts itself, while one parser reads --setting-sources and throws the value away
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.257
New CLI-internal "update_settings" tool for host UIs
A CLI-internal update_settings tool lets host UIs write settings the way /config does, for now only outputStyle in project local settings.
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.257
New SDK control command: update_settings
SDK clients can send an update_settings control command, limited to changing outputStyle in local settings.
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.239
Plugin commands explain why a plugin cannot be toggled
Plugin commands now explain refusals for built-ins and org-locked plugins instead of acting oddly.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.234
Plugin eval runs are isolated from project settings and take prompts over stdin
Plugin eval prompts now go over stdin and runs ignore project settings, so long prompts survive intact.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.234
Plugin eval reference rewritten around a tighter sandbox
Plugin eval runs now happen in a tighter sandbox with their own git repo and home directory.
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.225
Held cross-session messages name managed or repo settings as the cause
When a peer message is held, you now see whether org or repo settings caused it.
named in this entry, found in this entry's text
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v2.1.119
--setting-sourcesFlagfound in this entry's text
- v2.1.101
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v1.0.122
Setting Sources Control
found in this entry's text
First cited
6The earliest release whose published evidence quoted --setting-sources was v2.1.119, 23 Apr 2026. That is the oldest release this project wrote about it, so it is a floor on the name's age and not the release that introduced it. It is not a presence reading: which builds carried the name is the table below.
Presence across releases
1Build by build
149One row per release since the first build this name was read out of. Absent means the build was read and the name was not in it, never mined means no bundle for that release was ever archived, and a declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
Read out of the published npm bundle release by release, and out of Anthropic's own documentation as this site captured it. Nothing on this page is a description anybody here wrote about what the CLI flag does. All CLI flags.