What it is
Set to 1 to start [PowerShell tool](/docs/en/tools-reference#powershell-tool) commands on Windows directly instead of through the cmd.exe launcher. By default, the launcher lets a PowerShell command [running in the background](/docs/en/tools-reference#background-commands) [carry over to the session's next process](/docs/en/agent-view#the-supervisor-process), such as when you [background the session](/docs/en/agent-view#from-inside-a-session). If you set the variable, a backgrounded PowerShell command stops when the session's process exits. Bash commands aren't affected. Requires Claude Code v2.1.269 or later
Anthropic's own wording. Read off Environment variables, captured 2026-09-22.
Presence across releases
2Build by build
11One 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.
First cited
0No release's published evidence quotes this name. The ledger indexes the Evidence lines of every changelog on this site, so this says nobody here has ever quoted it; it says nothing about how old the name is.
Names beside it
Every environment variable in the inventory starting claude_code_disable, up to twelve of them.
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_1M_CONTEXTSet to 1 to disable [1M context window](/docs/en/model-config#extended-context) support. When set, 1M model variants are unavailable in the model picker, and Claude Code holds sessions on models with a native 1M window, such as [Sonnet 5](/docs/en/model-config#sonnet-5-context-window) and the Fable models, to a 200K window; see [Extended context](/docs/en/model-config#extended-context) for how the hold is enforced. Useful for enterprise environments with compliance requirements. For its role in correcting the window for an unrecognized [1m] model ID, see [Correct the window for a gateway or custom model ID](/docs/en/model-config#correct-the-window-for-a-gateway-or-custom-model-id) v2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ADAPTIVE_THINKINGSet to 1 to disable [adaptive reasoning](/docs/en/model-config#adjust-effort-level) on Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6 and fall back to the fixed thinking budget controlled by MAX_THINKING_TOKENS. Has no effect on [Fable models](/docs/en/model-config#extended-thinking), Sonnet 5, or Opus 4.7 and later, which always use adaptive reasoning v2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ADMIN_ENV_UNIONSet to 1 to stop Claude Code from merging [managed settings](/docs/en/managed-settings#precedence-within-the-managed-tier) env blocks per key across admin sources, so only the highest-priority source's whole env block applies, as before v2.1.223. Set it in the environment that launches Claude Code, since Claude Code ignores a copy delivered through a settings env block. Requires Claude Code v2.1.223 or later v2.1.223
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ADVISOR_TOOLSet to 1 to disable the [advisor tool](/docs/en/advisor). The /advisor command becomes unavailable, any configured advisorModel is ignored, and the --advisor flag is accepted but has no effect, so existing scripts that pass it continue to work without errors v2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_AGENT_VIEWSet to 1 to turn off [background agents and agent view](/docs/en/agent-view): claude agents, --bg, /background, and the on-demand supervisor. Equivalent to the [disableAgentView](/docs/en/settings-reference#disableagentview) setting v2.1.139
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_AGENTS_FLEETNo description from anybody. v2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ALTERNATE_SCREENSet to 1 to disable [fullscreen rendering](/docs/en/fullscreen) and use the classic main-screen renderer. The conversation stays in your terminal's native scrollback so Cmd+f and tmux copy mode work as usual. Takes precedence over CLAUDE_CODE_NO_FLICKER and the [tui](/docs/en/settings-reference#tui) setting. You can also switch with /tui default. Does not apply to background sessions opened from [agent view](/docs/en/agent-view), which always use fullscreen rendering v2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ARTIFACTSet to 1 to turn off the [Artifact](/docs/en/artifacts) tool, which publishes session output as a private web page on claude.ai. Once you set it, no settings file turns the tool back on. To turn the tool off from a settings file instead, set [enableArtifact](/docs/en/settings-reference#enableartifact) to false; the deprecated [disableArtifact](/docs/en/settings-reference#disableartifact) key also turns it off v2.1.172
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ATTACHMENTSSet to 1 to disable attachment processing. File mentions with @ syntax are sent as plain text instead of being expanded into file content v2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ATTRIBUTION_CROSS_REPOTwo new environment variables are now recognized: CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ATTRIBUTION_CROSS_REPO and CLAUDE_CODE_SDK_HAS_OAUTH_REFRESH v2.1.275
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_AUTO_MEMORYSet to 1 to disable [auto memory](/docs/en/memory#auto-memory). Set to 0 to force auto memory on even when --bare mode or [autoMemoryEnabled: false](/docs/en/settings-reference#automemoryenabled) would otherwise disable it. When disabled, Claude does not create or load auto memory files v2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_AWAITING_USER_IDLENo description from anybody. v2.1.265
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 environment variable does. All environment variables.