CLAUDE_CODE_PROCESS_WRAPPER environment variable / Claude Code v2.1.208

What

A new environment variable that wraps every Claude Code process launch through a custom launcher binary. All background sessions, daemon-spawned sessions, and self-exec restarts will be run through the configured wrapper.

Usage

# Point at an absolute path to your launcher script
export CLAUDE_CODE_PROCESS_WRAPPER="/usr/local/bin/my-launcher"

# Or pass as a JSON array for launchers with fixed arguments
export CLAUDE_CODE_PROCESS_WRAPPER='["/usr/local/bin/my-launcher", "--profile", "claude"]'

Details

Must be an absolute path (bare names resolved via PATH are not accepted)
On Windows, the wrapper is not supported — sessions run unwrapped and a warning is logged
The launcher must exec into Claude Code rather than daemonize; a launcher that daemonizes is detected and rejected
If the configured launcher path is deleted or becomes non-executable, new background sessions are refused rather than started unwrapped
Project-scoped settings files (.claude/settings.json and .claude/settings.local.json) cannot configure CLAUDE_CODE_PROCESS_WRAPPER; it must be in user settings or managed settings
Run claude status to see the current wrapper configuration and any errors

Evidence

New CLAUDE_CODE_PROCESS_WRAPPER constant (search for "CLAUDE_CODE_PROCESS_WRAPPER")

Strings lifted out of the shipped bundle, so the claim above can be checked against them.