crossSessionInbound is the setting that controls whether messages sent from other Claude Code sessions are accepted. When a settings file gives it a value that is not recognised, incoming cross-session messages are held, and both the place that holds them and the managed-settings validator now say so by name rather than falling back to a generic reason or a generic schema complaint.
- The hold reason is labelled
invalid-setting, and the accompanying settings warning names the offending file. - Two texts ship for the held state: a short one for the status surface, and a longer one that lists which values are legal.
- Before this, an unparseable value fell through to the default explanation for held messages.
- In administrator-managed settings, the validation report calls out a bad
crossSessionInboundvalue alongside the existing unknown-key andmcpServersmessages.
A settings file has an unrecognized "crossSessionInbound" value (the settings warning names the file); messages are held while it is present, A settings file has an unrecognized "crossSessionInbound" value (see the settings warning), so messages are held while it is present., crossSessionInbound:
Strings lifted out of the shipped bundle, so the claim above can be checked against them.
The entry above is what we published on the day. These lines were added later, as Anthropic's own pages caught up, and they sit beside the original rather than replacing it.
To see which value applies, follow the `crossSessionInbound` precedence rules in the [settings reference](/docs/en/settings-reference#crosssessioninbound).cross-session-messaging see the edit
| `"crossSessionInbound" must be one of "accept", "hold", "refuse"` | [Configuration warnings](#crosssessioninbound-must-be-one-of-accept-hold-refuse) |errors see the edit
Anthropic's documentation has since written up crossSessionInbound, on Error reference.
Fixed an invalid crossSessionInbound value being silently ignored: it now warns and holds cross-session messages (user settings) or refuses…