Settings files reached through symlinks onto network shares are refused

What

Claude Code now checks the real location of certain files before reading them. A symbolic link, or symlink, is a file that points to another location.

• Reading a file through a symlink that leads onto a network share or automount path now fails with ERR_SYMLINK_TO_NETWORK_PATH: "Refusing to read a file through a symbolic link that leads onto a network share or automount path; replace the link with a regular file to use it". Paths that cannot be checked, such as Windows device-namespace spellings or symlink chains too long to follow, are also refused.
• Settings files outside the Claude config folder ~/.claude go through this check.
• A path given to --settings is resolved through its links, with letter case normalised, before it is read and recorded. A failing path gets "Error: Cannot use settings file : ".
• Saving settings, the legacy settings.local.json revoke and the per-key scan now read from the resolved path rather than the raw one, with one resolver for user and policy settings and another for project files.

Why

A settings file or other file that is really a link onto a network share can no longer be read through that link. If you keep settings behind such a link, replace it with a regular file or you will see these errors.