Unclear Exactly which settings variables now reach child programs that did not before, or the reverse, is not settled.
When Claude Code starts another program, such as a shell command, it builds an environment for it: the set of named values, like PATH, that the program can read. Claude Code now adds the environment variables defined in your settings before it removes the ones it does not pass on. Before, only colour-related settings values were added, and they were added last.
The merge now treats names that differ only in upper and lower case as the same name, and filters Windows-style names. CLAUDE_CODE_PERFORCE_MODE is protected so that it is kept when it is set to a true-like value.
Variables you set in your settings may now reach the programs Claude Code starts differently than before. If a command behaves differently with respect to an environment variable, check what your settings define.
Exactly which settings variables now reach child programs that did not before, or the reverse, is not settled.