Under the hoodTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
3Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
DesktopArea: what it touches
Internal ChangesKind: in v2.1.310,
Internal ChangesSection of the release
Unclear It is not shown which ways of launching Claude Code pass the check that lets this variable take effect.
What
Claude Code now reads a second Desktop-related environment variable, CLAUDE_CODE_DESKTOP_CONNECTOR_NAMES, alongside CLAUDE_CODE_DESKTOP_SKILLS_PLUGIN_DIR. An environment variable is a named value set outside a program that the program can read. Claude Code keeps the value only when a check on how it was launched passes, and then removes the variable from its environment in the same way.
When the value is kept, MCP servers whose names start with claude_ai_ are accepted by the name check instead of being refused. An MCP server is an outside program that gives Claude extra tools. When a name is still refused, Claude Code records that in its usage reports.
Why
This lets a session started by the Claude Desktop app use MCP servers named after its connectors, which the normal name check would otherwise reject. Most people will not set this variable themselves.
