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settings.json env not taking effect - Claude Code

Quick fix

Claude Code reads settings.json only at startup. After switching providers, restart Claude Code or set env vars manually.

Symptom

Section titled “Symptom”
Error output
After switching providers via cc-switch, the `settings.json` is updated, but Claude Code doesn't reload the `env` config - `/status` still shows the old URL.

Cause

Section titled “Cause”

Claude Code does not hot-reload the settings.json configuration file. It loads settings.json only once at startup. After switching providers with cc-switch, the config file is updated, but Claude Code still uses the old environment variables, such as `ANTHROPIC_MODEL`.

Fix

Section titled “Fix”

  1. Restart Claude Code so it reads the updated `settings.json` configuration file at startup.

  2. If it still does not take effect after restart, manually set the environment variables in the terminal, then start Claude Code.

    PowerShell / Terminal
    export ANTHROPIC_MODEL="your-model-name"

  3. As an alternative, use a tool that maintains a local proxy, such as clash-for-ai, so you can switch without modifying the config file each time.

Affected Versions

Section titled “Affected Versions”
ToolClaude Code
VersionUnknown
PlatformsWindowsmacOS

Source Issues

Section titled “Source Issues”

This page is distilled from 1 real issues

FAQ

Section titled “FAQ”
The setting.json file looks correct in the IDE, but the environment variables are empty in PowerShell. Why?
Claude Code does not dynamically read the `env` field from `settings.json` at runtime and inject it into the current terminal environment. It loads it only once at startup.
Is there a way to avoid restarting or manually exporting every time I switch?
Use a tool such as clash-for-ai that switches by maintaining a local proxy. This avoids the hot-reload problem caused by modifying the config file.
Section titled “Related problems”
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN and ANTHROPIC_API_KEYRun `claude daemon stop --any` to kill leftover Claude background processes, then keep only one auth variable in `env` in `~/.claude/settings.json`.12 issues mergedANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN and ANTHROPIC_API_KEYOpen `~/.claude/settings.json`, delete the duplicate auth variable so only the one your provider needs remains, save, and restart Claude Code.4 issues mergedAuth conflictLog out of the official Claude login, clear conflicting ANTHROPIC_* variables, set hasCompletedOnboarding to true in ~/.claude.json, and restart the terminal.6 issues merged

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