Issue Station
Sign In
Tools hereToolbox

claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Bug: crash on startup when developer_settings.json is empty or corrupt

Official PRs (…)
ON THIS PAGE

Recommended Tools

×6

Utilities matched from this issue’s tags and category — try them while you read without losing context.

GitHub issue graph ai analysis

Paste a GitHub issue URL. We fetch that issue, discover linked issues from bodies/comments/timeline, collect linked pull requests, and produce a structured English report.

The report is written in English Markdown for sharing and archival.

Helpful · Quick feedback

Loading…

On Windows, if %APPDATA%\Claude\developer_settings.json exists but is empty (or contains only whitespace), the app crashes on startup with:

Could not load developer settings There was an error reading or parsing developer_settings.json: Unexpected end of JSON input

Error Message

There was an error reading or parsing developer_settings.json: Unexpected end of JSON input The app shows an error dialog and fails to start.

Root Cause

On Windows, if %APPDATA%\Claude\developer_settings.json exists but is empty (or contains only whitespace), the app crashes on startup with:

Could not load developer settings There was an error reading or parsing developer_settings.json: Unexpected end of JSON input

Fix Action

Workaround

Manually replace the file contents with {}.

RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Description

On Windows, if %APPDATA%\Claude\developer_settings.json exists but is empty (or contains only whitespace), the app crashes on startup with:

Could not load developer settings There was an error reading or parsing developer_settings.json: Unexpected end of JSON input

Steps to reproduce

  1. Clear or empty the file at %APPDATA%\Claude\developer_settings.json
  2. Launch Claude

Expected behavior

The app should handle a missing, empty, or corrupt developer_settings.json gracefully — e.g. fall back to defaults and optionally recreate the file with {}.

Actual behavior

The app shows an error dialog and fails to start.

Workaround

Manually replace the file contents with {}.

Environment

  • OS: Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200
  • Claude Desktop app

Vote matrix · Quick signals

Works
Did the solution work? Tap to confirm.
Easy Fix
Was it a quick fix?
Time Saver
Did it save you time?
Blocking
Was it severely blocking?
Common Issue
Are others likely hitting this too?
Flaky / Intermittent
Is it intermittent?
Verified / Reproducible
Can you reproduce it reliably?
Loading…

FAQ

Expected behavior

The app should handle a missing, empty, or corrupt developer_settings.json gracefully — e.g. fall back to defaults and optionally recreate the file with {}.

Still need to ship something?

×6

Another batch ranked right after the header list — different links, same matching logic.

Back to top recommendations

TRENDING