claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Log wording: 'Broken symlink or missing file' is misleading when the file is simply absent

Summary

In Claude Code 2.1.141, on every cold start, the CLI emits a debug-level log line for each project directory that lacks a .claude/settings.json:

[DEBUG] Broken symlink or missing file encountered for settings.json at path:
  c:\Users\noahr\code repos\<repo>\.claude\settings.json

In a workspace with many additional working directories, this fires 20–40 times per startup. The wording suggests filesystem corruption (broken symlink) when the underlying reality is simply that the optional file doesn't exist.

Repro

1. Open Claude Code in a workspace where multiple project paths are added via --add-dir or cliArg-permissions
2. Most of those paths don't have a .claude/settings.json (which is the normal state — the file is optional)
3. Run with --debug
4. Observe ~one "Broken symlink or missing file" line per project directory

Why it matters

• Operator confusion. "Broken symlink" reads as filesystem corruption. The first time I saw the cluster I assumed I had bad symlinks somewhere and went looking. They don't exist — the files just aren't there.
• Volume. In a workspace with 24 cliArg working directories (each searched for .claude/settings.json + .claude/settings.local.json), this fires 30–48 times per launch.

Suggested change

Differentiate the two underlying conditions:

Alternatively: silence the ENOENT case entirely at DEBUG level for project directories that didn't volunteer a .claude/ folder — that's the common case and isn't diagnostic.

Environment

• Claude Code 2.1.141 (VS Code extension on Windows 11)
• Multi-repo workspace with 24 working directories added via cliArg permissions

Diagnosis source: workspace-ops PR #63 → 02-errors-and-warnings.md (third-party operator notes).