claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Per-session model/effort settings isolated to the current window [1 comments, 2 participants]

TL;DR

Implement an in-session override mechanism to store model, effort, and thinking settings locally for each Claude Code window, without writing changes back to the global ~/.claude/settings.json file.

Guidance

• Introduce a new, session-specific storage mechanism, such as an environment variable or a CLI flag, to override global settings for each window.
• Modify the /model command and model picker (meta+p) to update the local, in-session settings instead of the global ~/.claude/settings.json file.
• Ensure that new sessions default to the global settings stored in ~/.claude/settings.json, while allowing existing sessions to maintain their local overrides.
• Consider using a unique identifier for each session to manage the local settings, such as a process ID or a random session ID.

Example

// Example of a possible in-session override storage
{
  "sessionId": "12345",
  "model": "sonnet",
  "effortLevel": "high",
  "alwaysThinkingEnabled": true
}

Notes

The implementation details of the in-session override mechanism will depend on the specific requirements and constraints of the Claude Code application. This solution assumes that the global ~/.claude/settings.json file will continue to serve as the default for new sessions.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by implementing an in-session override layer, as this will allow for the desired behavior without modifying the underlying global settings storage. This approach will enable users to have multiple Claude Code windows with different settings, while still maintaining a global default.