Configuration Hierarchy | Claude Code Recap Card T05

Configuration Levels

Level	File	Scope	Git
Global user	`~/.claude/settings.json`	All projects	No
Global rules	`~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`	All projects	No
Shared project	`.claude/settings.json`	Team	Yes
Local project	`.claude/settings.local.json`	Personal	No
Project rules	`CLAUDE.md` (root)	Team	Yes
Subfolder	`subfolder/CLAUDE.md`	Folder	Yes

Conflict Resolution

~/.claude/CLAUDE.md          (1 - global base)
↓ + merge
./CLAUDE.md                  (2 - project rules)
↓ + merge
subfolder/CLAUDE.md          (3 - local rules)
↓ + merge
@explicit import             (4 - inline import)

Rules at a lower level supplement rather than replace higher levels.

settings.json: Structure

{
  "model": "claude-opus-4-5",
  "permissions": {
    "allow": ["Bash(git *)"],
    "deny": ["Bash(rm -rf*)"]
  },
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_LOG": "error"
  }
}

CLAUDE.md: Best Practices

# Project Conventions

## Stack
- TypeScript strict mode
- pnpm (not npm)
- Tests: Vitest

## Rules
- Always check types before modifying
- Commits in English
- Never modify package-lock.json

What Goes Where

Global CLAUDE.md: personal preferences, code style, universal conventions.

Project CLAUDE.md: architecture, stack, team conventions, build/test commands.

Project settings.json: tool permissions, default model, dev environment variables.

settings.local.json: personal overrides that should not affect the team.

Required .gitignore

# In the project .gitignore
.claude/settings.local.json