Use settings.local.json for Machine-Specific Overrides That Stay Out of Git

Claude Code has three setting scopes: user (global), project (committed with the repo), and local (per-machine, ignored by git). The local scope solves the problem of developer-specific preferences conflicting with team standards.

# Set a personal default model — doesn't affect teammates
claude config set -s local defaultModel haiku

# Add a personal MCP server only you use
claude config set -s local mcpServers.my-notes '{"command":"node","args":["~/tools/notes-server.js"]}'

# Override a project setting for your machine
claude config set -s local autoMemoryEnabled false

Local settings live in .claude/settings.local.json, which is automatically excluded from git. They override project settings, which override user settings — so the specificity works like CSS.

The three scopes, from broadest to most specific:

Common uses for local settings:

# You prefer a different model than the team default
claude config set -s local defaultModel sonnet

# You need extra tools approved for your workflow
claude config add -s local allowedTools "Bash(docker *)"

# You have a local database MCP the team doesn't use
claude config set -s local mcpServers.local-db '{"command":"node","args":["./my-db-tool.js"]}'

# You want more verbose output than the team default
claude config set -s local verbose true

The project scope (.claude/settings.json) is where team conventions go — shared allowedTools, ignorePatterns, and MCP servers that everyone needs. The local scope is where individual developers customise without stepping on each other.

Team settings belong in the project. Your settings belong in local. Mix them up and you get merge conflicts on preferences files.

via Claude Code