Where to find Claude Code’s settings.json on a Mac, and why the same variable doesn’t work on claude.ai

On a Mac, Claude Code’s settings.json file lives at ~/.claude/settings.json, inside the .claude folder in your home directory. Finder doesn’t show that folder because its name starts with a dot: to open it, press Cmd + Shift + G in Finder and type ~/.claude.

Why can’t you see the .claude folder in Finder?

On a Mac, as on Linux, every file or folder whose name starts with a dot is hidden. The .claude folder exists, but Finder doesn’t list it in your home directory.

Inside .claude sits settings.json, Claude Code’s user settings file. According to the official documentation it applies to all your projects, and environment variables go under the env key. The line I show in the Short, the one that makes Claude Code less verbose, is this:

{
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_SIMPLE_SYSTEM_PROMPT": "0"
  }
}

How do you open ~/.claude from Finder?

Three keys are enough:

1. Open Finder.
2. Press Cmd + Shift + G: a window opens where you can type a path.
3. Type ~/.claude and press Return. The tilde ~ is shorthand for your home directory: it’s the same as /Users/yourname/.claude.

Now you’re inside the folder and can edit settings.json.

What mistakes should you avoid when editing settings.json on a Mac?

There are two traps on a Mac. Both produce a file Claude Code can’t read.

• TextEdit saves in rich text. TextEdit, the Mac’s default editor, creates new documents in rich text format. Before saving, open the Format menu and choose Make Plain Text, or settings.json stops being valid JSON.
• Finder hides file extensions. You risk saving a file that looks like settings.json in Finder but is actually named settings.json.txt. Claude Code looks for settings.json and ignores that file.

What’s the fastest way to edit settings.json?

My honest answer: skip all of this. Open Claude Code in the terminal and ask it to set the environment variable in the settings.json file inside ~/.claude. Claude Code knows exactly where the file is and how to write it, and you avoid hidden folders, rich text and wrong extensions.

Then quit and reopen Claude Code so it reloads the settings with the new variable. The Claude Code documentation explains that many values in the env block apply as soon as you save, but some features read their variables only at startup: restarting removes any doubt.

Does the same setting work on claude.ai?

No. That line sets an environment variable, and environment variables are read only by programs running on your computer, such as Claude Code.

Claude.ai is a web app you use in the browser. On claude.ai there’s no settings.json file to edit, so you can’t change the system prompt with an environment variable.

What should you do next?

~/.claude/settings.json is where you decide how Claude Code behaves across all your projects. It’s worth knowing where it is, even if you let Claude Code edit it for you.

Next time you find a useful line to add to your settings, open the terminal and ask Claude Code for it directly: one sentence and a restart are all you need.