[BUG] `managed-settings.json` auto-updates are disabled when they should not with `CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC=0`

[tonglil]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Using managed-settings.json and want to enforce auto updates to the stable version of Claude Code.

However, claude doctor shows disabled, even though CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC is set to 0 in managed-settings.json:

claude doctor

 Diagnostics
 └ Currently running: native (2.1.44)
 └ Path: /Users/user/.local/share/claude/versions/2.1.44
 └ Invoked: /Users/user/.local/share/claude/versions/2.1.44
 └ Config install method: native
 └ Search: OK (bundled)

 Updates
 └ Auto-updates: disabled (CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC set)
 └ Auto-update channel: stable
 └ Stable version: 2.1.44
 └ Latest version: 2.1.59

 Press Enter to continue…

This is the managed-settings.json configuration in /Library/Application Support/ClaudeCode:

{
  "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-settings.json",
  "autoUpdatesChannel": "stable",
  "env": {
    "DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER": 0,
    "DISABLE_BUG_COMMAND": 1,
    "DISABLE_ERROR_REPORTING": 1,
    "DISABLE_TELEMETRY": 1,
    "CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC": 0,
    "CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_BETAS": 1
  }
}
...

I want to only allow autoupdates and keep other telemetry/traffic off.

I have read through https://code.claude.com/docs/en/settings and understand that CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC is the equivalent of setting DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER, DISABLE_BUG_COMMAND, DISABLE_ERROR_REPORTING, and DISABLE_TELEMETRY together, which is why I set it to 0 - to prevent users from setting it to 1 and disabling auto updates at at the user level.

What Should Happen?

claude doctor should show Auto-updates: enabled (or something like that), even with CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC set to 0.

If I exclude CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC from managed-settings.json, doesn't it mean users can set it and in essence set DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER to 1?

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Use managed-settings.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-settings.json",
  "autoUpdatesChannel": "stable",
  "env": {
    "DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER": 0,
    "DISABLE_BUG_COMMAND": 1,
    "DISABLE_ERROR_REPORTING": 1,
    "DISABLE_TELEMETRY": 1,
    "CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC": 0,
    "CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_BETAS": 1
  }
}

Run claude doctor

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

2.1.44 (Claude Code)

Platform

Other

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

iTerm2

Additional Information

Related ticket: #13463

[tonglil]

It seems like the problem is that there is no way to enforce auto updates, because CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC is not 1/0, but just the presence of the env var sets DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER, DISABLE_BUG_COMMAND, DISABLE_ERROR_REPORTING, and DISABLE_TELEMETRY to 1.

This means MDMs have no way to enforce auto updates as users can just set CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC somewhere as anything to DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER.

[Laufbursche42]

This is a related bug to what I posted here: #29580 (comment)

function Pv() {
  return w1(process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK) ||
         w1(process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX) ||
         w1(process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY) ||
         !!process.env.DISABLE_TELEMETRY ||        // <-- BUG HERE for #29580 
         !!process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC  //  <-- BUG HERE  for #29134
}

Removing CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC from the settings entirely (not setting it to "0", just deleting the key) resolved the issue for me.

Suggested code fix

Use the same w1() helper for CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC that's already used for the other env vars in the same function:

// Before (broken):
!!process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC

// After (consistent):
w1(process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC)

In general it's bad code design to bind the update feature to env CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC. That has nothing to do with NON ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC -> UPDATES ARE ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC ;)

Btw a MDM is mostly able to ensure that ENV vars are removed before running the update, at least by setting its own ENV var for the update process ;)

[tonglil]

MDM runs on install and in the background.

Users are still able to set the env var on their own machine (ie in bashrc), which makes the managed setting for auto updates not work.

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.