[BUG] Claude Code writes .claude.json to wrong location in containerized environments

Preflight Checklist

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

What's Wrong?

Claude Code writes .claude.json to the home directory (~/.claude.json) instead of the config directory (~/.claude/.claude.json) when running in containerized environment with bind-mounted subdirectories.

This causes:

• The personalized welcome screen ("Welcome back [Name]!") never appears
• The oauthAccount data (including displayName) is not accessible to Claude Code

Workaround: Set environment variable (export CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude) and restart claude.

What Should Happen?

When CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR is not set Claude Code should default to ~/.claude

Error Messages/Logs

Debug log showing wrong path (~/.claude/debug/latest):
  2025-12-17T09:31:25.259Z [DEBUG] Renaming /home/vscode/.claude.json.tmp.XXXXX.XXXXXXXXXXXXX to /home/vscode/.claude.json
  2025-12-17T09:31:25.259Z [DEBUG] File /home/vscode/.claude.json written atomically

File location verification:
  # File exists in WRONG location
  $ ls -la ~/.claude.json
 /home/vscode/.claude.json

  # File MISSING from correct location
  $ ls -la ~/.claude/.claude.json
 ls: cannot access '/home/vscode/.claude/.claude.json': No such file or directory

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a container with the ~/.claude/ directory pre-created (e.g., by Dockerfile or init script)
2. Bind-mount subdirectories into ~/.claude/:

# docker-compose.yaml
volumes:

• ./commands:/home/vscode/.claude/commands
• ./skills:/home/vscode/.claude/skills
• ./settings.json:/home/vscode/.claude/settings.json

1. Install Claude Code natively inside the container:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

1. Run claude login and complete OAuth flow
2. Verify file locations:

# credentials.json is in correct location
ls ~/.claude/.credentials.json # EXISTS ✓

# .claude.json is in WRONG location
ls ~/.claude/.claude.json # MISSING ✗
ls ~/.claude.json # EXISTS (wrong!)

1. Run claude - observe no welcome screen appears
2. Workaround: Set environment variable and restart:

export CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude
claude # Welcome screen now appears

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

v2.0.71

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

_No response_