[BUG] The global configuration for autoUpdates is not applied.

Status Fixed / completed

Maintainer reply ✓ Yes — wolffiex

Activity 9 comments · opened Jul 3, 2025 · closed Sep 4, 2025

💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (wolffiex, collaborator) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Environment

Platform (select one):
[ ] Anthropic API
[ ] AWS Bedrock
[x] Google Vertex AI
[ ] Other:
Claude CLI version: 1.0.38
Operating System: macOS 15.5
Terminal: vscode terminal

Bug Description

According to the Claude Code settings, I set autoUpdates to false with the command below and confirmed that it was indeed set to false:

claude config set -g autoUpdates false
claude config list -g
>>>  "autoUpdates": "false"

However, when I launch Claude Code with the env CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.claude claude command, it still performs an automatic update and switches to version 1.0.41.

I also tried disabling automatic updates by setting the environment variable DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER=1, but the update still runs.

Also, I have the command env CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.claude claude set up as an alias in my .zshrc, but whenever I start the claude command, that alias gets deleted. This is a serious bug.

Steps to Reproduce

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@1.0.38
claude config set -g autoUpdates false
env CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.claude claude

Expected Behavior

Auto updates do not run.
Alias in my .zshrc is not deleted.

Actual Behavior

Auto updates run and switches to version 1.0.41.
Alias in my .zshrc is deleted.

View original on GitHub ↗

9 Comments

wolffiex collaborator · 1 year ago

Thanks, fixed in 1.0.48

kitamura-caddi · 1 year ago

@wolffiex

I updated to version 1.0.48 and disabled autoUpdates, but claude code still updates automatically whenever I launch it.

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@1.0.48
claude --version
>>> 1.0.48 (Claude Code)

claude config set -g autoUpdates false
claude config list -g | grep autoUpdates 
>>> "autoUpdates": "false",

claude
>>> Auto-updating to version 1.0.51

Are there any other settings I need to adjust to stop it from updating automatically?

yuhua99 · 1 year ago

I have the same issue as @kitamura-caddi with version 1.0.53

kitamura-caddi · 1 year ago

@yuhua99
The autoUpdates setting doesn’t always stick across environments. Likely stale cache/config from an older install.
For now, I delete all claude code data and reinstall.

DrBenedictPorkins · 1 year ago

To pin 1.0.54 I had to export DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER=1 to make claude stop updating self to 1.0.55 on launch

benjajaja · 1 year ago

autoUpdates seems to be autoUpdaterStatus now, but none of them work, and neither does export DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER=1. claude insta-exits complaining about newer version, the migration needs manual fixing of some script assumptions.

wolffiex collaborator · 1 year ago

autoUpdates is the correct config param, but it was getting clobbered under some circumstances. the fix should go out tomorrow.

ant-kurt collaborator · 12 months ago

We've deprecated config autoUpdates - can you try setting DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER as an env var or via settings.json ?

github-actions[bot] · 11 months ago

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.