[BUG] claude desktop blows away it's own settings on startup

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 1.15962.1 (1e236d) 2026-06-26T19:44:44.000Z

Was modifying mcp servers in vscode for claude desktop. not for claude code. wrong bracket. sorry, actually error about whitespace. actually, sorry, it was a wrong bracket as suspected in the first place. restarted claude code. claude code blew away its' settings file and put some default in there. suggest have claude code BACK THIS FILE UP! before blowing it away.

What Should Happen?

suggest have claude code BACK THIS FILE UP! before blowing it away. and modal the user so they know.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

not sure, go add some mcp servers to your settings file for CLAUDE DESKTOP and mangle some brackets. I can't undo in vscode to see exactly what I did because claude desktop simply blew away the file and over-wrote it with some default settings. update: was able to undo to re-pro. it was some wrong bracket error. trying to upload screenshot.

<img width="299" height="300" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/83a1d4a6-a262-4196-b002-8c328560009b" />

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.15962.1

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_