[BUG] /config reports "Auto-install IDE extension" as enabled while CLAUDE_CODE_IDE_SKIP_AUTO_INSTALL suppresses the install

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_IDE_SKIP_AUTO_INSTALL correctly suppresses the IDE extension auto-install, but the /config panel doesn't take it into account and still reports the feature as enabled.

The install genuinely is skipped — the env var works. Only the display is wrong. The effect is that anyone using the env var is told the opposite of what is happening, and reasonably concludes the variable had no effect and goes looking for another switch.

What Should Happen?

/config → Connections → Auto-install IDE extension should reflect the effective state, i.e. show the feature as disabled (or otherwise indicate it is overridden) when CLAUDE_CODE_IDE_SKIP_AUTO_INSTALL is set.

Error Messages/Logs

_No error output — the failure is a silent display mismatch._

Steps to Reproduce

1. Set the env var through user settings. In ~/.claude/settings.json:

``json
{
"env": { "CLAUDE_CODE_IDE_SKIP_AUTO_INSTALL": "1" }
}
``

(This variable is on the allowlist of env vars that settings may set, so this is a supported way to set it. Exporting it in the shell reproduces the same result.)

1. Make sure autoInstallIdeExtension is not present in ~/.claude.json, so it takes its default of true:

``bash
jq 'has("autoInstallIdeExtension")' ~/.claude.json # should print false
``

1. Launch Claude Code from an IDE integrated terminal — the row only renders when running inside an IDE.

1. Open /config and go to the Connections section.

Expected: "Auto-install IDE extension" reflects that the install is suppressed.
Actual: It reads as enabled, while no extension install is attempted.

The two disagree because the panel appears to read the config value alone, whereas the install guard checks the env var and the config value. Setting autoInstallIdeExtension: false in ~/.claude.json makes the panel agree again, which is consistent with that reading.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Claude Code Version

2.1.220 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

Minor severity — nothing is broken functionally, the panel just reports the wrong half of the condition.

Context for why the env var gets used at all rather than the toggle: autoInstallIdeExtension is stored in ~/.claude.json, alongside the signed-in account, machine ID, per-project history and caches, rather than in settings.json. That makes it impractical to keep in a dotfiles repo, so the env var in settings.json is the version-controllable equivalent — and it's exactly that path which triggers the misreport. Happy to file that separately as an enhancement if it's of interest; keeping this report to the display bug.