Desktop: settings changes (e.g. Instructions for Claude) don't reach live sessions and can't be inspected

Summary

Changes made in the Claude Desktop GUI settings — notably "Instructions for Claude" — do not reach already-running sessions, and a live session has no way to see that the settings changed or what the effective instructions are.

What happened

1. Mid-conversation, I updated "Instructions for Claude" in the Desktop app's settings GUI.
2. I asked the running session to re-read the updated instructions.
3. It couldn't: the setting isn't a file on disk (unlike CLAUDE.md, which the model can re-read on demand), and nothing is injected into an in-flight conversation when GUI settings change. The session could only infer the update never arrived and ask me to restate it in chat.

Expected

Wherever possible, Desktop settings changes should take effect in live sessions — or at minimum:

• Surface a system notice to running sessions when relevant settings change (ideally with the new effective values), and/or
• Give the session (and the user) a way to inspect the currently effective instructions, e.g. a /status-style view or a readable location on disk.

Workarounds today

• Restart the conversation (new sessions pick up GUI settings).
• Keep durable instructions in CLAUDE.md files instead of the GUI field, since files can be re-read mid-session.

Minor gap overall, but it makes the GUI instructions field feel less trustworthy than file-based instructions.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code