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Model setting in settings.json is ignored on startup - defaults to Sonnet instead of configured Opus #13242
Closed as not planned
Description
This issue was written with Claude Code (Claude Opus 4.5)
Description
When "model": "opus" is configured in ~/.claude/settings.json, Claude Code ignores this setting on startup and defaults to Sonnet instead.
Additionally, even when changing the model to Opus via /status → Config menu, this setting does not persist. On the next startup, it reverts to the default (currently Sonnet), making it impossible to maintain Opus usage across sessions.
Steps to Reproduce
- Set
"model": "opus"in~/.claude/settings.json - Start Claude Code
- Observe that the model is Sonnet, not Opus
- Alternatively: Use
/status→ Config to set Opus - Restart Claude Code
- Observe that the model has reverted to Sonnet
Expected Behavior
Claude Code should start with the model specified in settings.json (Opus in this case) and persist model selection across sessions.
Actual Behavior
Claude Code starts with Sonnet regardless of the settings.json configuration or previous session settings.
Configuration
{
"$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-settings.json",
"model": "opus",
...
}Environment
- OS: macOS (Darwin 24.6.0)
- Claude Code: Latest version
Possibly Related Issues
- [Bug] Default model reverts to Haiku after removing config files #11291 - Default model reverts to Haiku after removing config files
- [BUG] Selecting model with /model deletes content of settings.json #3123 - /model command deletes settings.json content
Activity
github-actions commentedon Dec 6, 2025
Found 3 possible duplicate issues:
This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code
kazuph commentedon Dec 6, 2025
Update: I found that logging out and logging back in resolves this temporarily - after that, Claude Code correctly starts with Opus 4.5. This suggests there might be some cached state causing the issue rather than settings.json parsing itself.
github-actions commentedon Jan 6, 2026
This issue has been inactive for 30 days. If the issue is still occurring, please comment to let us know. Otherwise, this issue will be automatically closed in 30 days for housekeeping purposes.
github-actions commentedon Feb 5, 2026
This issue has been automatically closed due to 60 days of inactivity. If you're still experiencing this issue, please open a new issue with updated information.
github-actions commentedon Feb 13, 2026
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.