Choosing the right file

Different customizations live in different files. The official decision table:

You want to…	Edit	Scope
Give Claude project context and conventions	CLAUDE.md	project or global
Allow or block specific tool calls	settings.json → permissions	project or global
Run a script before/after tool calls	settings.json → hooks	project or global
Keep personal overrides out of git	settings.local.json	project only
Add a capability invoked with /name	skills/<name>/SKILL.md	project or global
Define a specialized subagent	agents/*.md	project or global
Orchestrate many subagents from a script	workflows/*.js	project or global
Connect external tools over MCP	.mcp.json	project only
Change how Claude formats responses	output-styles/*.md	project or global

Overrides

Managed settings deployed by your organization take precedence over everything; CLI flags like --permission-mode override settings.json for that session.

Check your understanding

Question 1Where do team-shared MCP servers go?

A~/.claude.jsonB.mcp.json at the project rootC.claude/settings.local.jsonDhooks.json

Question 2You want a personal permission that never lands in git. Where?

ACLAUDE.mdBsettings.jsonCsettings.local.jsonD.mcp.json

Further reading

• .claude directory — choose the right file