Features that need feature-flag fetching

Claude Code turns some features on through feature flags it fetches from Anthropic. Claude Code skips that fetch in these sessions:

• A session where you set DISABLE_GROWTHBOOK, DISABLE_TELEMETRY, DO_NOT_TRACK, or CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC; each variable's row in the variables table says which values turn fetching off
• A session on a third-party provider, such as Amazon Bedrock, Claude Platform on AWS, Google Cloud's Agent Platform, or Microsoft Foundry, unless a host platform that embeds Claude Code sets CLAUDE_CODE_PROVIDER_MANAGED_BY_HOST
• A Claude apps gateway session

With fetching off, you can't:

• Start sessions in auto mode by default on Pro, Max, and Team plans
• Have the VS Code extension read settings files for the starting permission mode
• Run /auto-mode-setup to draft autoMode.environment entries
• Use Remote Control
• Message sessions beyond this machine; messaging between sessions on this machine works with fetching off
• Run claude import or the /import command
• Run /skill-doctor or open its report in the /plugin Stats tab
• Use the advisor tool
• Read or reply to comments on an artifact
• Get the v2 MCP client runtime and its protocol probe without setting MCP_SDK_GENERATION and MCP_PROTOCOL_NEGOTIATION; Claude Code uses the v1 runtime unless you set MCP_SDK_GENERATION=v2, and skips the probe unless you set MCP_PROTOCOL_NEGOTIATION=auto
• Get the PowerShell tool by default for claude.ai and Console accounts on Windows with Git Bash installed; Claude Code routes shell commands through Git Bash unless you set CLAUDE_CODE_USE_POWERSHELL_TOOL=1. On Windows without Git Bash, the tool stays on
• Get Claude-drafted feedback, which Claude Code turns on through a fetched flag
• Have Claude Code exclude MCP tools whose input schema the API would reject; it sends the schema anyway, and a request that includes it fails with a 400 error naming the tool by its position

First session after an install or upgrade

In your first session after you install Claude Code, or upgrade to a version that adds a feature, a flag-gated feature can be missing, and the session can start in Manual mode on a plan that otherwise starts in auto mode. Claude Code fetches the flags during that session, so both are there in your next session.

After a fresh install, in a non-interactive session such as claude -p, the Agent SDK, or the VS Code extension, Claude Code can still pick the flags up before it chooses the starting permission mode.