2.6 — Configuration Management

CCDV-F Domain 2 · Task 2.6

What You Need to Know

Configuration is anything that changes behaviour without being code. Managed exactly like code: version control, review, deployment pipeline.

Four kinds of artefact:

• CLAUDE.md files and settings.json
• Prompt files and templates
• Model identifier each environment targets
• Manifest of plugins, connectors and MCP capabilities with versions

Tracked Versus Local

Tracked (shared)	Local (personal, gitignored)
.claude/settings.json	.claude/settings.local.json
Project CLAUDE.md	CLAUDE.local.md

Team-shared behaviour goes only in tracked files.

What an Identifier Resolves To

From Claude 4.6 onward, dateless IDs are pinned snapshots. For earlier generations, alias forms are convenience pointers that move. Never pattern-match the string — record what each environment’s identifier resolves to. Partner platforms add their own ID formats.

Prompt Versioning and Environment Parity

A prompt is a release artefact with version and changelog. Each environment runs a known, recorded configuration. Two classic parity failures: production hot-fix never backported; environments targeting different model identifiers.

Plugin Pinning and Secrets Hygiene

Plugins get explicit manifest entries, pinned versions, per-environment records. Secrets never join versioned artefacts — use credential helpers (apiKeyHelper) or runtime environment variables. Encrypting a committed key or gitignoring the settings file are distractor mitigations.

Key Concept: When a system misbehaves, start with an audit. List every behaviour-bearing artefact, then ask which are versioned and recorded. The unversioned one is usually the culprit.

Exam Traps

• Treating settings.local.json as team-shared or project CLAUDE.md as personal
• Switching production to the replacement model first and evaluating afterwards
• Assuming any dateless model string is a moving alias that must be replaced with a dated one
• Fixing a committed API key by encrypting it in place or gitignoring the settings file