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Decide which configuration is genuinely shared
Claude Code keeps configuration at several scopes, and they do not all belong in the same sync folder. Anthropic’s memory documentation describes ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md as user memory for personal preferences that apply across projects, and ./CLAUDE.md as project memory meant to be shared with a team. Memory files load at startup, and Claude Code searches upward from the working directory for instruction files. Its IAM documentation describes user settings in ~/.claude/settings.json, shared project settings in .claude/settings.json, and project-local settings in .claude/settings.local.json.
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Use the following split to decide what goes into Syncthing and what stays with the project or the machine.
| File or setting | Scope | Location | Sync it with Syncthing? |
| Personal memory | User, across all projects | ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md |
Yes. This is the main candidate for sharing. |
| User settings | User, across all projects | ~/.claude/settings.json |
Usually yes, after you read the contents and remove anything specific to one Mac, such as local paths. |
| Project memory | Project, shared with the team | ./CLAUDE.md in the repository |
No. Keep it in version control with the project. |
| Shared project settings | Project, shared with the team | .claude/settings.json in the repository |
No. Keep it in version control with the project. |
| Local project overrides | Project, one machine | .claude/settings.local.json |
No. These files are meant to differ between machines when needed. |
| User-scoped MCP servers | User, across all projects | Set by Claude Code’s user scope; see Anthropic’s MCP documentation for the file | Only if the definition contains no secrets and no machine-specific paths. |
| Project MCP configuration | Project, shared with the team | .mcp.json in the repository |
No. Keep it in version control, and supply secrets per machine. |
The practical rule is simple: personal preferences that should follow you between Macs are candidates for sync, and anything that describes how a specific project works belongs with that project.
Understand which setting wins
Anthropic’s IAM documentation ranks project-local settings in .claude/settings.local.json above shared project settings and user settings. It also notes that higher-level policy and command-line inputs can take precedence over these files. The consequence for a synced setup is that a file you sync from one Mac can be overridden on another Mac by a local project file, so a change that works on one machine may not take effect on the other. Check the effective behavior on each Mac instead of assuming every synced file has equal priority.
Keep credentials and machine-specific values out of synced files
Authenticate Claude Code independently on each Mac. Anthropic’s setup documentation lists macOS 10.15 or later among supported operating systems and states that Claude Code stores credentials securely, with separate guidance on credential management. That documentation does not describe a supported way to copy credentials or session history from one Mac to another, so do not sync the credential store, session records, or the whole ~/.claude directory.
The same separation applies to MCP servers. Anthropic’s MCP documentation supports environment-variable expansion in configuration files, which lets a shared file refer to machine-specific paths and sensitive values without containing them. Store real API keys and tokens outside any synced or version-controlled file, and supply them on each Mac through environment variables or another credential mechanism. Never paste a real key into a file that Syncthing will replicate.
Set up Syncthing for the selected files
Before you begin, confirm the following:
- Claude Code is installed and signed in on both Macs.
- Syncthing is installed on both Macs. Syncthing calls each participating computer a device.
- Both Macs are online and paired as devices, following Syncthing’s getting-started guide.
Syncthing replicates folders, not individual files picked from inside ~/.claude. The simplest reliable layout is a dedicated folder that contains only the files you chose above. How those files reach the location Claude Code reads on each Mac depends on your own setup, so confirm which copy Claude Code is actually reading before you rely on it.
- On each Mac, install Claude Code using Anthropic’s current setup instructions and sign in separately on each machine.
- On the first Mac, create a dedicated folder for the shared configuration and place only the chosen user-level files in it.
- In Syncthing on the first Mac, share that folder with the second Mac’s device, then accept the share on the second Mac and set a local location for it.
- Wait until Syncthing reports that the folder is in sync on both devices, then open the synced files on the second Mac and confirm the contents match.
- Make your edits on one Mac at a time. Let the change finish syncing before you edit the same files on the other Mac.
- Start Claude Code in a project on each Mac and confirm that the shared preference applies. Check whether a project file such as
.claude/settings.local.jsonon that Mac is overriding it.
Handle conflicts, versioning, and exclusions carefully
Avoid editing the same file on both Macs at the same time. This guide does not describe how Syncthing resolves simultaneous edits, so do not depend on it to merge them. Syncthing’s folders contain internal entries such as .stfolder, .stignore, and .stversions; leave them in place. Before you configure folder versioning or ignore patterns, read Syncthing’s current documentation for those features, because exact syntax and behavior can change. This guide does not provide ignore patterns for Claude-specific files, and you should not build them from guesses. Keeping the synced folder narrow is the safest exclusion strategy.
Compare Syncthing with other sync tools
Syncthing’s FAQ names Resilio Sync as a proprietary alternative. If you are choosing between them, compare the two on the axes that matter for this workflow: where your data is held and who controls it, platform support, and how conflicts and recovery are handled. Current feature details for Resilio Sync are outside the scope of this guide, so check its own documentation for those points.
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