When using Claude Code for development tasks, you might notice that git commits and pull requests automatically include a “Co-Authored-By: Claude” line. While this transparency about AI assistance can be valuable, there are scenarios where you might prefer cleaner commit messages without the co-authorship attribution.

The includeCoAuthoredBy Setting

Claude Code includes an includeCoAuthoredBy setting that controls this behavior. By default, it’s set to true, meaning all commits will include Claude’s byline. Setting it to false removes this attribution entirely.

Configuration

Add this setting to your settings.json file:

{
  "includeCoAuthoredBy": false
}

The settings file is typically located at:

  • macOS/Linux: ~/.config/claude-code/settings.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\claude-code\settings.json

Considerations

While removing the co-authorship attribution gives you cleaner commits, consider whether transparency about AI assistance aligns with your project’s collaboration standards. Some teams value knowing when AI tools contributed to code changes for review and maintenance purposes.