thedotmack/claude-mem · warning

[SETTINGS] Failed to load settings, using defaults:

Error message

[SETTINGS] Failed to load settings, using defaults:

What it means

SettingsDefaultsManager wraps reading, parsing, and flattening of ~/.claude-mem/settings.json in one try/catch. Any failure (unreadable file, malformed JSON, wrong value shape) logs this warning and silently returns the compiled-in DEFAULTS, optionally with CLAUDE_MEM_* env overrides applied. It never throws; callers cannot distinguish 'defaults' from 'user settings'.

Source

Thrown at src/shared/SettingsDefaultsManager.ts:289

          writeJsonFileAtomic(settingsPath, flatSettings);
          // stderr, never stdout — same JSON-on-stdout contract as above.
          console.warn('[SETTINGS] Migrated Telegram trigger types off the legacy default:', settingsPath);
        } catch (error: unknown) {
          console.warn('[SETTINGS] Failed to migrate Telegram trigger types:', settingsPath, error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));
          // Continue with the in-memory migration even if the write fails
        }
      }

      const result: SettingsDefaults = { ...this.DEFAULTS };
      for (const key of Object.keys(this.DEFAULTS) as Array<keyof SettingsDefaults>) {
        if (flatSettings[key] !== undefined) {
          result[key] = flatSettings[key];
        }
      }

      return applyEnvOverrides ? this.applyEnvOverrides(result) : result;
    } catch (error: unknown) {
      console.warn('[SETTINGS] Failed to load settings, using defaults:', settingsPath, error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));
      const defaults = this.getAllDefaults();
      return applyEnvOverrides ? this.applyEnvOverrides(defaults) : defaults;
    }
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e2d1df569a)

Solutions

1. Validate the file: run `cat ~/.claude-mem/settings.json | jq .` and fix the syntax error jq reports (jq tolerates no trailing commas, same as the parser).
2. Re-run `npx claude-mem install` or the doctor command so claude-mem regenerates a valid settings file.
3. Rename the broken file (mv ~/.claude-mem/settings.json settings.json.bak) so the next load cleanly regenerates defaults instead of warning on every startup.
4. Set needed values via CLAUDE_MEM_* environment variables instead — env overrides are applied even on the defaults fallback path.

Example fix

// ~/.claude-mem/settings.json — before (trailing comma is invalid JSON):
{
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PROVIDER": "claude",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_WORKER_PORT": 3777,
}
// after:
{
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PROVIDER": "claude",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_WORKER_PORT": 3777
}

// Before relying on user settings, confirm the file parses and is readable:
import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
const path = `${process.env.HOME}/.claude-mem/settings.json`;
try {
  JSON.parse(readFileSync(path, 'utf-8').replace(/^\uFEFF/, ''));
  // file is valid — the loader will honor it
} catch {
  // file broken — the loader WILL silently fall back to defaults; fix or delete first
}

const isPlainObject = (v: unknown): v is Record<string, unknown> =>
  typeof v === 'object' && v !== null && !Array.isArray(v);

// The loader never throws, so catch is unnecessary — instead detect the fallback:
// run your own JSON.parse on the settings path first; if it throws, the value
// returned by SettingsDefaultsManager is defaults, not user intent.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the settings loader when settings.json contains invalid JSON (trailing comma, comment, unquoted key), when the file has mode 000 or is owned by another user, or when a value fails the internal flattening/type check inside the try block. All downstream logic in the same try lands on this same warn line.

Common situations: Hand-editing settings.json and leaving a trailing comma; another process writing the file non-atomically while it is read; a partial write left by a killed install; copying settings between machines with different permissions; a stray BOM when the file was created by PowerShell without the BOM-aware parser path.

Related errors

• generation parse error: ${outcome.reason}
• generation job ${job.id} not found in scope
• Failed to read existing settings file; starting fresh
• [install] Failed to parse existing settings.json, starting f
• bun install failed in ${targetDir} ${describeExecError(err)}

AI-assisted analysis of thedotmack/claude-mem@e2d1df569a (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4318ae8740f5a541. Report an issue: GitHub.