bashgate

A Claude Code hook that automatically approves bash commands you've allowlisted, while still prompting for everything else. It also validates that file paths stay inside your project directory — something Claude Code's built-in permissionDecision: "allow" rules don't do.

Why use this?

Claude Code asks permission before running bash commands. You can add Bash(...) rules in settings.json to auto-approve certain commands, but those rules bypass Claude Code's path validation — meaning an allowed command could read or write files anywhere on your system.

bashgate gives you the same auto-approval convenience with two improvements:

• Path validation — commands that reference paths outside your project directory are flagged for approval, even if the command itself is allowlisted
• Fine-grained control — allow specific subcommands (e.g. git push but not git reset --hard), block dangerous flags, and match argument patterns

Installation

Requires Python 3.10+.

pipx install bashgate
bashgate install

bashgate install registers the hook in ~/.claude/settings.json and copies a sensible default config to ~/.claude/bashgate.json if one doesn't already exist.

How it works

When Claude Code wants to run a bash command, bashgate intercepts it and makes one of three decisions:

• Allow — the command matches your allowlist and all paths are within the project directory
• Ask — the command is recognised but has a risky flag, targets a path outside the project, or hits a deny rule. Claude Code prompts you as normal
• Fall through — the command isn't in the config at all, so Claude Code's default permission system handles it

Compound commands (&&, ||, ;, |) are only auto-approved if every part is individually allowed. Shell features like variable expansion, backticks, and process substitution always trigger a prompt.

Configuration

bashgate looks for config in two places:

1. Global — ~/.claude/bashgate.json
2. Local — .bashgate.json files found by walking from the project directory up to the filesystem root

All found configs are merged, with the nearest-to-project file taking highest precedence. This lets you add project-specific rules (e.g. allowing mix test only in Elixir projects) on top of your global defaults.

If you don't want local configs to be able to weaken or disable your global rules, set "ignore_local_configs": true in your global config.

Quick start

The default config ships with sensible rules for common commands. After bashgate install, you'll have a working setup that auto-approves things like git status, ls, cat, and rg while still prompting for destructive operations.

It's recommended you review the config and change it for your needs.

Config format

The config is a JSON file with a commands array. Entries can be simple strings or detailed objects.

Simple string — prefix-matches the full command:

{
  "commands": [
    "cat",
    "ls",
    "mise exec -- bundle exec rspec"
  ]
}

"cat" matches cat foo.txt, cat -n bar.py, etc.

Object entry — for commands that need subcommand control or deny rules:

{
  "commands": [
    {
      "command": "git",
      "flags_with_args": ["-C", "-c"],
      "allow": {
        "subcommands": [
          "status",
          "diff",
          "log",
          {
            "subcommand": "push",
            "ask": {
              "flags": ["--force", "-f"]
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

This allows git status, git diff, git log, and git push — but prompts if git push is used with --force. Any other git subcommand (like git reset) falls through to Claude Code's default prompting.

Entry reference

Field	Description
command	The command name to match (required for object entries)
flags_with_args	Flags that consume the next token (e.g. -C dir) — needed so bashgate can correctly identify the subcommand
allow.subcommands	List of allowed subcommands (strings or objects with their own rules)
allow.any_path	true to skip path validation entirely, or {"position": N} to skip it for the Nth positional argument (useful for sed and grep where the first argument is a pattern, not a path)
allow.flags_with_any_path	Flags whose values should be exempt from path validation
deny.flags	Flags that should always be blocked
deny.arg_regex	Regex pattern matched against arguments — triggers a block if matched
deny.message	Custom message shown when a deny rule triggers
ask.flags	Flags that should trigger a prompt (same as deny but results in "ask" instead of "deny")
ask.arg_regex	Regex pattern that triggers a prompt if matched

Additional config options

Field	Default	Description
enabled	true	Set to false to disable bashgate entirely (falls through to Claude Code defaults)
disable_inside_sandbox	false	Set to true to disable bashgate when Claude Code's sandbox is active
ignore_local_configs	false	Set to true in the global config to skip local .bashgate.json discovery entirely. Prevents project-level configs from weakening or disabling protection.
allowed_directories	[]	Additional directories that should be treated as valid path targets (supports relative paths resolved from the config file's location)

Security note: local config files

bashgate merges .bashgate.json files found in or above your project directory. This means a cloned repository could include a .bashgate.json that loosens your rules — for example, allowing commands or paths you wouldn't normally approve.

If you work with untrusted repositories, set "ignore_local_configs": true in your global ~/.claude/bashgate.json to prevent any local config from being loaded.

Validating your config

bashgate validate
bashgate validate --config path/to/config.json

This checks for structural errors, unknown keys, and invalid regex patterns.

Uninstalling

bashgate uninstall

This removes the hook entry from ~/.claude/settings.json. If ~/.claude/bashgate.json exists, it will alert you but won't delete it — remove it manually if you no longer need it.

find considered annoying

You'll find bashgate trips up on find quite a bit because of its awkward syntax. I'd suggest

    {
      "command": "find",
      "deny": {
        "message": "use `fd` instead of `find`"
      }
    }

and install the excellent fd to do your finding for you instead.

Debugging

If commands aren't being handled as expected:

# In your hook config, add --debug:
bashgate hook --debug

This logs decisions to ~/.claude/bashgate-debug.log.

License

MIT