Permission Modes | Claude Code Recap Card T03

Available Modes

Mode	Flag	Recommended use
Manual (`default`)	(none)	Daily development
Auto-accept edits (`acceptEdits`)	`Shift+Tab`	Code reviews
Plan (`plan`)	`Shift+Tab x2` or `/plan`	Analysis without modification
Auto (`auto`, AI classifier)	`permissions.defaultMode: "auto"`	Long tasks, fewer interruptions
Don’t ask (`dontAsk`)	`--permission-mode dontAsk`	CI, only pre-approved tools run
Full bypass (`bypassPermissions`)	`--dangerously-skip-permissions`	Headless CI/CD, sandboxed
Fewer prompts	`/fewer-permission-prompts`	Generates an allowlist from transcripts (shipped as `/less-permission-prompts` in v2.1.111)

Note (v2.1.121): --dangerously-skip-permissions now also skips validation of the .claude/ directory (agents, commands, hooks). In hardened environments, verify .claude/ contents before granting this flag.

Tool Whitelist

# Allow only specific tools
claude --allowedTools "Read,Grep,Glob"

# Block specific tools
claude --disallowedTools "Bash,Write"

# Useful combinations
claude --allowedTools "Read,Edit,Bash(git*)"

Configuration in settings.json

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Bash(git log*)",
      "Bash(npm test*)",
      "Read",
      "Edit"
    ],
    "deny": [
      "Bash(rm*)",
      "Bash(sudo*)"
    ]
  }
}

Permission Hierarchy

Permissions accumulate and are inherited in this order:

~/.claude/settings.json — global user
.claude/settings.json — project (shared)
.claude/settings.local.json — project (local, gitignored)
CLI flags — session only

Glob Patterns for Bash

# Allow git only
"Bash(git *)"

# Allow npm test and build
"Bash(npm test*)", "Bash(npm run build*)"

# Allow file reading
"Bash(cat *)", "Bash(ls *)"

Best Practices

CI/CD — Always use --dangerously-skip-permissions with a sandboxed environment (Docker, ephemeral container). Never on a shared production machine.

Sensitive projects — Restrict Bash tools with precise globs in .claude/settings.json. Commit this file so the whole team uses the same constraints.

Audit — Claude’s actions are logged in ~/.claude/logs/. Verifiable at any time.