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set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit

Sets up safety rails for AI coding agents - a hook that blocks push, reset --hard, clean -f and branch -D before the agent runs them, plus Husky and lint-staged pre-commit checks for format, typecheck and tests. Use when the user wants to stop an AI from pushing or wiping work, add pre-commit hooks, set up Husky, or block dangerous git commands.

Version 1.0 · Updated 2026-10-31

View raw SKILL.md

curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/raw' -o ~/'.claude/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/SKILL.md' && curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/files/LICENSE.txt' -o ~/'.claude/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/LICENSE.txt' && curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/files/scripts/block-dangerous-git.sh' -o ~/'.claude/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/scripts/block-dangerous-git.sh'

curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/raw' -o '.cursor/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/SKILL.md' && curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/files/LICENSE.txt' -o '.cursor/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/LICENSE.txt' && curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/files/scripts/block-dangerous-git.sh' -o '.cursor/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/scripts/block-dangerous-git.sh'

curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/raw' -o '.agents/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/SKILL.md' && curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/files/LICENSE.txt' -o '.agents/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/LICENSE.txt' && curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/files/scripts/block-dangerous-git.sh' -o '.agents/skills/set-up-git-guardrails-and-pre-commit/scripts/block-dangerous-git.sh'

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "theskillvault": {
      "url": "https://theskillvault.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Set up git guardrails and pre-commit checks

Two safety rails for working with AI agents. A hook stops the agent from running git commands that push or destroy work. A pre-commit hook checks formatting, types and tests before every commit.

When to use

• You let an AI agent run shell commands and do not want it to push or wipe changes.
• You want every commit checked for format, types and tests automatically.
• You are setting up a new repo that agents will work in.

Steps

Part 1: block dangerous git commands (Claude Code hook)

1. Pick the scope. This project only (.claude/settings.json) or all projects (~/.claude/settings.json).
2. Copy the script scripts/block-dangerous-git.sh scripts/block-dangerous-git.sh to .claude/hooks/ (project) or ~/.claude/hooks/ (global). Run chmod +x on it. It blocks git push (all forms), reset --hard, clean -f/-fd, branch -D, checkout ., restore . and rebase.
3. Register the hook. Merge this into the settings file. Keep any existing hooks; do not overwrite the file.

   {
     "hooks": {
       "PreToolUse": [
         { "matcher": "Bash",
           "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "\"$CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR\"/.claude/hooks/block-dangerous-git.sh" }] }
       ]
     }
   }

For the global scope, use ~/.claude/hooks/block-dangerous-git.sh as the command.

1. Customise. Ask which patterns to add or remove, and edit the list in the script.
2. Test it. This should print BLOCKED and exit with code 2:

   echo '{"tool_input":{"command":"git push origin main"}}' | .claude/hooks/block-dangerous-git.sh; echo $?

Part 2: pre-commit checks (Husky + lint-staged + Prettier)

1. Detect the package manager from the lockfile: package-lock.json (npm), pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock or bun.lockb. Default to npm.
2. Install dev dependencies husky lint-staged prettier, then run npx husky init. That creates .husky/ and adds "prepare": "husky".
3. Write .husky/pre-commit (Husky v9+ needs no shebang). Drop any line whose script does not exist, and tell the user:

   npx lint-staged
   npm run typecheck
   npm run test

1. Write .lintstagedrc: { "*": "prettier --ignore-unknown --write" }. Add a .prettierrc only if the repo has no Prettier config.
2. Smoke test. Run npx lint-staged, then commit the new files with Add pre-commit hooks (husky + lint-staged + prettier). The commit itself runs the hook.

Gotchas

• The git hook matches text. It is a seatbelt, not a lock: an agent can still dodge it with an alias or a script. Keep real protection too, such as branch protection on main.
• If your agent's shell tool has another name than Bash, change the matcher.
• Full test suites in pre-commit can be slow. If commits take minutes, move tests to CI and keep lint-staged plus typecheck.
• git commit --no-verify skips the pre-commit hook. Tell your agent never to use it.

Safety

• Add a secret scan (for example gitleaks protect --staged) to the pre-commit hook so API keys, tokens and .env files never get committed.
• Make sure .env and other credential files are in .gitignore before the first commit.

Works with other tools

Part 1 uses Claude Code hooks. Cursor, Codex and similar agents have their own command allow/deny lists or hooks; block the same patterns there. Part 2 works with any AI or none. For Python, the pre-commit framework is the equivalent of Husky.

Done when

• The test in step 5 prints BLOCKED and exits 2, and git status still runs.
• A commit runs lint-staged, typecheck and tests, and fails if any of them fail.

Example prompt

"Stop my AI agent from ever running git push or reset --hard, and add pre-commit checks to this repo."

---

Adapted from "git-guardrails-claude-code" and "setup-pre-commit" in mattpocock/skills by Matt Pocock (MIT). See LICENSE.txt.

Adapted from Matt Pocock (mattpocock/skills, 'git-guardrails-claude-code' and 'setup-pre-commit') (Copyright (c) 2026 Matt Pocock), MIT License. Adapted by TheSkillVault: git-guardrails-claude-code and setup-pre-commit (same repo and commit, skills/misc/setup-pre-commit) merged into one skill; hook script works without jq and blocks push -f and rebase; notes for tools other than Claude Code; added secrets, gotchas and done-when sections.

Licence: MIT License. Attribution when you reuse it: Based on work by Matt Pocock (mattpocock/skills, 'git-guardrails-claude-code' and 'setup-pre-commit') (Copyright (c) 2026 Matt Pocock, MIT License), https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/tree/a496f5513d4a4cf889bc48e189e579f4b0bdf6aa/skills/misc/git-guardrails-claude-code; adapted by TheSkillVault, https://theskillvault.ai