Permissions Reference

Claude Code uses a permission system to control what actions Claude can take. This reference covers all permission settings.

Permission Modes

Claude Code supports different permission modes that control how much Claude can do without asking:

Mode	Description
Default	Claude asks permission for each potentially risky action (file edits, commands, etc.)
Plan mode	Claude can only read files and search — no edits, no commands
Yolo mode	Claude runs all actions without asking (use with caution!)

Tool Permissions

Each tool can be individually configured in the allowlist or denylist.

Built-In Tools

Tool	What It Does	Risk Level
Read	Read file contents	Low
Glob	Find files by name pattern	Low
Grep	Search file contents	Low
Edit	Modify file contents	Medium
Write	Create or overwrite files	Medium
Bash	Run terminal commands	High
WebSearch	Search the internet	Low
WebFetch	Fetch content from a URL	Low
Agent	Spawn a subagent for subtasks	Medium

Configuring Tool Permissions

In your settings.json (project or global):

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Read",
      "Glob",
      "Grep",
      "WebSearch",
      "WebFetch"
    ],
    "deny": [
      "Bash(rm -rf *)",
      "Bash(sudo *)"
    ]
  }
}

Allowlist Rules

Allowlist entries auto-approve specific tools or tool+argument patterns:

Pattern	What It Allows
"Read"	All file reads without prompting
"Edit"	All file edits without prompting
"Bash(npm test)"	Only the exact command npm test
"Bash(git *)"	Any command starting with git
"Edit(src/**)"	Edits only within the src/ directory

Denylist Rules

Denylist entries block specific tools or patterns entirely:

Pattern	What It Blocks
"Bash(rm -rf *)"	Any recursive force-delete command
"Bash(sudo *)"	Any command using sudo
"Edit(.env*)"	Edits to environment files
"Write(*.exe)"	Creating executable files

Settings File Locations

Scope	Location
Global	~/.claude/settings.json
Project	.claude/settings.json (in project root)

Project settings override global settings. Denylist entries cannot be overridden — if something is denied globally, project settings cannot allow it.

Best Practices

1. Start restrictive: Begin with default permissions and add allowlist entries as needed
2. Allowlist read-only tools: Read, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, and WebFetch are safe to auto-approve
3. Be specific with Bash: Use patterns like Bash(npm test) instead of allowing all Bash commands
4. Protect sensitive files: Deny edits to .env, credentials, and config files containing secrets
5. Review before committing: Keep Bash(git commit *) off the allowlist until you trust the workflow