Claude Code Hands-On (7): Ten Hooks I Actually Use, with the Code

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Chapter 5 provided a conceptual tour of hooks. This chapter is the field guide. From the 100-script reference repo, ten scripts earn their place in every serious project I run. I’ll walk through these ten with code.

All examples assume Node 18+, save scripts to ./hooks/, mark them chmod +x, and wire them in .claude/settings.json like:

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{
 "hooks": {
 "PreToolUse": [
 { "matcher": "Read|Grep", "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node ./hooks/block-env-read.js" }] }
 ]
 }
}

Before we dive in, here’s the hook lifecycle to make the following code clear:

Claude Code Hands-On (5): Hooks, or How to Stop Worrying About Yolo Mode

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000

If MCP is how Claude reaches out, hooks are how you reach in. They enforce the rules you care about, not just what you hope for.

The model#

A hook is a shell command that Claude Code runs at specific moments. The two you’ll use most are:

Hooks on Chen Kai Blog

Claude Code Hands-On (7): Ten Hooks I Actually Use, with the Code

Claude Code Hands-On (5): Hooks, or How to Stop Worrying About Yolo Mode

The model#