# Anti-deferral hook.  IMPORTANT: The .sh file in expects to live in (project dir)/.claude/hooks/ and expects the .txt files to live in the lib subdir at (project dir)/.claude/hooks/lib/.

> Source: <https://gist.github.com/michael-jennings/7d31353941cc90a2e7d7cb251a8afb0e>
> Published: 2026-05-16 05:53:31+00:00

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#!/bin/bash |
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# |
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# IMPORTANT: |
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# * This must be copied to (project dir)/.claude/hooks/ |
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# * The txt files must be copied to the lib subfolder: (project dir)/.claude/hooks/lib/ |
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# * Customize the feedback claude gets if deferral phrases are detected, by editing the |
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# echo section at the bottom. |
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# |
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# response-deferral-phrase-gate.sh |
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# |
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# Stop hook -- scans the last assistant message in the transcript for banned |
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# deferral phrases and exits 2 (blocking) if any are found. |
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# |
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# Catches the chat-response failure mode: typing "we can revisit this" or |
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# "or accept the slight gap" in a reply without filing a real opsx change. |
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# |
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# Scope: |
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# - Scans only the LAST assistant message |
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# - Skips lines inside fenced code blocks (so quoting the rule is fine) |
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# - Honors a dismiss sentinel: `<!-- deferral-meta -->` anywhere in the |
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# response, for meta-discussion of the rule itself |
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set -uo pipefail |
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INPUT=$(cat) |
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TRANSCRIPT=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.transcript_path // empty' 2>/dev/null || echo "") |
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if [[ -z "$TRANSCRIPT" ]] || [[ ! -f "$TRANSCRIPT" ]]; then exit 0; fi |
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REPO_ROOT="${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR:-$(pwd)}" |
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# Load banned phrases + the "pre-existing" dismissal regex from data files |
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# shared with the archive-gate and write-gate hooks. |
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declare -a BANNED_PHRASES=() |
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while IFS= read -r LINE; do |
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LINE="${LINE%%#*}" |
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LINE="${LINE#"${LINE%%[![:space:]]*}"}" |
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LINE="${LINE%"${LINE##*[![:space:]]}"}" |
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[[ -z "$LINE" ]] && continue |
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BANNED_PHRASES+=("$LINE") |
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done < "$REPO_ROOT/.claude/hooks/lib/deferral-banned-phrases.txt" |
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PRE_EXISTING_DISMISSAL_REGEX="" |
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while IFS= read -r LINE; do |
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LINE="${LINE%%#*}" |
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LINE="${LINE#"${LINE%%[![:space:]]*}"}" |
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LINE="${LINE%"${LINE##*[![:space:]]}"}" |
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[[ -z "$LINE" ]] && continue |
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PRE_EXISTING_DISMISSAL_REGEX="$LINE" |
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break |
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done < "$REPO_ROOT/.claude/hooks/lib/deferral-pre-existing-regex.txt" |
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# Find the last assistant message JSONL line in the transcript. |
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LAST_ASSISTANT_LINE=$(tac "$TRANSCRIPT" 2>/dev/null | while IFS= read -r LINE; do |
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ROLE=$(echo "$LINE" | jq -r '(.message.role // .role) // empty' 2>/dev/null || echo "") |
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if [[ "$ROLE" == "assistant" ]]; then |
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echo "$LINE" |
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break |
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fi |
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done) |
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if [[ -z "$LAST_ASSISTANT_LINE" ]]; then exit 0; fi |
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# Extract concatenated text content from the message (skip tool_use, thinking, etc). |
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TEXT=$(echo "$LAST_ASSISTANT_LINE" | jq -r ' |
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(.message.content // .content // []) as $c |
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| if ($c | type) == "array" then |
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$c | map(select(type == "object" and .type == "text") | .text) | join("\n") |
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elif ($c | type) == "string" then |
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$c |
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else |
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"" |
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end |
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' 2>/dev/null || echo "") |
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if [[ -z "$TEXT" ]]; then exit 0; fi |
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# Dismiss sentinel for meta-discussion of the rule itself. |
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if echo "$TEXT" | grep -qF '<!-- deferral-meta -->'; then exit 0; fi |
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# Strip fenced code blocks so quoting the rule in ``` ... ``` doesn't trip. |
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TEXT_NO_FENCES=$(echo "$TEXT" | awk ' |
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/^[[:space:]]*```/ { in_block = !in_block; next } |
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!in_block { print } |
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') |
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# Collect hits as: line:phrase:text |
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declare -a HITS=() |
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for PHRASE in "${BANNED_PHRASES[@]}"; do |
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while IFS= read -r MATCH; do |
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[[ -z "$MATCH" ]] && continue |
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HITS+=("L$MATCH :: phrase=\"$PHRASE\"") |
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done < <(echo "$TEXT_NO_FENCES" | grep -inF "$PHRASE" 2>/dev/null) |
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done |
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# "pre-existing" dismissal pattern |
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while IFS= read -r MATCH; do |
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[[ -z "$MATCH" ]] && continue |
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if echo "$MATCH" | grep -iqE "$PRE_EXISTING_DISMISSAL_REGEX"; then |
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HITS+=("L$MATCH :: phrase=\"pre-existing (dismissal)\"") |
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fi |
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done < <(echo "$TEXT_NO_FENCES" | grep -inF "pre-existing" 2>/dev/null) |
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if [[ ${#HITS[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then exit 0; fi |
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{ |
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echo "[response-deferral-phrase-gate] BLOCK: banned deferral phrase(s) in your last response." |
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echo "" |
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echo "Hits (line numbers relative to your last message, code blocks excluded):" |
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for HIT in "${HITS[@]}"; do |
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echo " $HIT" |
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done |
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echo "" |
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echo "Per .claude/rules/no-ephemeral-deferrals.md, every deferral-shaped" |
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echo "statement must resolve via case 1, case 2, or case 3:" |
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echo "" |
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echo " case 1: revise an existing pending change + /opsx:apply this turn" |
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echo " case 2: /opsx:propose <name> -> apply -> sync -> archive, this turn" |
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echo " case 3: /opsx:new <name> proposal-only + loud ## DEFERRED: callout" |
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echo "" |
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echo "If you genuinely need to discuss the rule itself, include the sentinel" |
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echo "<!-- deferral-meta --> in your response. The bar for using the sentinel" |
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echo "is HIGH -- it dismisses the gate entirely for that response." |
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echo "" |
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echo "Otherwise: rewrite the deferral sentence to close the loop, or delete" |
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echo "it (the concern was not real), and respond again." |
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} >&2 |
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exit 2 |