Show HN: Pleasantries

Pre-hook scripts for AI coding CLIs that block pleasantry-only prompts like "hi", "hello", "ok", "thank you", etc. Send a real task, not a greeting.

AI coding assistants are task tools, not chat buddies. Every "hello" wastes a model call, burns tokens, and breaks your flow. This hook intercepts the prompt before it reaches the model and rejects it with a nudge.

You type "hi" --> Hook reads prompt --> Regex fullmatch --> Blocked
You type "fix auth bug" --> Hook reads prompt --> No match --> Prompt proceeds

Each CLI has its own blocking mechanism:

Block method	CLIs
stderr + exit code 2	Claude, Kiro, Copilot Chat, Copilot CLI, Cursor, Factory Droid, Kimi Code, Devin
JSON {"decision": "block"} + exit 0
Codex
JSON {"decision": "deny"} + exit 0
Gemini

The matcher normalizes input (lowercase, strip punctuation, collapse whitespace) and checks if the entire prompt is a pleasantry. Prompts that contain pleasantry words but include a real task pass through fine:

Prompt	Result
hi
Blocked
Hello!!
Blocked
thank you so much
Blocked
ok
Blocked
see ya later
Blocked
fix the login bug
Allowed
hello world program in python
Allowed
please refactor auth.py
Allowed

CLI	Hook Event	Config Location	Blocking
Claude Code	UserPromptSubmit
~/.claude/settings.json
exit 2
Codex CLI	UserPromptSubmit
~/.codex/hooks.json
JSON block
Gemini CLI	BeforeAgent
~/.gemini/settings.json
JSON deny
Cursor	beforeSubmitPrompt
~/.cursor/hooks.json
exit 2
Copilot Chat	UserPromptSubmit
~/.copilot/hooks/
exit 2
Copilot CLI	userPromptSubmitted
~/.copilot/hooks/
exit 2
Qwen Code	UserPromptSubmit
~/.qwen/settings.json
exit 2
Junie CLI	UserPromptSubmit
~/.junie/config.json
exit 2
Factory Droid	UserPromptSubmit
~/.factory/hooks.json
exit 2
Kimi Code	UserPromptSubmit
~/.kimi-code/config.toml
exit 2
grok-cli	UserPromptSubmit
~/.grok/user-settings.json
exit 2
Kun	UserPromptSubmit
~/.kun/data/config.json
exit 2
Open Interpreter	UserPromptSubmit
~/.openinterpreter/hooks.json
exit 2
Kiro	UserPromptSubmit
.kiro/hooks/*.json (workspace)
exit 2
Devin CLI	UserPromptSubmit
.devin/hooks.v1.json (workspace)
exit 2

CodeBuddy, OpenCode (archived), Aider, Kilo Code, Trae, Trae CN (unreleased), Hermes, Pi, OpenClaw, Amp (docs private), Google Antigravity (no prompt access), Cline (SDK-only), oh-my-pi (SDK-only), Freebuff (no config), Command Code (no pre-prompt hook).

python install.py

The installer will:

• Copy block_pleasantries.py

to~/.pleasantries/

• Detect which AI coding CLIs are installed on your machine
• Let you select which ones to hook
• Merge the hook into each CLI's config (skips if already installed)

To remove all hooks:

python install.py --uninstall

If you prefer to configure each CLI by hand:

~/.claude/settings.json

:

{
  "hooks": {
    "UserPromptSubmit": [
      { "hooks": [{ "type": "command",
          "command": "python3 /path/to/block_pleasantries.py claude",
          "timeout": 5 }] }
    ]
  }
}

Step 1: Enable hooks in ~/.codex/config.toml

:

[features]
hooks = true

Step 2: Add to ~/.codex/hooks.json

:

{
  "hooks": {
    "UserPromptSubmit": [
      { "hooks": [{ "type": "command",
          "command": "python3 /path/to/block_pleasantries.py codex",
          "timeout": 5, "statusMessage": "Checking prompt" }] }
    ]
  }
}

~/.gemini/settings.json

:

{
  "hooks": {
    "BeforeAgent": [
      { "matcher": "*", "hooks": [{ "type": "command",
          "command": "python3 /path/to/block_pleasantries.py gemini",
          "timeout": 5000 }] }
    ]
  }
}

.kiro/hooks/block-pleasantries.json

(workspace-level):

{
  "version": "v1",
  "hooks": [{
    "name": "block-pleasantries",
    "trigger": "UserPromptSubmit",
    "action": { "type": "command",
      "command": "python3 /path/to/block_pleasantries.py kiro" },
    "timeout": 30, "enabled": true
  }]
}

.cursor/hooks.json

or ~/.cursor/hooks.json

:

{
  "version": 1,
  "hooks": {
    "beforeSubmitPrompt": [{
      "command": "python3 /path/to/block_pleasantries.py cursor",
      "timeout": 5
    }]
  }
}

.github/hooks/pleasantries.json

or ~/.copilot/hooks/

:

{
  "version": 1,
  "hooks": {
    "UserPromptSubmit": [{
      "type": "command",
      "command": "python3 /path/to/block_pleasantries.py copilot-chat",
      "timeout": 5
    }]
  }
}

~/.factory/hooks.json

or .factory/hooks.json

:

{
  "hooks": {
    "UserPromptSubmit": [
      { "hooks": [{ "type": "command",
          "command": "python3 /path/to/block_pleasantries.py factory-droid",
          "timeout": 5 }] }
    ]
  }
}

~/.kimi-code/config.toml

:

[[hooks]]
event = "UserPromptSubmit"
command = "python3 /path/to/block_pleasantries.py kimi-code"
timeout = 5

.devin/hooks.v1.json

:

{
  "hooks": {
    "UserPromptSubmit": [
      { "hooks": [{ "type": "command",
          "command": "python3 /path/to/block_pleasantries.py devin",
          "timeout": 5 }] }
    ]
  }
}

Replace /path/to/

with the actual path to this repo. Use python

instead of python3

on Windows.

• Python 3.10+
• No external dependencies (stdlib only: json

,re

,sys

) - Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows

block_pleasantries.py
+-- Core matcher (CLI-agnostic)
|   +-- PLEASANTRY_PATTERNS      - compiled regex
|   +-- normalize()              - lowercase, strip punctuation
|   +-- is_pleasantry()          - fullmatch check
|
+-- CLI adapters
|   +-- _json_prompt_extract()   - shared JSON stdin parser
|   +-- _exit2_block()           - stderr + exit code 2 (8 CLIs)
|   +-- _codex_block()           - JSON stdout "block" + exit 0
|   +-- _gemini_block()          - JSON stdout "deny" + exit 0
|   +-- ADAPTERS dict            - {name: {extract, block}}
|
+-- main()                       - dispatch via argv[1]

Adding a new CLI:

def _newcli_block(msg: str) -> None:
    print(msg, file=sys.stderr)
    sys.exit(2)

ADAPTERS["newcli"] = {"extract": _json_prompt_extract, "block": _newcli_block}

Then: python3 block_pleasantries.py newcli

Edit the PLEASANTRY_PATTERNS

regex in block_pleasantries.py

. Patterns are grouped by category:

Greetings: hi, hello, hey, howdy, good morning, ...** Acknowledgments**: ok, sure, yeah, got it, ...** Thanks**: thank you, thanks, thx, ty, ...** Please**: please, pls, plz** Farewells**: bye, goodbye, see ya, later, ...

MIT

source & further reading

github.com — original article