setup-snip-hooks

name	setup-snip-hooks
description	Use when setting up snip CLI token reduction hooks in a project, before first terminal commands are run
argument-hint	Run this skill to scaffold snip preToolUse hooks for CLI token reduction in a project. Follow the instructions in the generated SKILL.md file to complete setup.
compatibility	copilot
user-invocable	true
disable-model-invocation	false

Setup snip Hooks

Scaffolds snip preToolUse hook into a project's .github/hooks/ directory. The hook automatically rewrites supported CLI commands through snip to reduce output tokens.

Why per-project hooks?

Copilot/VS Code hooks require a hardcoded cwd in hooks.json — there is no environment variable (like ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}) to resolve the hook script path dynamically. The hook must live inside the project so the relative path works.

When to Use

• New project needs snip token reduction
• Project has no .github/hooks/snip-rewrite.sh yet
• snip and jq are available on the machine

Prerequisites

command -v snip   # must exist
command -v jq     # must exist

If either is missing, STOP — install before proceeding.

Setup Steps

1. Create .github/hooks/ in project root if it doesn't exist
2. Copy the 2 template files from this skill's templates/ directory:

mkdir -p .github/hooks
cp templates/snip-rewrite.sh .github/hooks/snip-rewrite.sh
cp templates/hooks.json      .github/hooks/hooks.json

3. Make the hook script executable:

chmod +x .github/hooks/snip-rewrite.sh

4. If .github/hooks/hooks.json already exists, merge the preToolUse entry instead of overwriting.

What Gets Created

File	Purpose
snip-rewrite.sh	preToolUse hook — rewrites commands through snip (Claude Code + Copilot formats)
hooks.json	Hook registration for Claude Code plugin system

Supported Commands

git, go, cargo, dotnet, npm, npx, yarn, pnpm, docker, kubectl, make, pip, pytest, jest, tsc, eslint, rustc

.NET Filters (dotnet build / dotnet test)

Custom snip filters for dotnet build and dotnet test are available in filters/:

mkdir -p ~/.config/snip/filters
cp <skill-dir>/filters/dotnet-build.yaml ~/.config/snip/filters/dotnet-build.yaml
cp <skill-dir>/filters/dotnet-test.yaml  ~/.config/snip/filters/dotnet-test.yaml

Replace <skill-dir> with the path to this skill folder (e.g. plugins/minimal-context-tools/skills/setup-snip-hooks).

dotnet-build keeps: compiler errors/warnings + Build succeeded. / Build FAILED. summary. dotnet-test keeps: test failure details (name, error message, stack trace) + Passed! / Failed! summary.

Verify

echo '{"tool_input":{"command":"git status"}}' | .github/hooks/snip-rewrite.sh
# Should output JSON with "snip git status" in updatedInput

Commit

git add .github/hooks/
git commit -m "chore: add snip preToolUse hooks for token reduction"