destructive-command-protection

name	destructive-command-protection
description	Runtime enforcement hook that blocks destructive system and database commands. Prevents accidental rm -rf, database drops, and other irreversible operations. Auto-loaded for all command execution.
category	enforcement
user-invocable	false

Destructive Command Protection

Runtime enforcement hook for Claude Code's PreToolUse hook system. Intercepts Bash tool calls and blocks commands that could cause irreversible damage.

Blocked Operations

Filesystem

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
rm -rf / or rm -rf ~ or rm -rf .	Filesystem destruction	Block
rm -rf /etc, /usr, /var, /boot, /home	System directory deletion	Block
rm -rf $HOME	Home directory deletion	Block

Safe targets (allowed): node_modules, dist/, build/, .next/, .cache/, coverage/, .turbo/, tmp/, .tmp/, out/

Database & Data Stores

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
DROP DATABASE / DROP SCHEMA	Database destruction	Block
TRUNCATE TABLE (without IF EXISTS)	Mass data deletion	Block
redis-cli FLUSHALL / FLUSHDB	Wipes all Redis data	Block
mongosh db.dropDatabase() / .drop()	MongoDB destruction	Block

Git

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
git stash drop	Permanently deletes a stash entry	Block
git stash clear	Permanently deletes all stashes	Block

System

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
mkfs / dd if= of=/dev/	Disk formatting/overwrite	Block
> /dev/sda or writes to block devices	Disk corruption	Block
chmod -R 777 /	Security degradation	Block
`:(){ :	:& };:` (fork bomb)	System crash
kill -9 1 / kill -9 -1	System process termination	Block

Containers

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
docker system prune	Removes all unused containers, images, volumes	Block
docker volume prune	Removes all unused volumes with data	Block
docker container prune / image prune	Mass container/image removal	Block
docker compose down -v	Removes volumes with persistent data	Block

Infrastructure as Code

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
terraform destroy	Tears down infrastructure	Block
terraform apply -auto-approve	Applies without review	Block
pulumi destroy	Tears down infrastructure	Block

Package Publishing

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
npm publish / yarn publish	Irreversible public release	Block
gem push / twine upload / cargo publish	Irreversible public release	Block

Cloud Resources

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
aws ec2 terminate-instances	Destroys EC2 instances	Block
aws rds delete-db-instance	Destroys RDS database	Block
aws cloudformation delete-stack	Destroys CloudFormation stack	Block
aws secretsmanager delete-secret	Destroys secrets	Block
aws iam delete-role	Removes IAM role	Block
gcloud compute instances delete	Destroys GCE instance	Block
gcloud sql instances delete	Destroys Cloud SQL instance	Block
gcloud projects delete	Destroys GCP project	Block
az vm delete / az group delete	Destroys Azure resources	Block
az storage account delete / az keyvault delete	Destroys Azure storage/keys	Block

Kubernetes

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
kubectl delete namespace / ns	Mass resource deletion	Block
kubectl delete ... --all	Mass resource deletion	Block
kubectl drain	Evicts all pods from node	Block

Network & Storage

Command Pattern	Risk	Action
rsync --delete	Removes destination files not in source	Block
aws s3 rm --recursive / aws s3 rb --recursive	Mass S3 deletion	Block
gsutil rm -r	Mass GCS deletion	Block
azcopy remove --recursive	Mass Azure blob deletion	Block

Bypass Prevention

Technique	Detection	Action
bash -c "blocked command"	Shell wrapper extraction	Block
sh -c 'blocked command'	Shell wrapper extraction	Block
python -c "os.system(...)"	Interpreter one-liner scan	Block
node -e "execSync(...)"	Interpreter one-liner scan	Block
ruby -e "system(...)"	Interpreter one-liner scan	Block

Installation

Add to your Claude Code settings (~/.claude/settings.json or project .claude/settings.json):

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Bash",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "node .claude/skills/destructive-command-protection/references/hook.js"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Acceptance Tests

ID	Type	Condition	Expected
DC-T1	Block	rm -rf /	Blocked
DC-T2	Block	rm -rf ~	Blocked
DC-T3	Block	DROP DATABASE production	Blocked
DC-T4	Block	chmod -R 777 /	Blocked
DC-T5	Allow	rm -rf ./node_modules	Allowed (safe target)
DC-T6	Allow	rm -rf dist/	Allowed (build artifact)
DC-T7	Allow	DROP TABLE IF EXISTS temp_migration	Allowed (TABLE not matched)
DC-T8	Block	dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda	Blocked
DC-T9	Block	git stash clear	Blocked
DC-T10	Allow	git stash pop	Allowed (not destructive)
DC-T11	Block	bash -c "rm -rf /"	Blocked (shell wrapper)
DC-T12	Block	python -c "import shutil; shutil.rmtree(...)"	Blocked (interpreter)
DC-T13	Block	docker system prune	Blocked
DC-T14	Allow	docker compose down	Allowed (no -v)
DC-T15	Block	terraform destroy	Blocked
DC-T16	Allow	terraform plan	Allowed (read-only)
DC-T17	Block	npm publish	Blocked
DC-T18	Block	aws ec2 terminate-instances	Blocked
DC-T19	Block	kubectl delete namespace production	Blocked
DC-T20	Allow	kubectl get pods	Allowed (read-only)
DC-T21	Block	rsync --delete src/ dest/	Blocked
DC-T22	Block	aws s3 rm --recursive	Blocked
DC-T23	Block	redis-cli FLUSHALL	Blocked
DC-T24	Block	mongosh --eval "db.dropDatabase()"	Blocked