create-hooks

name	create-hooks
description	Create and configure DotCraft lifecycle hooks (hooks.json) for workspaces. Use when the user wants to add hooks, create hook scripts, set up security guards, auto-formatting, logging, notifications, or any shell-based automation triggered by DotCraft agent lifecycle events.

Create DotCraft Hooks

Overview

DotCraft hooks are lifecycle event triggers that run external shell commands at key agent execution points. Hooks are configured in hooks.json and can observe, log, or block agent actions.

Workflow

1. Ask the user what they want to achieve (security guard, auto-format, logging, notification, etc.)
2. Determine which lifecycle event(s) to use
3. Determine scope: workspace (.craft/hooks.json), global (~/.craft/hooks.json), or plugin (<plugin-root>/hooks/hooks.json)
4. Generate the hooks.json config and any helper scripts
5. Place scripts in .craft/hooks/, the user's chosen global hooks directory, or the plugin's hooks/ directory

Config File Locations

Scope	Path	Purpose
Global	~/.craft/hooks.json	Shared across all workspaces
Workspace	<workspace>/.craft/hooks.json	Current workspace only
Plugin	<plugin-root>/hooks/hooks.json	Contributed by an installed and enabled plugin

Global hooks load first, workspace hooks are appended, and enabled plugin hooks run after config hooks. Plugin hooks are additive and read-only from Desktop; Desktop manages only user state.

Config Format

{
    "hooks": {
        "<EventName>": [
            {
                "matcher": "<regex for tool names>",
                "hooks": [
                    {
                        "type": "command",
                        "command": "<shell command>",
                        "timeout": 30
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

Fields

Field	Type	Description
matcher	string	Regex matching tool names. Empty string = match all. Only applies to tool-related events
type	string	Always "command"
command	string	Shell command. Linux/macOS: /bin/bash -c; Windows: powershell.exe
timeout	number	Seconds before kill, default 30

Trust and User State

DotCraft stores per-hook user state in global ~/.craft/config.json under Hooks.State.

{
  "Hooks": {
    "State": {
      "<hook-key>": {
        "Enabled": false,
        "TrustedHash": "sha256:..."
      }
    }
  }
}

• Enabled: false disables one hook without editing hooks.json.
• TrustedHash records the normalized hook definition the user approved.
• Config and plugin hooks must be trusted before they run. Modified hooks need trust again.
• Do not write trust state into workspace .craft/config.json; it is personal user state.

For plugin hooks, commands may use ${DOTCRAFT_PLUGIN_ROOT} and ${DOTCRAFT_PLUGIN_DATA}. DotCraft expands these variables in the command and also injects them as environment variables.

Lifecycle Events

Event	Trigger	Can Block?	stdin JSON Fields
SessionStart	First usable turn for a session	No	sessionId/session_id, cwd, hook_event_name
UserPromptSubmit	User prompt submitted before prompt assembly	Yes	sessionId/session_id, turnId/turn_id, prompt, cwd
PrePrompt	DotCraft compatibility event before assembled prompt is sent	Yes	sessionId/session_id, turnId/turn_id, prompt, cwd
PreToolUse	Before tool executes	Yes	toolName/tool_name, toolArgs/tool_args, tool_input
PermissionRequest	Before permission is requested	Yes	permission context when available
PostToolUse	After tool succeeds	No	toolName/tool_name, tool_input, toolResult/tool_result
PostToolUseFailure	After tool fails	No	toolName/tool_name, tool_input, error
PreCompact / PostCompact	Around context compaction	Pre can block	compaction context when available
SubagentStart / SubagentStop	Around subagent lifecycle	No	subagent context when available

DotCraft emits both camelCase and snake_case field names. Prefer snake_case in portable scripts.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning	Behavior
0	Success	Continue
2	Block / feedback	Block supported events, or request follow-up feedback for asyncRewake hooks
Other	Error	Fail-open: warning logged, execution continues

JSON Output

Hooks may print plain text or JSON. Plain text becomes additional context for context-capable events. JSON output can use:

{
  "hookSpecificOutput": {
    "hookEventName": "PostToolUse",
    "additionalContext": "Model-visible guidance"
  },
  "decision": "block",
  "reason": "Why the action should stop or continue with feedback",
  "systemMessage": "Optional user-visible status"
}

Use hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext for guidance that should be shown to the model without leaking raw JSON.

Built-in Tool Names (for matcher)

Tool	Description
Exec	Shell command execution
ReadFile	Read file contents (also lists directory when path is a directory)
WriteFile	Write file
EditFile	Edit file (partial replace)
GrepFiles	Search file contents
FindFiles	Find files by name pattern
WebFetch	Fetch web page
WebSearch	Search web
SpawnAgent	Spawn a subagent child thread for background tasks

Matcher is case-insensitive regex. Examples: "" (all), "WriteFile|EditFile" (write ops), ".*File" (all file ops), "Exec" (shell only).

The optional if field supports portable conditions such as Bash(git commit:*). DotCraft maps common tool aliases: shell execution to Bash, full-file writes to Write, and search/replace edits to Edit.

Platform Differences

• Linux/macOS: Commands run via /bin/bash -c '<command>'. Use standard bash syntax, jq for JSON parsing.
• Windows: Commands run via powershell.exe -File <temp.ps1>. Use PowerShell syntax, ConvertFrom-Json for JSON parsing.

Windows (PowerShell) stdin reading pattern

$input_data = [Console]::In.ReadToEnd() | ConvertFrom-Json
$toolName = $input_data.toolName
$toolArgs = $input_data.toolArgs

Windows blocking pattern (exit 2)

$input_data = [Console]::In.ReadToEnd() | ConvertFrom-Json
# ... check logic ...
if ($shouldBlock) {
    [Console]::Error.WriteLine("Block reason here")
    exit 2
}
exit 0

Linux/macOS stdin reading pattern

INPUT=$(cat)
TOOL_NAME=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.toolName // empty')
TOOL_ARGS=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -c '.toolArgs')

Best Practices

1. Always consume stdin — even if unused, read it (cat > /dev/null or [Console]::In.ReadToEnd() | Out-Null) to avoid broken pipe errors
2. Use jq (bash) or ConvertFrom-Json (PowerShell) for JSON parsing
3. Append || true (bash) or try/catch (PowerShell) inside helper scripts for non-critical work
4. Set reasonable timeouts — default is 30s, increase for slow operations
5. Use exit 2 intentionally — reserve it for blocking events or for asyncRewake feedback
6. Write block reasons to stderr — echo "reason" >&2 (bash) or [Console]::Error.WriteLine("reason") (PowerShell)
7. No interactive commands — hooks run in background without user input
8. Place complex logic in script files — store in .craft/hooks/ and reference from hooks.json

Generation Rules

When generating hooks for the user:

1. Detect the OS from workspace context — use PowerShell syntax on Windows, bash on Linux/macOS
2. For complex hooks, create script files in the selected hooks directory and reference them in the command field
3. Always create the hooks script directory before placing script files there
4. Merge with existing config — if .craft/hooks.json already exists, read it first and merge new hooks into the existing config rather than overwriting
5. Validate event names — use events from specs/features/lifecycle-hooks.md; common choices are SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, PreToolUse, PostToolUse, PrePrompt, and Stop
6. Validate matcher patterns — ensure regex is valid
7. Ensure hooks are enabled — check that config.json does not have "Hooks": { "Enabled": false }
8. Leave trust to the user — mention that new or modified hooks must be trusted through Desktop Hooks settings or hooks/setState