x-claude-setup

name	x-claude-setup
description	Load full context for modifying Claude Code configuration, settings, hooks, MCP servers, skills, or the wrapper script on this machine
model	sonnet
disable-model-invocation	true
allowed-tools	Bash(*), Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, Agent(claude-code-guide)

Claude Code Setup Context

Load comprehensive context for working on the Claude Code installation and configuration on this machine.

Input: $ARGUMENTS (optional: specific area to focus on, e.g. "hooks", "mcp", "permissions", "npm")

Step 1: Invoke the claude-code-guide Agent

This is not optional. Before you read any files, before you make any changes, before you do anything else: invoke the claude-code-guide agent. Every single time this skill is loaded, no exceptions. The user has repeatedly found that skipping this step leads to incorrect assumptions about Claude Code's configuration schemas, field names, valid values, and nesting levels. You will get things wrong without it.

Include this context in your prompt to the agent:

The user runs Claude Code on Linux Mint inside GNU screen + Kitty terminal. They have a Perl wrapper script, custom hooks, MCP servers, and a symlinked config structure. Please answer their question with full knowledge of Claude Code's capabilities.

Pass the user's specific question or task to the agent so it can provide targeted guidance.

Step 2: Local Setup Reference

Use this reference to understand the local installation before making changes.

Installation & Launch

• Claude binary: Native install at ~/.local/bin/claude (symlink to ~/.local/share/claude/versions/<version>)
• Wrapper script: ~/common/bin/claude (Perl) — the user invokes this, not the binary directly
  • Adds ~/common/conf/ai/devtools and ~/go/bin to $PATH
  • Queries screen -Q info to propagate correct terminal dimensions ($COLUMNS/$LINES)
  • Sets $TERM=screen-256color and $CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_TERMINAL_TITLE=1
  • Auto-symlinks CLAUDE.local.md for work repos using $CE_REMOTE_USERNAME
  • Suppresses screen's message line flash during size query via msgwait 0/msgwait 3

Symlink Structure

These files under ~/.claude/ are symlinks into ~/common/conf/ai/claude/ (version-controlled):

Symlink	Target
CLAUDE.md	conf/ai/claude/CLAUDE.md
settings.json	conf/ai/claude/settings.json
skills/	conf/ai/claude/skills/
commands/	conf/ai/claude/commands/
agents/	conf/ai/claude/agents/
statusline-command.sh	conf/ai/claude/statusline-command.sh

Not symlinked (local-only): .credentials.json, history.jsonl, sessions/, projects/, cache/, plugins/, plans/, tasks/

When editing config, edit the real file in ~/common/conf/ai/claude/ — the symlink ensures ~/.claude/ sees it. Changes are committable via git in ~/common.

Terminal Environment (GNU screen)

Claude Code runs inside GNU screen sessions. This causes known issues:

• Rendering corruption: Full-screen redraws produce null bytes, overlapping text, mangled Unicode
• Root cause: Claude Code's Ink/React TUI emits rapid escape sequences; screen's VT100 emulator can desync
• DEC mode 2026 (synchronized output) is not supported by screen
• Terminal size: Can report 80x24 instead of actual size without the wrapper's screen -Q info fix
• Detailed writeup: aidoc/projects/home-network/summary:claude-code-terminal-corruption.md
• Mitigations investigated: claude-chill (PTY proxy), Kitty terminal (now active), terminal size propagation (implemented in wrapper)

Hooks (settings.json → hooks)

Event	Script	Purpose
Notification	claude-code-set-notification	Writes JSON marker to /tmp/ when Claude needs attention
UserPromptSubmit	claude-code-clear-notification	Clears marker when user provides input
SessionEnd	claude-code-clear-notification	Clears marker on exit
PostToolUse	claude-code-clear-notification	Clears marker after tool execution

Not yet configured but available: PreToolUse hook with approve-safe-bash — a Perl script that auto-approves compound Bash commands (pipes, &&, ||) when all segments are read-only. See conf/ai/devtools/approve-safe-bash and aidoc/summary:approve-safe-bash-hook.md.

MCP Servers (settings.json → mcpServers)

Server	Type	Notes
google-sheets	Local node	~/proj/claude-code-gsheets-mcp-server/google_sheets_mcp_server.js
playwright	npx	@playwright/mcp@latest — runs via npx from cache
atlassian-remote	SSE	https://mcp.atlassian.com/v1/sse

npm Safety

• ~/.npmrc has ignore-scripts=true globally (defense against supply-chain attacks like the axios RAT incident)
• When installing a trusted package that needs postinstall scripts: npm install --ignore-scripts=false <package>
• The playwright MCP server runs via npx from a cached copy; reinstalling it requires the override flag

Permissions (settings.json → permissions)

The allow list is extensive — read-only commands, git read operations, skill scripts, MCP tools, and safe CLI tools are pre-approved. The deny list blocks destructive curl operations and dangerous find flags.

Key patterns:

• Skill scripts are allowed for both /home/buddy/ and /home/bburden/ paths (home vs. work machine)
• git -C operations are allowed in settings but discouraged in CLAUDE.md when targeting cwd
• additionalDirectories grants access to ~/common/aidoc, ~/common, and ~/docs/ai/screenshots

Status Line

Custom bash script (statusline-command.sh) that parses the transcript to show:

• Model name with cost tier indicator (color-coded)
• Per-model token cost calculation (Opus/Sonnet/Haiku rates)
• Context window usage with color warnings (yellow 60%+, red 75%+)
• Sandbox mode indicator
• Project name from cwd

Devtools (~/common/conf/ai/devtools/)

Script	Purpose
approve-safe-bash	PreToolUse hook: auto-approves read-only compound commands
check-dir-age	Checks age of a directory (for staleness detection)
claude-code-set-notification	Notification hook: writes attention-needed marker
claude-code-clear-notification	Clears notification marker
repo-last-pulled	Reports when a repo was last pulled

Step 3: Make Changes

With the above context loaded, help the user with their specific request. When modifying:

• settings.json: Edit ~/common/conf/ai/claude/settings.json (the real file)
• Wrapper script: Edit ~/common/bin/claude
• Skills: Create/edit under ~/common/conf/ai/claude/skills/
• Devtools: Create/edit under ~/common/conf/ai/devtools/
• Status line: Edit ~/common/conf/ai/claude/statusline-command.sh

Offer to commit changes when done.