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Claude Code harness

Claude Code is the strongest current Guard harness when you want deferred approvals without giving up a native-feeling local workflow.

What Guard detectsDirect link to What Guard detects​

The Claude Code adapter reads:

  • ~/.claude/settings.json
  • <workspace>/.claude/settings.json
  • <workspace>/.claude/settings.local.json
  • <workspace>/.mcp.json
  • <workspace>/.claude/agents/*.md

Guard records artifacts for:

  • MCP servers from mcpServers
  • Claude hook commands from PreToolUse and PostToolUse
  • workspace agents from .claude/agents

Approval modelDirect link to Approval model​

Claude Code uses the mixed native-or-center path:

  • Guard uses Claude hooks first when the shell can pause cleanly
  • blocked work can fall back to the local approval center when inline prompting is not enough
  • Claude is the best current harness for deferred Guard approvals

What install changesDirect link to what-install-changes​

The base install still creates a Guard shim, but Claude Code adds one extra step when you install from a workspace:

  • Guard writes its own hook entry into <workspace>/.claude/settings.local.json
  • it adds that hook under both PreToolUse and PostToolUse
  • uninstall removes only the Guard hook entry again

That makes Claude Code the one harness where Guard intentionally performs a small, reversible workspace-local config mutation today.

Launch behaviorDirect link to Launch behavior​

When Guard launches Claude Code from a workspace, it passes the workspace path so Claude still opens in the right project while Guard sits in front of the launch.

Use this loop:

hol-guard detect claude-code --json
hol-guard install claude-code
hol-guard run claude-code --dry-run
hol-guard run claude-code
hol-guard approvals

Why teams like Claude Code firstDirect link to Why teams like Claude Code first​

Claude Code works especially well for Guard pilots because it combines:

  • MCP discovery
  • hook surfaces
  • workspace agents
  • cleaner deferred approval behavior than the other current harnesses

Use a workspace that already has .claude config or agents, then confirm:

  1. Guard finds the right settings files
  2. the Guard hook entries land in .claude/settings.local.json
  3. hol-guard run claude-code --dry-run records receipts
  4. blocked changes can still move into the approval center cleanly

Next guidesDirect link to Next guides​