Analyze Permissions

Purpose

Analyze accumulated permissions in settings.local.json and suggest smart wildcard patterns to consolidate into shared configuration. Reduces permission sprawl by replacing specific entries with safe wildcard patterns.

Arguments (parsed from user input)

• action: What to do - analyze (default), apply, or cleanup

Example invocations:

• /ai-analyze-permissions → analyze and suggest patterns
• /ai-analyze-permissions apply → apply suggested patterns to shared config
• /ai-analyze-permissions cleanup → just run the cleanup script

Process

Step 1: Read Current Permissions

Read these files:

1. Project-local: <project-root>/.claude/settings.local.json - accumulated "Always allow" permissions (per-project)
2. Global: ~/.claude/settings.json - shared/base permissions across all projects

Note: settings.local.json is project-specific. Each repo has its own at <repo>/.claude/settings.local.json. The global ~/.claude/settings.json is shared across all projects.

Step 2: Analyze Patterns

For each entry in settings.local.json:

1. Check if already covered - Is there a wildcard in settings.json that covers this?

   • Bash(git commit -m "Fix bug") is covered by Bash(git commit:*)
   • Bash(curl https://api.example.com) is covered by Bash(curl:*)

2. Identify pattern opportunities - Group similar commands:

   • Multiple kubectl commands → suggest Bash(kubectl:*)
   • Multiple docker commands → suggest Bash(docker:*)
   • Multiple WebFetch for same domain → suggest WebFetch(https://example.com/*)

3. Decide global vs local - Where should the pattern live?

   • Global (~/.claude/settings.json): General-purpose tools used across projects (npx, python, docker compose, etc.)
   • Local (settings.local.json): Project-specific commands, or write operations you only want for that project (e.g., git push for a personal repo)

4. Assess safety - Consider if the pattern is safe for auto-approval:

   • Read-only commands: Generally safe
   • Commands with side effects: Flag for review
   • Overly broad patterns: Warn about security implications

Step 3: Present Analysis

Output a structured report:

## Permission Analysis

### Settings Overview
- settings.local.json: X entries
- settings.json: Y entries (Z wildcards)

### Already Covered (can be removed)
These entries in settings.local.json are redundant:

| Entry | Covered by |
|-------|------------|
| Bash(git commit -m "...") | Bash(git commit:*) |

### Suggested New Patterns
These patterns would consolidate multiple specific entries:

| Pattern | Covers | Scope | Safety |
|---------|--------|-------|--------|
| Bash(kubectl:*) | 4 entries | global | Safe (read-heavy) |
| Bash(docker exec:*) | 3 entries | local | Review (can modify) |

### Uncategorized
These entries don't fit a pattern (one-offs):

- Bash(some-specific-command)

Step 4: Handle Actions

Based on the action argument:

analyze (default):

• Present the report
• Ask if user wants to apply suggestions

apply:

• For each suggested pattern, ask for confirmation
• Add approved global patterns to ~/.claude/settings.json by editing the permissions.allow array
• Add approved local patterns to <project-root>/.claude/settings.json (project-level, not local)
• Run the cleanup script to remove now-redundant entries from settings.local.json

cleanup:

• Run <project-root>/.claude/skills/ai-analyze-permissions/scripts/cleanup-settings-local.sh

Step 5: Apply Patterns (if applying)

When adding patterns:

1. Read the target settings file (~/.claude/settings.json for global, <project-root>/.claude/settings.json for project)
2. Add new entries to the permissions.allow JSON array
3. Write the updated JSON back (preserving all other fields)
4. Run cleanup to remove now-redundant entries: <project-root>/.claude/skills/ai-analyze-permissions/scripts/cleanup-settings-local.sh

Important: Adding patterns to settings.json never removes existing entries. The cleanup script only cleans settings.local.json. To clean settings.json itself, manually remove redundant entries.

Pattern Safety Guidelines

Safe to auto-approve (commonly needed):

• Bash(npx:*), Bash(node:*), Bash(npm:*), Bash(pnpm:*) - JS/Node tooling
• Bash(python:*), Bash(python3:*), Bash(pip:*) - Python tooling
• Bash(cargo :*), Bash(cd :* && cargo:*) - Rust tooling
• Bash(docker compose:*), Bash(docker ps:*) - Docker
• Bash(kubectl get:*), Bash(kubectl describe:*) - K8s read operations
• Bash(git:*) subcommands (add, commit, log, diff, etc.)
• Bash(gh:*) read operations (pr view, issue list, api, etc.)
• Bash(chmod:*), Bash(ln:*), Bash(wc:*), Bash(which:*) - basic utilities
• Bash(ssh:*), Bash(tmux:*), Bash(bash:*), Bash(zsh:*) - shell/system
• WebFetch(domain:*), WebSearch - web access

Require review (side effects):

• Bash(kubectl delete:*), Bash(kubectl apply:*)
• Bash(docker rm:*), Bash(docker exec:*)
• Bash(aws s3 rm:*)
• Bash(rm:*), Bash(mv:*)
• Bash(git push:*) - consider keeping per-project in local settings

Never auto-approve:

• Bash(sudo:*)
• Bash(chmod 777:*)
• Patterns that could leak secrets

$ARGUMENTS