Learn how to transform Claude Code into a proactive development partner with hooks for automation, observability, and safety controls
Picture this: It's 6 AM, you're in the flow with Claude Code, and suddenly your AI assistant decides that "the best code is no code" and starts deleting your entire codebase with rm -rf commands. Sound terrifying? This exact scenario is what Claude hooks were designed to prevent.
Claude hooks transform your AI coding assistant from a reactive tool into a proactive development partner that:
Key Insight: As IndyDevDan puts it: "As we push into the age of agents, we need observability to scale our impact." Hooks provide the observability and control necessary for truly agentic engineering.
Traditional AI assistants write code, but then leave you to handle all the housekeeping:
Hooks automate all of this and more, letting you focus on solving problems instead of babysitting your AI.
Claude Code provides five powerful hook events that fire at specific points in the AI's lifecycle:
This hook fires before any tool runs, giving you the power to inspect and potentially block operations.
Common Use Cases:
rm -rf, sudo, etc.)Fires after a tool completes, perfect for logging and monitoring.
Common Use Cases:
Triggers when Claude needs your input or wants to notify you of something important.
Executes when Claude finishes responding, ideal for cleanup and final actions.
Fires when sub-agents complete their tasks in parallel workflows.
Pro Tip: Use SubagentStop hooks to get individual notifications as parallel tasks complete, perfect for long-running operations where you want progress updates.
One of the most critical uses of hooks is preventing disasters before they happen. Let's build a comprehensive safety system.
Start with a simple Python script that checks for dangerous commands:
For production environments, use an allowlist approach:
Observability is crucial for understanding and improving your agent's behavior. Let's build a comprehensive logging system.
Create detailed, structured logs that capture everything your agent does:
Use the logs to understand patterns and optimize workflows:
Transform your development experience with audio feedback:
Handle multiple agents working simultaneously:
Connect Claude to your existing development ecosystem:
Security Note: Never hardcode webhook URLs or API keys. Always use environment variables and keep sensitive data out of your hook scripts.
Let's put it all together by building a complete hook configuration for a production environment.
Create a comprehensive hook setup that:
".*", create specific matchers for different file types