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Permissions

Claude Code uses a layered permission system to control which tools can run and which files can be accessed.

Permission levels​

Permissions are configured in .claude/settings.json (project) or ~/.claude/settings.json (user):

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Read",
      "Glob",
      "Grep",
      "Bash(npm run *)",
      "Bash(npx prettier *)",
      "Edit(src/**)"
    ],
    "deny": [
      "Bash(rm -rf *)",
      "Edit(.env*)"
    ]
  }
}

Wildcard syntax​

Use wildcard patterns to grant scoped permissions without blanket access. This is much safer than dangerously-skip-permissions:

PatternWhat it allows
Bash(npm run *)Any npm script
Bash(npx prettier *)Prettier formatting only
Edit(src/**)Editing any file under src/
Edit(docs/**)Editing any file under docs/
ReadReading any file (no restriction)

Sandbox mode​

For additional isolation, use /sandbox to restrict file system access and network connections. This reduces permission prompts for trusted operations while keeping untrusted ones blocked.