Have you ever told Claude Code to do something and it just didn't?
You said format the code - It didn't. You said don't touch that file - It did.
You said run tests before finishing - It forgot.
That's because CLAUDE.md is a suggestion.
Claude reads it and follows it about 80% of the time. Hooks are different. They're automatic actions that fire every time Claude edits a file, runs a command, or finishes a task.
Below I will share 8 personal hooks you can copy straight into your settings.json and never think about again 👇
Before we dive in, I share daily notes on AI & vibe coding in my Telegram channel: https://t.me/zodchixquant🧠
## How hooks work (30-second version)
What are hooks?
What are hooks?
Hooks are automatic actions that run every time Claude Code does something, like editing a file or running a command.
You set them up once and they work in the background without you thinking about it.
The two you'll use most:
PreToolUse runs before Claude does something. You can inspect the action and block it by returning exit code 2. Think of it as a bouncer.
PostToolUse runs after Claude does something. You can run cleanup, formatting, tests, or logging. Think of it as quality control on the assembly line.
Where hooks live:
.claude/settings.json project-level (shared via git)
~/.claude/settings.json user-level (all your projects)
.claude/settings.local.json local only (not committed)You configure them in .claude/settings.json in your project root. That file gets committed to git, so your whole team gets the same hooks automatically.
Full documentation: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/hooks
## 1. Auto-format every file Claude touches
The problem: Claude writes correct code that breaks your formatting rules. You add "always run Prettier" to CLAUDE.md and it works most of the time, but not always.
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