install-hook

Install or remove claude-review as a git pre-commit hook.

Usage

claude-review install-hook [--remove]

Flags

Flag	Description
--remove	Remove the pre-commit hook

Description

The pre-commit hook runs claude-review automatically every time you run git commit. If critical findings are detected, the commit is blocked until you address them (or explicitly bypass with git commit --no-verify).

Install

cd your-project
claude-review install-hook

This writes a shell script to .git/hooks/pre-commit in the current repository.

What the hook does

When git commit is run, the hook:

1. Checks that ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set
2. Runs claude-review diff on the staged changes
3. If any critical or high severity findings are found, prints the report and exits with code 1 (blocking the commit)
4. If only medium/suggestion findings exist, shows a summary but allows the commit to proceed

Remove

claude-review install-hook --remove

Bypass for a single commit

If you need to commit despite failing review (e.g., a work-in-progress commit):

git commit --no-verify -m "wip: work in progress"

Customizing behavior

The hook respects your claude-review.config.json. To reduce noise in pre-commit runs, consider a project config that uses fewer agents and focuses on critical issues only:

{
  "agents": 2,
  "focus": ["security", "logic"],
  "confidence_threshold": 0.90,
  "model": "claude-haiku-4-5-20251001"
}

This keeps hook runs fast and cheap while still catching the most important issues before they land.

Team setup

To ensure everyone on your team has the hook installed, add setup instructions to your CONTRIBUTING.md or Makefile:

# Makefile
setup:
    claude-review install-hook
    @echo "Pre-commit hook installed"

Note

Git hooks are not tracked by version control. Each developer must run install-hook themselves. If you want hooks that are enforced at the repo level, consider CI instead — see CI Integration.