block-no-verify

A platform-agnostic security tool that blocks ways AI agents can bypass local git hooks. It flags the --no-verify flag, core.hooksPath overrides, and GitHub MCP tool calls that write through the GitHub API.

Why?

When using AI coding assistants like Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Cursor, or others, you might have git hooks (pre-commit, pre-push) that enforce code quality, run tests, or perform security checks. Agents can side-step those hooks in three common ways:

• passing --no-verify to a git command,
• overriding core.hooksPath (e.g. git -c core.hooksPath=/dev/null ...),
• calling GitHub MCP tools such as mcp__github__push_files that commit or merge directly through the GitHub API, skipping the local hook chain entirely.

This package provides a CLI that can block all three, working with any AI tool that supports command / tool-use hooks.

Used By

Installation

Add as a dev dependency to ensure a consistent, pinned version:

pnpm add -D block-no-verify
# or
npm install --save-dev block-no-verify

Then use it with pnpm exec block-no-verify or npm exec block-no-verify.

Quick Start

# Check a command directly
block-no-verify "git commit --no-verify -m 'test'"
# Exit code: 2 (blocked)

# Check a safe command
block-no-verify "git commit -m 'test'"
# Exit code: 0 (allowed)

# Pipe from stdin
echo "git push --no-verify" | block-no-verify
# Exit code: 2 (blocked)

Platform Integration

Claude Code

Add to your .claude/settings.json. The first matcher handles shell commands (--no-verify, core.hooksPath); the second matches any GitHub MCP tool so direct-to-API writes can also be blocked:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Bash",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "pnpm exec block-no-verify"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "matcher": "mcp__github__.*",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "pnpm exec block-no-verify"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Gemini CLI

Gemini CLI supports hooks via .gemini/settings.json. The hook system mirrors Claude Code's JSON-over-stdin contract and exit code semantics.

Add to your .gemini/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "BeforeTool": [
      {
        "matcher": "run_shell_command",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "name": "block-no-verify",
            "type": "command",
            "command": "pnpm exec block-no-verify",
            "description": "Block --no-verify flags in git commands",
            "timeout": 5000
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Note: Hooks are disabled by default in Gemini CLI. You may need to enable them in your settings. See Gemini CLI Hooks Documentation for details.

Cursor

Cursor 1.7+ supports hooks via .cursor/hooks.json. The beforeShellExecution hook runs before any shell command.

Create .cursor/hooks.json in your project root:

{
  "version": 1,
  "hooks": {
    "beforeShellExecution": [
      {
        "command": "pnpm exec block-no-verify"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Note: Cursor hooks are in beta. See Cursor Hooks Documentation for the latest information.

Generic Integration

block-no-verify accepts input in multiple formats:

# Plain text (default)
block-no-verify "git commit --no-verify"

# JSON with command field
echo '{"command":"git commit --no-verify"}' | block-no-verify

# JSON with other fields (cmd, input, shell, script)
echo '{"cmd":"git push --no-verify"}' | block-no-verify

# Claude Code format (auto-detected)
echo '{"tool_input":{"command":"git commit --no-verify"}}' | block-no-verify

CLI Options

block-no-verify [options] [command]

Options:
  --format <type>   Input format: auto, plain, claude-code, json (default: auto)
  --help, -h        Show help message
  --version, -v     Show version

Input Methods:
  1. Command argument:  block-no-verify "git commit --no-verify"
  2. Stdin (plain):     echo "git commit --no-verify" | block-no-verify
  3. Stdin (JSON):      echo '{"command":"..."}' | block-no-verify

Supported Git Commands

The following git commands are monitored for --no-verify:

• git commit
• git push
• git merge
• git cherry-pick
• git rebase
• git am

Blocked GitHub MCP Tools

When a Claude Code / MCP-compatible payload includes a tool_name, the following GitHub MCP tools are blocked because they write through the GitHub API and therefore skip local git hooks:

• mcp__github__create_or_update_file
• mcp__github__delete_file
• mcp__github__push_files
• mcp__github__merge_pull_request
• mcp__github__update_pull_request_branch

Read-only GitHub MCP tools (e.g. mcp__github__get_file_contents, mcp__github__list_pull_requests) are not blocked.

Behavior

| Command | Blocked? | Notes | | ------------------------ | -------- | --------------------------------------------- | | git commit --no-verify | Yes | | | git commit -n | Yes | -n is shorthand for --no-verify in commit | | git push --no-verify | Yes | | | git push -n | No | -n means --dry-run in push | | git merge --no-verify | Yes | | | git merge -n | No | -n means --no-commit in merge | | git commit -m "msg" | No | No --no-verify flag |

Exit Codes

• 0 - Command is allowed
• 2 - Command is blocked (contains --no-verify)
• 1 - An error occurred

Supported JSON Fields

When using JSON input (auto-detected or with --format json), the following fields are recognized:

| Field | Description | | -------------------- | ------------------------- | | tool_input.command | Claude Code format | | command | Generic command field | | cmd | Alternative command field | | input | Input field | | shell | Shell command field | | script | Script field |

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and guidelines.

License

MIT

References

• Claude Code Hooks
• Gemini CLI Hooks
• Cursor Hooks