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Claude Code VS Code Adds Hooks and Permission Editors

Claude CodeView original changelog

Claude Code's VS Code extension added two new dialogs in version 2.1.269 that let users view and edit their session's configuration without hand-editing JSON. A Hooks dialog in the command menu lists a session's hooks and lets a user add, edit, or remove them across user, project, and local settings, while a new Permission rules dialog does the same for permission rules. In both dialogs, entries set by managed settings, plugins, startup options, or the current session stay read-only, so users can see the full picture of what is configured without being able to change settings outside their control.

Key Takeaways

  • A new Hooks dialog lists, adds, edits, and removes hooks across user, project, and local settings, ending the need to hand-edit settings.json for common changes.
  • A new Permission rules dialog does the same for allow, deny, and ask rules, giving a visual view of what a session can and cannot do.
  • Managed, plugin, startup-option, and session-only entries stay read-only in both dialogs, so users can see everything in effect without being able to override settings that are not theirs to change.
  • Both dialogs are reachable from the VS Code extension's command menu, alongside the existing Manage plugins dialog.
  • The change targets configuration that materially affects what Claude can do automatically, making hooks and permissions easier to audit at a glance.
  • It ships in the same release as the new subagent agent map, continuing a broader push to surface session internals visually inside VS Code.

Hooks, Visually

Claude Code hooks let a project run its own code at defined points in a session, such as before a tool runs or when a session starts, but configuring them has meant editing settings.json by hand. The new Hooks dialog, opened from the VS Code extension's command menu, shows every hook currently in effect and lets a user add, edit, or remove entries directly in user, project, and local settings. Hooks set by managed settings, a plugin, or the current session's startup options still show up in the dialog, but stay read-only, since those are not the user's to change from this view.

The Same Treatment for Permission Rules

A companion Permission rules dialog does the equivalent for allow, deny, and ask rules: it lists the rules currently governing a session and lets a user add or remove entries in user, project, and local settings. As with hooks, rules that come from a startup option, apply only to the current session, or are set by managed settings remain visible but read-only, preserving the boundary between what a user can adjust and what an administrator or a launch flag has already decided.

Fewer Reasons to Leave the Editor

Both dialogs turn two of the more consequential pieces of Claude Code configuration, what code runs automatically and what actions Claude is allowed to take, into something a user can inspect and adjust from inside VS Code, rather than needing to know the shape of settings.json or find the right file among several possible settings sources. That matters most for hooks and permission rules specifically, since both can materially change what a session is capable of doing without explicit confirmation each time.