Bug: Write tool permissions do not match paths outside the project directory

[m-mcgowan]

Problem

The Write tool permission system does not reliably auto-approve writes to paths outside the project directory, regardless of the permission pattern format used. This forces users to manually approve every write to external paths, even when explicit allow rules are configured.

What We Tried

We attempted every documented permission format to allow writes to ~/.cache/ccstatusline/tasks/claude-task-*:

Permission Pattern	Result
Write(//Users/mat/.cache/ccstatusline/tasks/*)	Still prompts
Write(~/.cache/ccstatusline/tasks/*)	Still prompts
Write(~/.cache/ccstatusline/tasks/claude-task-*)	Still prompts
Write(**/claude-task-*)	Still prompts
Write(//**/claude-task-*)	Still prompts
additionalDirectories + Write(//...)	Still prompts

In all cases, Claude passes Write(~/.cache/ccstatusline/tasks/claude-task-<uuid>) as the tool argument, which Claude Code resolves and displays as a relative path ../../.cache/ccstatusline/tasks/claude-task-<uuid>. None of the permission patterns match.

For comparison, Read permissions with the same // absolute path format work correctly and auto-approve without prompting.

Workaround

We use a PreToolUse hook on Write that checks if the file path contains claude-task- and returns permissionDecision: "allow":

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [{
      "matcher": "Write",
      "hooks": [{
        "type": "command",
        "command": "jq -r 'if .tool_name == \"Write\" and (.tool_input.file_path | test(\"claude-task-\")) then {\"hookSpecificOutput\":{\"hookEventName\":\"PreToolUse\",\"permissionDecision\":\"allow\"}} else {} end'"
      }]
    }]
  }
}

This works but is heavyweight for what should be a simple permission rule.

Additionally: Bash Permissions Only Support Prefix Matching

We also tried using Bash echo to write the file instead of the Write tool:

Permission Pattern	Result
Bash(echo * > /Users/mat/.cache/.../claude-task-*)	Still prompts
Bash(mkdir -p ... && echo * > .../claude-task-*)	Still prompts

The * glob in Bash permissions does not appear to match across the full command string. The documentation mentions Bash(git:*) prefix matching with :*, but does not document whether * works as a glob within the command pattern. If only prefix matching is supported, this should be clearly documented.

Expected Behavior

Write(//absolute/path/*) should auto-approve writes to matching absolute paths, consistent with how Read(//absolute/path/*) already works.

Environment

• Claude Code CLI
• macOS (Darwin 23.5.0)
• Tested with multiple Claude Code sessions

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. Permission rules don't match absolute paths outside project directory #25137
2. Permission patterns don't match /tmp/ paths when resolved to relative #29098
3. Write Tool Rejects Writing Plans To Default Plan Location ../../.claude/plans/ #37220

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[m-mcgowan]

Closing as duplicate of #29098 and #37220 which describe the same issue. Added our detailed findings (permission patterns tried, PreToolUse hook workaround) as context.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.