claude-code-bootstrap

One-liner setup tool for Claude Code project settings. Apply pre-configured permission profiles to any project in seconds — no manual JSON editing required.

What It Does

When you use Claude Code in a project, it reads .claude/settings.json to know which commands it's allowed to run without asking you for permission every time. This tool gives you ready-made profiles so you don't have to build that settings file by hand.

Each profile includes:

• Allowed commands — git, filesystem tools, and language-specific CLIs (e.g. npm, composer)
• Denied commands — dangerous operations like rm -rf /, git push --force, chmod 777
• Plugins — recommended Claude Code plugins for your stack
• Effort level — set to high for thorough responses

Quick Start

1. Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/briansmith80/claude-code-bootstrap/main/install.sh | bash

This downloads claude-bootstrap to ~/.claude-bootstrap/ and adds a shell alias to your .bashrc / .zshrc.

2. Use

cd your-project
claude-bootstrap

That's it. You'll get an interactive menu to pick a profile. Or pass one directly:

claude-bootstrap laravel

Profiles

Profile	What It Adds
default	Git, filesystem tools, curl/wget, gh CLI
laravel	Everything in default + composer, artisan, pest, pint, phpstan, npm
node	Everything in default + npm, yarn, pnpm, bun, eslint, prettier, jest, vitest, tsc

All profiles share a common base of ~60 allowed commands (git operations, file utilities, archive tools). Language-specific profiles add their own tools on top.

What Gets Denied

Every profile blocks these destructive operations:

chmod 777              git push --force / -f       rm -rf /
git clean -f           git reset --hard            rm -rf ~

The Laravel profile additionally blocks:

php artisan migrate:fresh     php artisan migrate:reset     php artisan db:wipe

Included Plugins

Plugin	default	laravel	node
compound-engineering	x	x	x
superpowers	x	x	x
laravel-boost		x
frontend-design			x
playwright			x

Options

claude-bootstrap [profile] [options]

Flag	Description
--local	Write to settings.local.json instead of settings.json (see below)
--statusline	Also install claude-code-status-bar
--force	Overwrite existing settings without prompting
--backup	Create a timestamped backup before overwriting
--merge	Merge profile into existing settings (requires node or python)
--list	List available profiles and exit
--help, -h	Show help
--version, -v	Show version

settings.json vs settings.local.json

Claude Code reads both files from the .claude/ directory:

• settings.json — shared team settings, typically committed to git
• settings.local.json — personal overrides, typically gitignored

Use --local when you want to apply a profile just for yourself without affecting teammates:

claude-bootstrap node --local

Merging Into Existing Settings

If you already have a settings.json with custom permissions, --merge adds the profile's permissions without replacing yours:

claude-bootstrap laravel --merge

How merge works:

• permissions.allow and permissions.deny arrays are combined and deduplicated (alphabetically sorted)
• Other top-level keys (like enabledPlugins, effortLevel) are overwritten by the profile's values
• Your existing non-overlapping settings are preserved

Merge requires node or python3 to be installed. If neither is available, use --backup to save your current settings first, then overwrite.

Statusline Integration

The --statusline flag downloads and configures claude-code-status-bar, which adds a live status display to your Claude Code session:

claude-bootstrap laravel --statusline

This does two things:

1. Downloads statusline-command.sh to ~/.claude/statusline-command.sh
2. Adds a statusLine block to your settings file

Requires node or python to modify the JSON. If neither is available, it prints manual instructions.

Run Without Installing

Apply a profile directly without the installer:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/briansmith80/claude-code-bootstrap/main/claude-bootstrap.sh | bash -s -- laravel

You can pass any options after --:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/briansmith80/claude-code-bootstrap/main/claude-bootstrap.sh | bash -s -- node --local --statusline

Creating Custom Profiles

1. Fork this repo
2. Add a JSON file to profiles/ — the filename (without .json) becomes the profile name
3. Use this format:

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Bash(git status)",
      "Bash(your-tool)"
    ],
    "deny": [
      "Bash(dangerous-command)"
    ]
  },
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "plugin-name@marketplace-id": true
  },
  "effortLevel": "high"
}

4. Update the AVAILABLE_PROFILES array in claude-bootstrap.sh and the pick_profile() descriptions

When running from a cloned repo, profiles are loaded from the local profiles/ directory — no network fetch needed.

Updating

Re-run the installer to update to the latest version:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/briansmith80/claude-code-bootstrap/main/install.sh | bash

The installer overwrites the script at ~/.claude-bootstrap/claude-bootstrap.sh and skips the alias if it already exists.

Uninstalling

# Remove the installed script
rm -rf ~/.claude-bootstrap

# Remove the alias from your shell config
# Edit ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.bash_profile and delete the lines:
#   # claude-code-bootstrap
#   alias claude-bootstrap='...'

This does not remove any .claude/settings.json files from your projects.

Requirements

• bash — macOS, Linux, Git Bash, or MSYS2 on Windows
• curl or wget — for downloading profiles
• node or python — only needed for --merge and --statusline JSON editing

Troubleshooting

"command not found: claude-bootstrap" Restart your shell or run source ~/.bashrc (or ~/.zshrc) to load the alias.

"Failed to fetch profile" Check your internet connection. The script fetches profiles from GitHub. If you're behind a proxy, ensure curl or wget can reach raw.githubusercontent.com.

"Invalid profile data received" The remote returned something other than JSON (likely a 404 page). Verify the profile name exists with claude-bootstrap --list.

"Merge requires node or python" Install Node.js or Python, or use --backup --force to save your existing settings and overwrite.

Settings not taking effect in Claude Code Make sure the .claude/ directory is in your project root (where you run Claude Code from). Check that the JSON is valid — open the file and look for syntax errors.

License

MIT