Setup and quick reference
Commands, Hooks, and Automation Guide
Choose between interactive commands, reusable command templates, hooks, and CI automation according to trigger, authority, side effects, and verification needs.
- Format
- How To
- Level
- Intermediate
- Audience
- Developer, Operator
- Owner
- Project42 Editorial
- Review cadence
- Every 45 days
- Prerequisites
- A bounded workflow with observable success criteria; The selected tool's current command or hook documentation; A safe test repository or isolated environment
Choose the mechanism from its authority boundary
Use an interactive command for an operator-initiated action, a reusable command or prompt for a repeatable input pattern, a hook for a documented lifecycle event, and CI for repository policy that must run independently of one local tool. Product names and trigger semantics differ, so confirm the exact event and blocking behavior in current documentation.
A hook is executable automation, not extra prose. Review its command, working directory, inherited environment, timeout, input contract, exit behavior, network use, and side effects. Keep durable repository checks in the repository even when a local hook invokes them.
Design for bounded input and observable output
Accept only the inputs needed for the outcome, validate untrusted text before shell or tool use, use least-privilege credentials, and make writes idempotent or reconcilable. Decide whether a failure blocks, warns, retries, or routes to a human before enabling the automation.
Test read-only behavior first, then an isolated reversible write if required. Never test a destructive or externally visible path merely because the local command is easy to invoke.
Task: [ONE REPEATABLE OUTCOME]
Scope: [TOOL, EVENT, REPOSITORY, TARGETS, AND ENVIRONMENT]
Permissions: [IDENTITY, FILES, COMMANDS, NETWORK, AND EXTERNAL WRITES]
Trigger: [MANUAL COMMAND | LIFECYCLE EVENT | CI EVENT]
Inputs: [TRUSTED FIELDS, UNTRUSTED FIELDS, AND VALIDATION]
Outputs and side effects: [ARTIFACTS, LOGS, WRITES, AND IDEMPOTENCY]
Failure behavior: [BLOCK | WARN | RETRY | HUMAN QUEUE]
Stop conditions: [AUTH FAILURE, UNKNOWN WRITE, INVALID INPUT, TIMEOUT, OR BUDGET]
Verification: [CONTRACT TEST, ISOLATED RUN, POSTCONDITION, AND CI]
Recovery: [DISABLE TRIGGER, RECONCILE STATE, REVERT CHANGE, AND PRESERVE EVIDENCE]Expected result and verification
Expected evidence is a reviewed automation contract, pinned trigger and scope, redacted logs, deterministic validation tests, isolated execution result, observed postcondition, failure-path result, and an owner. Verify both the local mechanism and the durable repository check where policy depends on it.
If the automation targets the wrong path, leaks data, loops, times out after a possible write, or produces an unexplained result, disable the trigger first. Reconcile external state before retrying, revoke exposed credentials, restore the last verified configuration or artifact, and add the failure as a regression test.