Claude Code settings.local.json Cleanup

Executed: 2026-04-07 Machines affected: Patrick’s Mac Mini VPS status: No settings.local.json exists (uses dangerousMode) — no action taken Pending: Asia’s MacBook + Mac Mini (inbox item added), Patrick’s MacBook Pro (not open during this session)

What this file controls

settings.local.json is a machine-local, gitignored file in .claude/ that pre-approves specific commands so Claude Code can run them without prompting. It has no effect on vault structure, content, or other machines. If a permission is missing, Claude Code simply asks the user before running the command.

What was done

Reduced Patrick’s Mac Mini from 52 entries to 21 entries by:

1. Removing 5 redundant entries already covered by broader wildcards (ssh baseworks-web:* subsumed by ssh:*, git pull:* by git:*, 3 specific scp paths by scp:*)
2. Removing 17 one-time session commands (specific rm, rmdir, grep, find, ssh investigation, inline Python one-liners — all from past sessions with no ongoing use)
3. Removing 7 WebFetch domains for tools researched but not adopted (SimpleLocalize, Crowdin, POEditor, Polylang, asharirfan.com, sumitgupta.net, cleanshot.com)
4. Broadening 8 narrow entries into 4 wildcards (rclone lsd:* → rclone:*, specific sqlite3 queries → sqlite3 *, qmd --help + qmd status:* → qmd:*, specific check-wikilinks.py invocations → python3 scripts/*)

Before (52 entries)

Backup saved as: settings-local-json-backup-patrick-mac-mini-2026-04-07

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "WebFetch(domain:baseworks.com)",
      "Bash(ssh baseworks-web:*)",
      "Bash(ssh:*)",
      "Bash(curl:*)",
      "Bash(git pull:*)",
      "Bash(git:*)",
      "WebFetch(domain:simplelocalize.io)",
      "WebFetch(domain:crowdin.com)",
      "WebFetch(domain:poeditor.com)",
      "WebFetch(domain:polylang.pro)",
      "WebSearch",
      "WebFetch(domain:wpml.org)",
      "WebFetch(domain:asharirfan.com)",
      "WebFetch(domain:www.sumitgupta.net)",
      "Bash(ls:*)",
      "Bash(rclone lsd:*)",
      "Bash(python3 scripts/check-wikilinks.py --changed)",
      "Bash(python3 scripts/check-wikilinks.py 02-areas/communications/campaigns/_campaign-creation-guidelines.md)",
      "Bash(rm /Users/vboy/Obsidian/baseworks-kb-shared-brain/.claude/commands/create-campaign.md)",
      "Bash(rmdir /Users/vboy/Obsidian/baseworks-kb-shared-brain/.claude/commands/)",
      "Bash(grep -r \"canva\\\\|slide.deck\\\\|presentation\" ...)",
      "mcp__claude_ai_Canva__search-designs",
      "Bash(find ... -name *session*7* -o -name *closing*)",
      "Bash(scp /tmp/closing-presentation-post-v3.html patrick@46.224.129.16:...)",
      "Bash(scp /tmp/closing-presentation-post-v5.html patrick@46.224.129.16:...)",
      "WebFetch(domain:cleanshot.com)",
      "Bash(scp /tmp/current-post-content.html patrick@46.224.129.16:...)",
      "Bash(crontab:*)",
      "Bash(wc:*)",
      "Bash(grep -l \"cron\\\\|schedule\\\\|automation\" .../00-inbox/*.md)",
      "Bash(qmd --help)",
      "Read(//Users/vboy/.cache/qmd/**)",
      "Bash(sqlite3 ~/.cache/qmd/index.sqlite .tables)",
      "Bash(sqlite3 ~/.cache/qmd/index.sqlite .schema)",
      "Bash(qmd status:*)",
      "Bash(sqlite3 ~/.cache/qmd/index.sqlite \"SELECT COUNT(*) ...\")",
      "Bash(sqlite3 ~/.cache/qmd/index.sqlite \"SELECT collection, COUNT(*) ...\")",
      "Bash(python3 -c \"import sqlite3; ...\")",
      "Bash(killall caffeinate:*)",
      "Bash(code:*)",
      "Bash(open:*)",
      "Bash(pbcopy)",
      "Bash(WP=\"wp --path=...\")",
      "Bash(ssh patrick@46.224.129.16 \"cd .quartz-dev ...\")",
      "Bash(python3 -c 'import sys,json; ...' ×4 variants)",
      "Bash(scp:*)"
    ]
  }
}

(Full verbatim backup in the JSON file linked above)

After (21 entries)

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "WebSearch",
      "WebFetch(domain:baseworks.com)",
      "WebFetch(domain:wpml.org)",

      "Bash(git:*)",
      "Bash(ssh:*)",
      "Bash(scp:*)",
      "Bash(curl:*)",

      "Bash(python3 scripts/*)",
      "Bash(sqlite3 *)",
      "Bash(qmd:*)",
      "Bash(rclone:*)",

      "Bash(ls:*)",
      "Bash(wc:*)",
      "Bash(crontab:*)",
      "Bash(killall caffeinate:*)",

      "Bash(open:*)",
      "Bash(code:*)",
      "Bash(pbcopy)",

      "Read(//Users/vboy/.cache/qmd/**)",

      "mcp__claude_ai_Canva__search-designs"
    ]
  }
}

Entry groups

1. Web access — WebSearch, baseworks.com, wpml.org
2. Remote operations — git, ssh, scp, curl
3. Vault tooling — python3 scripts, sqlite3, qmd, rclone
4. Local utilities — ls, wc, crontab, killall caffeinate
5. GUI/clipboard — open, code, pbcopy
6. File read grants — qmd cache
7. MCP connectors — Canva search-designs

Design decisions

• Skill-specific tools not included: b2, exiftool, sips, cwebp (used by /compress-photos) prompt when the skill is invoked. Same for wp (runs over SSH anyway).
• No python3:* wildcard: Too broad — grants arbitrary code execution. python3 scripts/* covers vault scripts; ad-hoc python3 -c commands prompt per-session.
• wpml.org kept: WPML is the adopted translation solution; its documentation is referenced regularly.

Verification (completed)

All broadened patterns tested successfully on Patrick’s Mac Mini:

• python3 scripts/check-wikilinks.py --changed — executed without prompting
• sqlite3 vault-index.db ".tables" — executed without prompting
• qmd status — executed without prompting
• rclone listremotes — executed without prompting

How to revert

Copy the backup file back:

cp 03-resources/executed-plans/settings-local-json-backup-patrick-mac-mini-2026-04-07.json .claude/settings.local.json

---

Slack Alerting (added in same session)

As part of this cleanup, daily Slack alerts were added to #agent-alerts so infrastructure and vault health issues are visible even if vault sync breaks (which would prevent inbox reports from reaching Obsidian).

What was added on VPS (baseworks-agents)

File	Purpose
~/scripts/slack-notify.sh	Helper — sends a message to #agent-alerts via Slack Incoming Webhook
~/.config/baseworks/slack-webhook-agent-alerts	Webhook URL (chmod 600)
~/scripts/vault-audit-slack.sh	Runs vault-audit.py --json, formats results, sends to Slack
Section 11 in daily-infra-updates.sh	Sends infra report summary to Slack after writing to inbox

Cron schedule (daily)

Time (ET)	Script	What it does
3:45 AM	daily-infra-updates.sh	Infra health + updates → inbox + Slack
4:15 AM	vault-audit-slack.sh	Vault health audit → Slack only

Slack message format

• Green circle: all healthy, no issues
• Yellow circle: warnings (stale index, orphan files, etc.)
• Red circle: action needed (broken links spike, missing vault-index.db, etc.)

How to disable

Remove the cron entry: crontab -e on baseworks-agents, delete the vault-audit-slack.sh line. To disable infra Slack alerts only: remove Section 11 from daily-infra-updates.sh (the inbox report continues independently).

Related

• settings-local-json-backup-patrick-mac-mini-2026-04-07 — full verbatim backup
• Claude Code - Permission Pattern Error Fix — earlier fix for permission pattern syntax
• vault-sqlite-index-sync-plan — vault-audit.py and sync infrastructure