What does the Permission Explainer skill do?

It analyzes your Claude Code settings files to explain the logic behind why a specific tool action did or didn't require manual permission.

Why would I use this instead of checking files manually?

This skill automatically handles the resolution of symlinks and identifies exactly which rule in a potentially complex JSON file was triggered by the AI.

How does it handle project-specific overrides?

The skill determines your current project context and checks the hierarchy of project-level settings to see if they override global user defaults.

Can this skill change my permission settings?

No, this skill is read-only. it identifies and explains existing rules but does not modify your configuration files.

Which configuration files does this skill read?

It reads global settings from ~/.claude/settings.json and project-specific settings from .claude/settings.local.json, specifically looking for paths mapped in your dotfiles directory.

Claude Code Permission Explainer

Name: Claude Code Permission Explainer
Author: breuerpeter

bybreuerpeter

0•

Developer Tools

Explains why Claude Code prompted or bypassed permission for tool actions by analyzing local and global configuration files.

The Permission Explainer skill provides transparency into Claude Code's authorization logic by inspecting your specific configuration files. It automatically maps and reads user-level settings and project-specific overrides stored in your dotfiles directory. By identifying which rules matched a particular tool execution, this skill helps you understand the 'why' behind permission prompts, ensuring your security settings and automation rules are functioning exactly as intended.

Key Features

01Automated discovery of global and project-level settings

02Identification of specific permission rule matches

03Clear mapping of active settings file locations

04Analysis of dotfile-managed configuration paths

05Detailed reasoning for tool authorization behavior

060 GitHub stars

Use Cases

01Verifying that project-specific security overrides are active and correctly configured

02Debugging why an action ran automatically without a permission prompt

03Troubleshooting unexpected authorization requests during a coding session

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add breuerpeter/dotfiles explain-permission

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Key Features

01Automated discovery of global and project-level settings

02Identification of specific permission rule matches

03Clear mapping of active settings file locations

04Analysis of dotfile-managed configuration paths

05Detailed reasoning for tool authorization behavior

060 GitHub stars

Use Cases

01Verifying that project-specific security overrides are active and correctly configured

02Debugging why an action ran automatically without a permission prompt

03Troubleshooting unexpected authorization requests during a coding session

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add breuerpeter/dotfiles explain-permission

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT