Hookify Help

Hookify Plugin Help

Present the hookify plugin to the user: architecture, rule format, available skills, and getting started steps.

Overview

Hookify creates custom hooks that prevent unwanted behaviors via simple markdown configuration files instead of editing hooks.json.

How It Works

1. Hook System

Hookify installs generic hooks that run on these events:

• preToolUse: Before any tool executes (powershell, edit, create, etc.)
• postToolUse: After a tool executes
• agentStop: When Copilot wants to stop working
• userPromptSubmitted: When user submits a prompt

These hooks read configuration files from .github/hookify.*.local.md and check if any rules match the current operation.

2. Configuration Files

Users create rules in .github/hookify.{rule-name}.local.md files:

---
name: warn-dangerous-rm
enabled: true
event: bash
pattern: rm\s+-rf
---

⚠️ **Dangerous rm command detected!**

This command could delete important files. Please verify the path.

Key fields:

• name: Unique identifier for the rule
• enabled: true/false to activate/deactivate
• event: bash, file, stop, prompt, or all
• pattern: Regex pattern to match

The message body is what Copilot sees when the rule triggers.

3. Creating Rules

Option A: Use hookify-create skill

hookify-create Don't use console.log in production files

This analyzes your request and creates the appropriate rule file.

Option B: Create manually Create .github/hookify.my-rule.local.md with the format above.

Option C: Analyze conversation

hookify-create

Without arguments, hookify analyzes recent conversation to find behaviors you want to prevent.

Available Skills

• hookify-create - Create hooks from conversation analysis or explicit instructions
• hookify-help - Show this help (what you're reading now)
• hookify-list - List all configured hooks
• hookify-configure - Enable/disable existing hooks interactively

Example Use Cases

Prevent dangerous commands:

---
name: block-chmod-777
enabled: true
event: bash
pattern: chmod\s+777
---

Don't use chmod 777 - it's a security risk. Use specific permissions instead.

Warn about debugging code:

---
name: warn-console-log
enabled: true
event: file
pattern: console\.log\(
---

Console.log detected. Remember to remove debug logging before committing.

Require tests before stopping:

---
name: require-tests
enabled: true
event: stop
pattern: .*
---

Did you run tests before finishing? Make sure `npm test` or equivalent was executed.

Pattern Syntax

Use Python regex syntax:

• \s - whitespace
• \. - literal dot
• | - OR
• + - one or more
• * - zero or more
• \d - digit
• [abc] - character class

Examples:

• rm\s+-rf - matches "rm -rf"
• console\.log\( - matches "console.log("
• (eval|exec)\( - matches "eval(" or "exec("
• \.env$ - matches files ending in .env

Important Notes

No Restart Needed: Hookify rules (.local.md files) take effect immediately on the next tool use. The hookify hooks are already loaded and read your rules dynamically.

Block or Warn: Rules can either block operations (prevent execution) or warn (show message but allow). Set action: block or action: warn in the rule's frontmatter.

Rule Files: Keep rules in .github/hookify.*.local.md - they should be git-ignored (add to .gitignore if needed).

Disable Rules: Set enabled: false in frontmatter or delete the file.

Troubleshooting

Hook not triggering:

• Check rule file is in .github/ directory
• Verify enabled: true in frontmatter
• Confirm pattern is valid regex
• Test pattern: python3 -c "import re; print(re.search('your_pattern', 'test_text'))"
• Rules take effect immediately - no restart needed

Import errors:

• Check Python 3 is available: python3 --version
• Verify hookify plugin is installed correctly

Pattern not matching:

• Test regex separately
• Check for escaping issues (use unquoted patterns in YAML)
• Try simpler pattern first, then refine

Getting Started

1. Create your first rule:

`` hookify-create Warn me when I try to use rm -rf ``

1. Try to trigger it:

• Ask Copilot to run rm -rf /tmp/test
• You should see the warning

1. Refine the rule by editing .github/hookify.warn-rm.local.md

1. Create more rules as you encounter unwanted behaviors

For more examples, check the examples/ directory.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: Poorgramer-Zack
• Source: Poorgramer-Zack/copilot-cli-things
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.