Claude Code Hooks — I/O API Reference (January 2026)

JSON schemas for hook stdin input and stdout output per event. For hook system fundamentals, activate Skill(skill: "plugin-creator:hooks-core-reference"). For working examples, activate Skill(skill: "plugin-creator:hooks-patterns").

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Hook Input (JSON via stdin)

Common Fields (All Events)

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/current/working/directory",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "PreToolUse"
}

permission_mode values: "default", "plan", "acceptEdits", "dontAsk", "bypassPermissions"

PreToolUse Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "PreToolUse",
  "tool_name": "Bash",
  "tool_input": {
    "command": "psql -c 'SELECT * FROM users'",
    "description": "Query the users table",
    "timeout": 120000
  },
  "tool_use_id": "toolu_01ABC123"
}

Tool-specific tool_input fields:

Tool	Fields
Bash	command, description, timeout, run_in_background
Write	file_path, content
Edit	file_path, old_string, new_string, replace_all
Read	file_path, offset, limit

PostToolUse Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "PostToolUse",
  "tool_name": "Write",
  "tool_input": {
    "file_path": "/path/to/file.txt",
    "content": "file content"
  },
  "tool_response": {
    "filePath": "/path/to/file.txt",
    "success": true
  },
  "tool_use_id": "toolu_01ABC123"
}

Notification Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "Notification",
  "message": "Claude needs your permission to use Bash",
  "notification_type": "permission_prompt"
}

UserPromptSubmit Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "UserPromptSubmit",
  "prompt": "Write a function to calculate factorial"
}

Stop Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "Stop",
  "stop_hook_active": true
}

stop_hook_active: True when Claude is already continuing due to a stop hook. Check this to prevent infinite loops.

SubagentStart Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "SubagentStart",
  "agent_id": "agent-abc123",
  "agent_type": "Explore"
}

Fields:

• agent_id: Unique identifier for the subagent
• agent_type: Agent name (built-in like "Bash", "Explore", "Plan", or custom agent names)

SubagentStop Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "SubagentStop",
  "stop_hook_active": false,
  "agent_id": "def456",
  "agent_transcript_path": "/path/to/subagents/agent-def456.jsonl"
}

Fields:

• agent_id: Unique identifier for the subagent
• agent_transcript_path: Path to the subagent's own transcript in nested subagents/ folder
• stop_hook_active: True when already continuing due to a stop hook

PreCompact Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "PreCompact",
  "trigger": "manual",
  "custom_instructions": ""
}

Setup Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "Setup",
  "trigger": "init"
}

Fields:

• trigger: Either "init" (from --init or --init-only) or "maintenance" (from --maintenance)
• Setup hooks have access to CLAUDE_ENV_FILE for persisting environment variables

SessionStart Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "SessionStart",
  "source": "startup",
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
}

Fields:

• source: Indicates how session started: "startup" (new), "resume" (resumed), "clear" (after /clear), or "compact" (after compaction)
• model: Model identifier when available
• agent_type: (Optional) Present when Claude Code started with claude --agent <name>

SessionEnd Input

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/path/to/project",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "SessionEnd",
  "reason": "exit"
}

reason values: clear, logout, prompt_input_exit, other

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Hook Output

Exit Codes

Code	Behavior
0	Success. stdout processed (JSON or plain text)
2	Blocking error. stderr used as error message, fed back to Claude
Other	Non-blocking error. stderr shown in verbose mode (Ctrl+O)

Important: Claude Code does not see stdout if exit code is 0, except for UserPromptSubmit and SessionStart where stdout is added to context.

Exit Code 2 Behavior Per Event

Event	Exit Code 2 Behavior
PreToolUse	Blocks tool call, shows stderr to Claude
PermissionRequest	Denies permission, shows stderr to Claude
PostToolUse	Shows stderr to Claude (tool already ran)
PostToolUseFailure	Shows stderr to Claude (tool already failed)
Notification	Shows stderr to user only
UserPromptSubmit	Blocks prompt, erases it, shows stderr to user
Stop	Blocks stoppage, shows stderr to Claude
SubagentStart	Shows stderr to user only
SubagentStop	Blocks stoppage, shows stderr to Claude subagent
PreCompact	Shows stderr to user only
Setup	Shows stderr to user only
SessionStart	Shows stderr to user only
SessionEnd	Shows stderr to user only

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JSON Output Control

Important: JSON output only processed with exit code 0. Exit code 2 uses stderr only.

Common JSON Fields (All Events)

{
  "continue": true,
  "stopReason": "Message shown when continue is false",
  "suppressOutput": false,
  "systemMessage": "Optional warning message shown to user"
}

Field	Type	Effect
continue	boolean	false stops Claude (takes precedence over all)
stopReason	string	Shown to user when continue is false
suppressOutput	boolean	Hide stdout from transcript mode
systemMessage	string	Warning message shown to user

Precedence: continue: false takes precedence over any decision: "block" output.

PreToolUse JSON Output

{
  "hookSpecificOutput": {
    "hookEventName": "PreToolUse",
    "permissionDecision": "allow",
    "permissionDecisionReason": "Auto-approved documentation file",
    "updatedInput": {
      "field_to_modify": "new value"
    },
    "additionalContext": "Current environment: production. Proceed with caution."
  }
}

Field	Values	Effect
permissionDecision	allow, deny, ask	Controls tool execution
permissionDecisionReason	string	Shown to user (allow/ask) or Claude (deny)
updatedInput	object	Modifies tool input before execution
additionalContext	string	Added to Claude's context

Note: decision and reason fields are deprecated. Use hookSpecificOutput.permissionDecision and hookSpecificOutput.permissionDecisionReason. Deprecated "approve" and "block" map to "allow" and "deny".

PermissionRequest JSON Output

Allow with modified input:

{
  "hookSpecificOutput": {
    "hookEventName": "PermissionRequest",
    "decision": {
      "behavior": "allow",
      "updatedInput": {
        "command": "npm run lint"
      }
    }
  }
}

Deny with message:

{
  "hookSpecificOutput": {
    "hookEventName": "PermissionRequest",
    "decision": {
      "behavior": "deny",
      "message": "Command not allowed by policy",
      "interrupt": true
    }
  }
}

PostToolUse JSON Output

{
  "decision": "block",
  "reason": "Explanation for decision",
  "hookSpecificOutput": {
    "hookEventName": "PostToolUse",
    "additionalContext": "Additional information for Claude"
  }
}

• "block" automatically prompts Claude with reason
• undefined does nothing, reason is ignored

UserPromptSubmit JSON Output

{
  "decision": "block",
  "reason": "Prompt contains sensitive data",
  "hookSpecificOutput": {
    "hookEventName": "UserPromptSubmit",
    "additionalContext": "My additional context here"
  }
}

Two ways to add context (exit code 0):

1. Plain text stdout: Any non-JSON text is added as context
2. JSON with additionalContext: More structured control

Blocking prompts:

• "decision": "block" prevents prompt processing, erases prompt from context
• "reason" shown to user but not added to context

Stop / SubagentStop JSON Output

{
  "decision": "block",
  "reason": "Must be provided when Claude is blocked from stopping"
}

• "block" prevents Claude from stopping. Must populate reason
• undefined allows Claude to stop. reason is ignored

Setup JSON Output

{
  "hookSpecificOutput": {
    "hookEventName": "Setup",
    "additionalContext": "Repository initialized with custom configuration"
  }
}

Note: Multiple hooks' additionalContext values are concatenated. Setup hooks have access to CLAUDE_ENV_FILE for persisting environment variables.

SessionStart JSON Output

{
  "hookSpecificOutput": {
    "hookEventName": "SessionStart",
    "additionalContext": "Project context loaded successfully"
  }
}

Note: Multiple hooks' additionalContext values are concatenated.

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Sources

• Hooks Reference (accessed 2026-01-28)
• Hooks Guide
• Settings Reference
• Plugin Components Reference