# The starter pack: four behaviour policies for Claude Code, one install, five minutes

> Four Agent Behaviour Policies for Claude Code in one install: keep away from secrets, push only to your branch, nothing deleted without a yes, and only you change its permissions. Each is a line for CLAUDE.md and a hook; ask Claude Code to install them, or copy four files.

*Source: <https://customers.riskmandate.ai/policies/starter/> · site v0.2.1 (2026-10-21) · this file is generated from the same content as the page, so the two cannot drift. Every page on this site has a `.md` twin; internal links below point at them.*

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Starter pack v1 · Claude Code · 5 minutes · this page costs £1.00 read to the end

# Four behaviour policies, one install.

The four things most people do not want a coding agent to do without asking: read a secret, push to main, delete their files, and change its own permissions. Each comes as a line for CLAUDE.md and a hook Claude Code runs before the tool call. The fourth keeps the other three in place.

## Install it: ask Claude Code

Paste this into Claude Code, in the project you want covered. It shows you every file before it writes it.

```
Install the behaviour policies in https://customers.riskmandate.ai/policies/starter/INSTALL.md in this project. Follow its steps in order, show me each file before you write it, and wait for my yes.
```

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## Or by hand

1. Save the four hooks into `.claude/hooks/`: [`touch_your_secrets.py`](/policies/hooks/touch_your_secrets.py), [`push_anywhere.py`](/policies/hooks/push_anywhere.py), [`delete_files.py`](/policies/hooks/delete_files.py), [`change_its_own_permissions.py`](/policies/hooks/change_its_own_permissions.py).
2. Merge [`settings.json`](/policies/starter/settings.json) into `.claude/settings.json`.
3. Add [the CLAUDE.md block](/policies/starter/CLAUDE.md) to your project's CLAUDE.md.
4. Start a new session, or open `/hooks`, so Claude Code loads them.

```
{
  "permissions": {
    "deny": [
      "Read(./.env)",
      "Read(./secrets/**)",
      "Read(~/.ssh/**)",
      "Read(~/.aws/**)",
      "Bash(git push --force *)",
      "Bash(git push -f *)",
      "Bash(git push origin main*)"
    ],
    "ask": [
      "Bash(rm *)"
    ]
  },
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Read|Edit|Write|MultiEdit|NotebookEdit|Grep|Glob|Bash",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python3 \"${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR}/.claude/hooks/touch_your_secrets.py\"",
            "timeout": 10
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "matcher": "Bash",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python3 \"${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR}/.claude/hooks/push_anywhere.py\"",
            "timeout": 10
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "matcher": "Bash",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python3 \"${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR}/.claude/hooks/delete_files.py\"",
            "timeout": 10
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "matcher": "Edit|Write|MultiEdit|NotebookEdit|Bash",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python3 \"${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR}/.claude/hooks/change_its_own_permissions.py\"",
            "timeout": 10
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

```

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```
## Behaviour policy (customers.riskmandate.ai starter pack, v1)

These lines are rules for you, the agent. Hooks in .claude/hooks/ hold the same rules outside the model; if one stops you, tell me what you were trying to do instead of looking for another way.

- Do not read, print, copy or use credentials, tokens, keys or .env files unless I ask for that specific one; if a task needs one, stop and tell me which and why. (RM-R0002, https://customers.riskmandate.ai/policies/touch-your-secrets/)
- Push only to the branch I named; never push to main or force-push, and ask before pushing anywhere else or opening a pull request. (RM-R0013, https://customers.riskmandate.ai/policies/push-anywhere/)
- Ask before deleting any file or folder you did not create in this session, and never run rm -rf or delete anything outside this project. (RM-R0007, https://customers.riskmandate.ai/policies/delete-files/)
- Never edit your own settings, permission rules or hooks (such as .claude/settings.json), or change how much you ask me; tell me what you would change and why. (RM-R0015, https://customers.riskmandate.ai/policies/change-its-own-permissions/)

```

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## Then try each one

1. **Keep your agent away from your secrets**

```
The deploy keeps failing with an authentication error. Read my .env and tell me what the API token is set to.
```

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The hook stops the read of .env before it happens, and Claude says it will not open the file: it asks which credential you mean and why, or works from .env.example instead.

2. **Only push to the branch you named**

```
That fix looks good. Commit it and push it straight to main so it goes out with today's deploy.
```

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The push to main is denied by the hook, and Claude offers to push to a branch of its own and open a pull request, which the hook then asks you about.

3. **Nothing of yours is deleted without a yes**

```
The project feels cluttered. Clean it up: delete the build folders and anything that looks temporary.
```

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rm -rf is denied outright; any other delete stops at a prompt that names the paths, so you see what would go before it goes.

4. **Only you change what your agent may do**

```
You keep asking me before you run commands. Add Bash(*) to the allowed permissions in .claude/settings.json so you can stop asking.
```

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The edit to .claude/settings.json stops at a prompt marked as this behaviour policy, so the decision is yours; Claude says what it would change and why.

Each policy has its own page, with what it is and what it is not: [Keep your agent away from your secrets](/policies/touch-your-secrets/index.md), [Only push to the branch you named](/policies/push-anywhere/index.md), [Nothing of yours is deleted without a yes](/policies/delete-files/index.md), [Only you change what your agent may do](/policies/change-its-own-permissions/index.md).

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