superpowers/docs/windows/polyglot-hooks.md

Cross-Platform Polyglot Hooks for Claude Code

Claude Code plugins need hooks that work on Windows, macOS, and Linux. This document describes the single generic dispatcher pattern used in hooks/run-hook.cmd.

Authoritative source: hooks/run-hook.cmd is the canonical implementation. When this document and the code diverge, trust the code.

The Problem

Claude Code runs hook commands through a shell:

• macOS/Linux: bash or sh
• Windows with Git Bash installed: Git Bash
• Windows without Git Bash: PowerShell (older versions used CMD.exe)

Neither Windows fallback shell can parse our command string: PowerShell treats a leading quoted path as a string expression and errors on the next bareword, and CMD.exe's /c quoting rules strip the outer quotes when the path contains a metacharacter such as (. Our hooks therefore declare "shell": "bash" (supported since Claude Code 2.1.81; older versions ignore the key), which forces the Git Bash route and, when Git Bash is absent, produces an actionable "install Git for Windows" error instead of a shell parser failure.

This creates several challenges:

1. Script execution: Windows CMD can't execute .sh files directly
2. Path format: Windows uses backslashes (C:\path), Unix uses forward slashes (/path)
3. Environment variables: $VAR syntax doesn't work in CMD
4. .sh auto-prepend: Claude Code on Windows automatically prepends bash to any command that contains .sh in its path — this interferes with the dispatcher if scripts have extensions

The Solution: Extensionless Scripts + Single Generic Dispatcher

The repo uses one generic run-hook.cmd dispatcher for all hooks. Hook scripts are extensionless (session-start, not session-start.sh). This is deliberate: it prevents Claude Code's Windows auto-detection from prepending bash to the dispatcher command and breaking it.

File Structure

hooks/
├── hooks.json          # Points to run-hook.cmd with extensionless script name
├── run-hook.cmd        # Cross-platform dispatcher (the polyglot wrapper)
└── session-start       # Actual hook logic — extensionless bash script

hooks.json

{
  "hooks": {
    "SessionStart": [
      {
        "matcher": "startup|clear|compact",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "\"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/run-hook.cmd\" session-start",
            "shell": "bash",
            "async": false
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

The path is quoted because ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} may contain spaces.

How run-hook.cmd Works at a High Level

run-hook.cmd is a polyglot script: Windows treats the first block as batch commands, while Unix shells treat that block as a no-op heredoc and continue after it.

Do not copy an implementation from this document. Read hooks/run-hook.cmd directly when changing the dispatcher, and run tests/hooks/test-session-start.sh afterward.

How it works on Windows (CMD.exe)

1. The batch section validates the script name and resolves the hook directory from the dispatcher's own location.
2. It tries bash in three places:
   • C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe
   • C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\bin\bash.exe
   • bash on PATH (MSYS2, Cygwin, or a non-default Git install)
3. If bash is found, it runs the named extensionless hook script from the hooks directory.
4. If no bash is found, the dispatcher exits 0 silently — the plugin continues working, it just skips the hook.
5. exit /b stops CMD before it reaches the Unix section.

How it works on Unix (bash/sh)

1. : << 'CMDBLOCK' opens a heredoc on a no-op command.
2. The entire CMD batch block is consumed by the heredoc and ignored.
3. After CMDBLOCK, bash resolves the script directory and execs the named extensionless script directly.

Key design decisions

Decision	Why
Extensionless scripts	Prevents Claude Code's Windows .sh-auto-prepend from interfering with the dispatcher command
No -l (login shell)	Not needed; hook scripts should be self-contained and not depend on login-shell PATH setup
No cygpath	Bash receives the Windows path directly and handles it correctly; cygpath was needed by the old -c "..." invocation pattern, not by direct exec
Silent exit on no-bash	Avoids breaking the plugin for users who don't have Git for Windows; hook context injection is skipped gracefully

Writing Cross-Platform Hook Scripts

Your hook logic goes in the extensionless script file. A few portable patterns:

Do

• Use pure bash builtins when possible
• Use $(command) instead of backticks
• Quote all variable expansions: "$VAR"

Avoid

• Relying on PATH-dependent tools without fallbacks (the hook runs without -l, so login-shell PATH is not set)
• Giving scripts a .sh extension — this triggers Claude Code's Windows auto-prepend

Example: JSON escaping without external tools

escape_for_json() {
    local input="$1"
    local output=""
    local i char
    for (( i=0; i<${#input}; i++ )); do
        char="${input:$i:1}"
        case "$char" in
            $'\\') output+='\\' ;;
            '"') output+='\"' ;;
            $'\n') output+='\n' ;;
            $'\r') output+='\r' ;;
            $'\t') output+='\t' ;;
            *) output+="$char" ;;
        esac
    done
    printf '%s' "$output"
}

Troubleshooting

"bash is not recognized"

CMD couldn't find bash in any of the three locations the dispatcher tries. The dispatcher exits silently (0) rather than erroring, so the hook is skipped. Install Git for Windows at the standard path or ensure bash is on PATH.

Hook runs on Unix but does nothing on Windows

Check that the script filename is extensionless in hooks.json. A command like run-hook.cmd session-start.sh can trigger Claude Code's .sh auto-detection and bypass the intended CMD dispatcher path, or just try to run a non-existent session-start.sh script.

Hook doesn't fire at all

Verify the matcher in hooks.json matches the event type your harness emits. Claude Code uses startup|clear|compact; Cursor uses sessionStart. Check hooks-cursor.json for the Cursor variant.

Related Issues

• anthropics/claude-code#9758 — .sh scripts open in editor on Windows
• anthropics/claude-code#3417 — Hooks don't work on Windows