Claude Composer CLI: The Ultimate Automation Butler for Your AI Programming Assistant

Stop repetitive confirmation dialogs and achieve seamless AI collaboration in your development workflow

Why Do You Need Claude Composer?

When developers use the Claude Code programming assistant, frequent permission confirmation pop-ups disrupt workflow. Imagine manually approving every file save or script execution – this is the core problem Claude Composer solves. This CLI tool acts as an intelligent butler for your AI assistant through three core capabilities:

1. Automated Decision Engine: Handles permission requests based on predefined rules
2. Modular Capability Management: Configures AI tool permissions like building blocks
3. Non-disruptive Notification System: Maintains workflow continuity with desktop alerts

# Experience basic functionality (execute after installation)
claude-composer

Quick Start Guide

One-Command Installation

# Choose any package manager
npm install -g claude-composer
yarn global add claude-composer
pnpm add -g claude-composer

Three Common Usage Scenarios

Core Functionality Explained

Rulesets – The AI’s Operational Permission Manager

Rulesets function like traffic regulations for your AI assistant, controlling when automatic operations can occur:

# Example: Custom backend development ruleset
name: backend-rules
accept_project_edit_file_prompts: 
  paths:
    - 'src/**/*.js'  # Allow JS file modifications
    - '!**/*.env'    # Block environment file changes
accept_project_bash_command_prompts: true  # Permit script execution

Three Built-in Rule Templates

1. Security Mode (Safe)
   Manual confirmation for all operations – ideal for sensitive code

2. Balanced Mode (Cautious)
   Auto-handles project-level operations (e.g., file edits) but restricts global actions

3. Full Automation Mode (YOLO)
   Auto-approves all requests – perfect for rapid prototyping

Toolsets – The AI’s Capability Switchboard

Toolsets determine Claude’s available functionality like configuring a toolkit:

# Frontend development toolset example
allowed:
  - Read      # File reading permissions
  - Edit      # Code editing capabilities
  - WebSearch # Web search access
disallowed:
  - Database  # Block database operations

Core Toolkit Specifications

• internal:core: Basic documentation tools with live library updates
• Custom toolsets: Combine different capability modules

Intelligent Directory Trust Management

Configure trusted directories via roots to eliminate repetitive confirmations:

# Configuration example
roots:
  - ~/projects/work     # Trust work directories
  - /tmp/sandbox        # Trust sandbox locations
  - $DEV_DIR/experiments # Supports environment variables

Trust Rules: Only immediate subdirectories are trusted. For example with ~/projects configured:

• ✅ Trusts ~/projects/my-app
• ❌ Doesn’t trust ~/projects/my-app/src

Complete Workflow Breakdown

Step 1: Initial Configuration

# Create global configuration (applies to all projects)
claude-composer cc-init

# Create project-specific configuration (recommended)
claude-composer cc-init --project

Configuration File Structure

Project Directory/
└── .claude-composer/
    ├── config.yaml     # Main configuration
    ├── rulesets/       # Custom rules
    └── toolsets/       # Custom tool collections

Typical Command Combinations

# Launch AI assistant with custom toolsets
claude-composer \
  --toolset internal:core \     # Enable documentation tools
  --toolset project:web-tools \ # Add project-specific tools
  --ruleset internal:cautious   # Apply balanced rules

Advanced Notification Control

# Disable file edit notifications
claude-composer --no-show-edit-file-confirm-notify

# Enable persistent task completion alerts
claude-composer --sticky-work-complete-notifications

Advanced Configuration Techniques

Multi-level Configuration Priority

When multiple configuration sources exist, they apply in this order:

1. Command-line arguments (highest priority)
2. Project configuration .claude-composer/config.yaml
3. Global configuration ~/.claude-composer/config.yaml
4. Built-in defaults

Environment Variable Implementation

# Temporarily disable all notifications
export CLAUDE_COMPOSER_NO_NOTIFY=1
claude-composer

# Specify custom configuration directory
export CLAUDE_COMPOSER_CONFIG_DIR=/custom/config

Practical Implementation Examples

Scenario: New React Project

mkdir my-react-app && cd my-react-app
claude-composer cc-init --project --use-cautious-ruleset

# Configure project-specific ruleset
echo 'name: react-rules
accept_project_edit_file_prompts: 
  paths: ["src/**/*.jsx", "src/**/*.css"]
accept_project_bash_command_prompts: true' > .claude-composer/rulesets/react.yaml

# Launch AI assistant with custom rules
claude-composer --ruleset project:react

Scenario: Security Review Mode

# Enable security review before critical operations
claude-composer --ruleset internal:safe --no-show-notifications

All operations require manual confirmation without disruptive notifications

Developer FAQ

Q: How to share team configurations?

Add .claude-composer to version control. New members simply execute:

claude-composer  # Automatically loads project configuration

Q: How do multiple rulesets combine?

# Sequential rule application (later rules override earlier)
claude-composer \
  --ruleset internal:cautious \  # Base rules
  --ruleset project:strict-mode  # Project-specific rules

Q: How to debug rule matching issues?

# Enable pattern matching logs
claude-composer --log-all-pattern-matches
# Log location: ~/.claude-composer/logs/

Q: Can I temporarily disable auto-confirmations?

# Add safety lock at launch
claude-composer --dangerously-suppress-automatic-acceptance-confirmation=no

Technical Architecture Overview

Claude Composer automates through process interception and pattern matching:

1. Request Interception Layer: Monitors Claude Code permission requests
2. Rule Matching Engine: Processes rules by path/command type
3. Auto-Response Mechanism: Simulates user confirmations/rejections
4. Notification System: Delivers alerts via system APIs

Pro Tip: Use --quiet parameter to minimize startup logs for cleaner interface

Best Practice Recommendations

1. Prototyping Phase: Use internal:yolo for rapid iteration
2. Production Development: Combine internal:cautious with project-specific rules
3. Sensitive Operations: Temporarily switch to internal:safe mode
4. Team Collaboration: Share project-level .claude-composer configurations

# Common command combination example
claude-composer \
  --ruleset project:team-standard \  # Team rules
  --toolset internal:core \          # Core tools
  --show-notifications \             # Enable alerts
  --model claude-3-opus-20240229     # Specify AI model

Through granular configuration, developers achieve the optimal balance between security and efficiency, enabling truly seamless collaboration with AI programming assistants.