Allow git merge without prompting

[ikuwow]

Summary

Move Bash(git merge *) from the ask list to the allow list in claude/settings.json, so git merge runs without a permission prompt.

Background

Ask rules take precedence over allow rules ("a matching ask rule prompts even when a more specific allow rule also matches the same call" — https://code.claude.com/docs/en/permissions ), so every merge prompted even though the blanket Bash(git *) allow matched. This blocked subagents from resolving PR branch conflicts: a permission prompt raised from a background agent gives the user no context about which branch is being merged into, so it cannot be approved meaningfully.

Why an explicit allow entry (and why removing the ask rule alone is not enough)

• Today the entry is redundant with Bash(git *), but Remove the Bash(git *) blanket allow and add destructive-git deny rules #208 replaces that blanket with an explicit allowlist that deliberately leaves merge out
• Without this entry, post-Remove the Bash(git *) blanket allow and add destructive-git deny rules #208 merges would fall through to the auto-mode classifier (subject to occasional transient-error denials, one observed 2026-07-20) or a manual-mode prompt
• With it, merge resolves at rule-evaluation time in every mode

Risk assessment

git merge is local-only and recoverable:

• Committed state stays permanently reachable via the merge commit's first parent (and git reflog, 90-day default per man git-gc)
• A merge that would overwrite uncommitted changes or untracked files refuses to start
• The remote is untouched until a separate git push
• After a push, undo is git revert -m 1 <merge commit> (force push stays denied)

The genuinely destructive git commands (reset --hard, clean, stash drop/clear, rebase, commit --amend) stay in ask/deny.

Interaction with #208

#208's branch (feature/explicit-git-allowlist-187) also deletes the Bash(git merge *) ask entry, so the ask-side change merges cleanly either way. The new allow entry sits next to Bash(git *), which #208 replaces; the expected resolution is to keep this entry in #208's allowlist.

Verification

• jq -e '.permissions.allow | index("Bash(git merge *)")' returns an index; the same lookup on .permissions.ask returns null
• pre-commit ran on the commit: Check JSON.....Passed (hook output at commit time)
• After merge + settings reload: a subagent git merge origin/main on a feature branch runs without a permission prompt