Claude Code

Connect Claude Code to DashClaw and get your first governed action into /decisions in under 20 minutes.

Instance URL detected: https://your-dashclaw-instance.example.com

Deploy DashClaw

Get a running instance. Click the Vercel deploy button or run locally.

Already have an instance? Skip to Step 2.

Copy hook scripts into your project

DashClaw hooks intercept Bash, Edit, Write, and MultiEdit tool calls.

Terminal

mkdir -p .claude/hooks
cp hooks/dashclaw_pretool.py  .claude/hooks/
cp hooks/dashclaw_posttool.py .claude/hooks/

Set environment variables

Claude Code reads these from the shell or a .env file in the project root.

.env

DASHCLAW_BASE_URL=https://your-dashclaw-instance.example.com
DASHCLAW_API_KEY=<your-workspace-api-key>
DASHCLAW_HOOK_MODE=enforce

Add hooks to Claude Code settings

Merge this into your project's .claude/settings.json (or ~/.claude/settings.json for global).

.claude/settings.json

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Bash|Edit|Write|MultiEdit",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python .claude/hooks/dashclaw_pretool.py"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "PostToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Bash|Edit|Write|MultiEdit",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python .claude/hooks/dashclaw_posttool.py"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Run Claude Code and trigger a tool call

Ask Claude Code to do anything that uses Bash, Edit, Write, or MultiEdit. The hook fires automatically.

Example prompt

Create a file called hello.txt with the contents "Hello from a governed agent"

Watch the terminal — you should see [DashClaw] messages as the hook evaluates the action.

See the result in DashClaw

Open your DashClaw dashboard to confirm the action was recorded.

Go to /decisions — you should see your tool call in the ledger with action_type 'other' (for a simple file write) or 'security' (for sensitive files), status 'completed'.

What success looks like

Go to /decisions — you should see your Claude Code tool call in the ledger. Look for action_type 'other' or 'security' with agent_id 'claude-code' and status 'completed'.

Navigate to /decisions in your DashClaw instance. Your action should appear in the ledger within seconds of the agent run.

Governance as Code

Drop a guardrails.yml in your project root to enforce policies without code changes. DashClaw evaluates these rules at the guard step before any action executes.

guardrails.yml

version: 1
project: my-claude-code-project
description: >
  Governance policy for Claude Code tool calls.
  Blocks destructive shell commands. Warns on deployment.

policies:
  - id: block_destructive_shell
    description: Block rm -rf and database drops
    applies_to:
      tools:
        - Bash
    rule:
      block: true
    when:
      command_contains:
        - "rm -rf"
        - "drop table"

  - id: warn_on_deploy
    description: Require approval for deployment commands
    applies_to:
      tools:
        - Bash
    rule:
      require: approval
    when:
      command_contains:
        - "git push"
        - "vercel deploy"