You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
1Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
PermissionsArea: what it touches
ImprovementsKind: in v2.1.271,
ImprovementsSection of the release
What
When the permissions.blockReadsOutsideWorkingDirectories setting is turned on (which makes file tools refuse reads outside your designated working directories), Bash commands containing a subshell, or that change directory more than once, are now refused outright with a "cannot be checked against the read block" message. Previously these were evaluated and could potentially be auto-approved. An exception still applies under a specific worktree/sandbox condition.
Why
Subshells and multiple directory changes make it hard to reliably tell what directory a command will actually read from, so this closes a possible way to bypass the read-location restriction.
The entry above is what we published on the day. These lines were added later, as Anthropic's own pages caught up, and they sit beside the original rather than replacing it.
Added sinceA small documentation edit on How Claude remembers your project touched a line naming blockReadsOutsideWorkingDirectories after this was published.When you set it in a project's `.claude/settings.json` or `.claude/settings.local.json`, Claude Code honors it under the same [workspace trust rule as hooks in settings files](/docs/en/permissions#what-runs-before-you-trust-a-folder). Whil…memorysee the edit
Confirmed sinceAnthropic's documentation has since written up blockReadsOutsideWorkingDirectories, on Claude Code changelog.* Fixed Bash commands the permission checker cannot fully analyze skipping the prompt under `permissions.blockReadsOutsideWorkingDirectories`, and a subshell hiding a dangerous `rm` in bypass modechangelogsee the edit
How sure we are
Two sources agreeTwo things we can check say the same as this entry.
Anthropic's documentation agreesAnthropic's documentation has since written up blockReadsOutsideWorkingDirectories, on Claude Code changelog.
Anthropic's release notes agreeFixed Bash commands with two directory changes, a subshell, or a cd+git chain skipping the prompt under…
