@cleocode/git-shim

Part of CLEO. Start with the root README; run cleo <command> --help for any command.

Harness-agnostic git PATH override that fences agent (worker | lead | subagent) git invocations. Provides two layers of enforcement:

1. T1118 denylist — branch-mutation operations (checkout, switch, branch -D, worktree add, reset --hard, rebase, push --force, etc.).
2. T1591 boundary fence — contextual rules tied to the worktree-by-default model (ADR-055) + worktree-merge integration (ADR-062):
   • (a) git add MUST stage paths inside the active worktree.
   • (b) git commit -m "<msg>" MUST embed a CLEO task ID (T<NUM>).
   • (c) git merge MUST be invoked by completeAgentWorktreeViaMerge (signalled via CLEO_ORCHESTRATE_MERGE=1).
   • (d) git cherry-pick <ref> MUST NOT take a task/T<NUM> source (cherry-pick from worktree branches is the deprecated integration path superseded by ADR-062).

Every block and every bypass is recorded in <XDG_DATA_HOME ?? ~/.local/share>/cleo/audit/git-shim.jsonl.

Installation

The shim ships as the git bin entry of this package. The orchestrator materialises a git symlink inside <projectRoot>/.cleo/bin/ (or any shim directory) via installShimSymlink(...) and prepends that directory to the spawned agent's PATH.

Activation gate

The shim only enforces when the agent role is restricted:

CLEO_AGENT_ROLE=worker  # or lead, subagent

Orchestrators (the absence of CLEO_AGENT_ROLE or CLEO_AGENT_ROLE=orchestrator) bypass the shim entirely — this keeps orchestration code paths fast and unencumbered.

Environment contract

CLEO_ORCHESTRATE_MERGE=1 contract (T1587 / ADR-062 integration)

packages/core/src/spawn/branch-lock.ts::completeAgentWorktreeViaMerge is the only sanctioned entry point for git merge on a CLEO task branch. It MUST set CLEO_ORCHESTRATE_MERGE=1 in the env passed to the spawned git merge --no-ff process. The shim's boundary (c) refuses any other git merge invocation from a restricted role.

Concretely (see branch-lock.ts:830):

execFileSync('git', ['merge', '--no-ff', branch, '-m', subject], {
  cwd: gitRoot,
  encoding: 'utf-8',
  stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
  env: { ...process.env, CLEO_ORCHESTRATE_MERGE: '1' },
});

If you discover a code path that needs to invoke git merge from restricted-role context other than completeAgentWorktreeViaMerge, file a follow-up task — do NOT silently set CLEO_ORCHESTRATE_MERGE=1 elsewhere. The narrow scope of this env var is what makes the boundary auditable.

--abort, --continue, and --quit flag invocations are exempt — they do not perform a merge.

Bypass workflow

For a legitimate emergency (e.g. operator hotfix, incident triage):

# One-off bypass; audit entry written to git-shim.jsonl.
CLEO_ALLOW_GIT=1 git <subcommand> ...

The bypass is logged with full context (subcommand, args, cwd, role, task_id, worktree_path). Reviewers can list bypasses via:

jq 'select(.outcome | startswith("bypassed"))' \
  ~/.local/share/cleo/audit/git-shim.jsonl

Audit record schema

interface AuditRecord {
  ts: string;                          // ISO 8601
  outcome: 'blocked' | 'bypassed-allow-git' | 'bypassed-orchestrate-merge';
  boundary: 'a' | 'b' | 'c' | 'd' | 'denylist';
  code: string;                        // E_GIT_OP_BLOCKED | E_GIT_BOUNDARY_*
  subcommand: string;
  args: string[];
  cwd: string;
  worktree_path: string | null;
  task_id: string | null;
  role: string | null;
  context: Record<string, string>;
}

The schema is project-agnostic: the audit log under ~/.local/share/cleo/audit/ is shared across every CLEO-managed project on the host.

Defense-in-depth pipeline

The git-binary fence (this package) is one layer in a multi-checkpoint pipeline:

Both T1588 (hook) and T1591 (shim, boundary b) enforce the commit-subject T-ID rule. This is intentional defense in depth: a developer who disables the local hook still trips the shim.

References

• ADR-055 — worktree-by-default agent isolation
• ADR-062 — worktree integration via git merge --no-ff (not cherry-pick)
• T1118 — original branch-lock engine (denylist)
• T1587 — completeAgentWorktreeViaMerge (sets CLEO_ORCHESTRATE_MERGE=1)
• T1591 — this fence (boundary a/b/c/d)